BURLINGTON, VT – Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Judiciary and Senate Rules Committees, released the following reaction to the Departments of Justice, Treasury, State and FBI’s actions to curtail Russian election influence efforts including sanctions, charges against Russian nationals, and the indictment of two Russian state-owned media network employees who were facilitating online disinformation operations: 

“Vladimir Putin’s perennial goal to influence America’s elections will fail. We will continue to protect against these nefarious efforts. DOJ’s coordinated actions will help defend our democracy in a bold and productive way. I have every confidence the 2024 election will be safe and secure, despite Russia’s efforts. 

“As a former member of the House Intelligence Committee, I saw firsthand the extent to which our adversaries will go to try to undermine our democracy. Russia, Iran, China, and others continue to spread election disinformation, weaponize social media, and create fake content pawned off as “news”.   

“Election workers are doing their part to ensure our election is safe and secure. It’s up to all of us to reject disinformation and other efforts to sow discord in our communities. We won’t allow Russia, or anyone else to meddle in our democracy.”

###