PROUD BOYS ENDS UP BEING USED VS TRUMP: WASHINGTON POST

US President Donald Trump may be howling over what security officials said were spoofed emails from the Proud Boys that intimidated voters in Alaska, Florida, Alabama, Pennsylvania and threatened them with violence should they not vote for Trump but the operation was consistent with Trump’s rant that it is the law that compels Democrats to become Republicans.

In a report for Washington Post, Ellen Nakashima, Amy Gardner, Isaac Stanley-Becker and Craig Timberg said the language used in the emails was attuned to Trump’s lingo and hewed closely to the violent lexicon of Proud Boys, whom Trump said must “stand back and stand by” in his September 29, 2020 debate with his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

US officials accused Iran of targeting American voters with faked but menacing emails and warned that both Iran and Russia had obtained voter data that could be used to endanger the upcoming election. The disclosure by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe at a hastily called news conference marked the first time this election cycle that a foreign adversary has been accused of targeting specific voters in a bid to undermine democratic confidence — just four years after Russian online operations marred the 2016 presidential vote.

The claim that Iran was behind the email operation, which came into view as Democrats in several states reported receiving emails demanding they vote for President Trump, was leveled without specific evidence. Other US officials, speaking privately, were skeptical of Ratcliffe’s assertion that the Iranians were trying to damage the president. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who receives classified briefings on foreign election threats, told NBC’s Rachel Maddow: “From the briefing, I had the strong impression it was much rather to undermine confidence in elections and not aimed at any particular figure.”