Day: February 26, 2026

#CIA  #FBI  #Trump
Election Interference: 2016-2024 Assessments  gemini.google.com/share/ac2c…

Prompt: The U.S> Elections 2016 and 2024: the Israeli Mossad and other parties interferences: assessments, significance, analysis, prevention.

Gemini said:
The landscape of foreign interference in U.S. elections has evolved from the “sweeping and systematic” Russian operations of 2016 to a more fragmented environment in 2024 involving both adversaries (Russia, Iran, China) and, notably, covert activities linked to democratic allies like Israel.

While the Mossad (Israel’s national intelligence agency) is rarely named in unclassified U.S. intelligence assessments as a direct interferer, several private Israeli firms and government ministries have been implicated in influence operations.

The landscape of foreign interference in U.S. elections has evolved from the “sweeping and systematic” Russian operations of 2016 to a more fragmented environment in 2024 involving both adversaries (Russia, Iran, China) and, notably, covert activities linked to democratic allies like Israel.

While the Mossad (Israel’s national intelligence agency) is rarely named in unclassified U.S. intelligence assessments as a direct interferer, several private Israeli firms and government ministries have been implicated in influence operations.

1. The 2016 Election: Private Intelligence & “Disinformation-as-a-Service”

In 2016, the primary focus of U.S. intelligence (the Mueller Report and ICA) was Russia. However, investigations later revealed the involvement of private Israeli firms acting as “mercenary” influence actors.

+1

Psy-Group (Joel Zamel): This firm, staffed by former Israeli intelligence officers, pitched a multi-million dollar social media manipulation plan to the Trump campaign in August 2016. They proposed using thousands of “avatars” (fake accounts) to swing the vote. While it’s unclear if the plan was fully executed, $2 million was reportedly paid to Zamel by a campaign intermediary (George Nader) after the election.+2
Black Cube: Although not directly focused on the ballot box, this firm was hired by associates of the Trump administration to “dig dirt” on former Obama officials (like Ben Rhodes) who had negotiated the Iran Nuclear Deal—a key foreign policy wedge issue in the 2016 and 2018 cycles.
Significance: These operations introduced “disinformation-as-a-service,” where private companies provided the same tools used by state actors (like Russia’s IRA) to commercial clients.

2. The 2024 Election: The “STOIC” Campaign

The 2024 cycle saw a shift from private “mercenaries” to direct (though covert) involvement by an Israeli government ministry.

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs & STOIC: In June 2024, the New York Times and Meta (Facebook) exposed a $2 million covert campaign funded by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. It used a Tel Aviv-based firm called STOIC to influence U.S. lawmakers and the public.+1
Tactics: * Fake Personas: Hundreds of accounts posed as Americans, including Black Democrats and Jewish students, to pressure lawmakers like Hakeem Jeffries and Raphael Warnock.
AI Content: The campaign used ChatGPT to generate pro-Israel posts and created fake news sites (e.g., Non-Agenda and UnFold Magazine) to spread narratives supporting the war in Gaza.
Goal: The operation aimed to maintain U.S. military funding for Israel and counter the growing domestic opposition to the conflict.
Assessment: Unlike Russian interference, which sought to sow general chaos or help a specific candidate, this was issue-specific interference aimed at legislative outcomes.
3. Other Major Parties: Russia, Iran, and China (2024)

While the Israel-linked STOIC campaign was notable for coming from an ally, U.S. intelligence identified three main adversaries as the primary threats:

ActorPrimary Objective (2024)Key TacticsRussiaBoost isolationist candidates; undermine Ukraine support.”Doppelgänger” (fake news sites), funding U.S. influencers (Tenet Media).IranDamage Donald Trump’s candidacy; sow internal discord.Hacking campaign staff emails (phishing); fake activist sites.China”Spamouflage”—denigrate both parties to portray U.S. democracy as failing.AI-generated deepfakes; large-scale bot networks on X and TikTok.

4. Analysis and Significance
Erosion of “Ally Norms”: The 2024 STOIC operation was significant because it marked a rare public instance of a democratic ally using covert “Russian-style” tactics against the U.S. government.
Commercial Plausible Deniability: By using firms like STOIC or Psy-Group, foreign governments can claim plausible deniability, framing the interference as “private sector activity” rather than state-sponsored intelligence work.
AI Proliferation: 2024 was the first “AI Election,” where generative AI allowed small teams to create vast amounts of tailored disinformation in perfect English, making detection much harder.
5. Prevention and Countermeasures
To combat these threats, the U.S. has established a multi-layered defense:
Transparency & FARA: The Department of Justice has increased enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), requiring any entity acting on behalf of a foreign government to register publicly.
Tech Sector “Kill Switches”: Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft now share threat intelligence. In 2024, they were able to shut down the STOIC and Russian “Doppelgänger” networks before they reached a massive audience.
Real-Time Debunking: The CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and the FBI now use a “pre-bunking” strategy, alerting the public to specific fake videos or narratives (e.g., the Haitian voter deepfake) within hours of their appearance.
Sanctions: Executive Order 13848 allows for rapid sanctions against any individual or country found to be interfering, which was used against Russian state media (RT) and Iranian hackers in late 2024.
Would you like me to look into the specific details of the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictments regarding the 2024 Russian or Iranian hacking operations?

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Feb 26, 2026