Two Trump administration cabinet members, Attorney General Bill Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said they believe China poses more of a threat to November’s election than Russia.
During an appearance on CNN earlier Wednesday, Barr was asked about the threat of Russia, Iran and China sowing discord among the electorate and interfering in the election.
“Which is the most assertive, the most aggressive in this area?” host Wolf Blitzer asked.
“I believe it’s China,” Barr said. “China more than Russia right now.”
He was asked why he made that assessment.
“Because I’ve seen the intelligence. That’s what I’ve concluded,” Barr replied, adding that he couldn’t discuss classified information.
But he said he wouldn’t be surprised if Russia — or another foreign country — tries to meddle just as Moscow and other adversaries did in the 2016 presidential election.
“Influence basically is two kinds of things. It’s hack and dump. You get into someone’s mail system and then try to disclose embarrassing documents. It wouldn’t surprise me if they try something like that, or any other country tries that. The other way is social media and putting things out on social media,” he said.
In an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday night, Pompeo was asked to respond to the comments made earlier by the AG, and agreed that China poses a greater threat than Russia to American election security.
“The single greatest to the United States of America from a foreign power emanates from the Chinese Communist Party, it’s not, frankly, a close call,” Pompeo told guest host Trey Gowdy on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“The Chinese Communist Party is building out its military, it has infiltrated the United States in ways that Russia has not, and its economic might has been used through state-owned enterprises and subsidizing companies to destroy tens of thousands of jobs all across the heartland of America, and it’s unacceptable behavior,” he continued.




