II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5365 

To require the President to notify Congress and take certain actions in 

response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect United States 

elections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

Mr. SULLIVAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the President to notify Congress and take certain 

actions in response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect United States elections. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Adversaries Med5 dling in American Elections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On November 8, 2024, the Department of 

9 Justice unsealed a charge involving an Iranian plot 


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1 to kill President-elect Donald Trump in the leadup 

2 to the election. A criminal complaint filed in Federal 

3 court in Manhattan alleges that an unnamed official 

4 in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in5 structed a contact to put together a plan to surveil 

6 and ultimately kill Donald J. Trump. 

7 (2) On November 5, 2024, the New York Times 

8 reported that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

9 Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investiga10 tion, and intelligence agencies issued a warning that 

11 adversaries, led by Russia, were conducting addi12 tional influence operations. Central Intelligence 

13 Agency officials called out a video circulating on No14 vember 5 that falsely claimed the spy agency had 

15 uncovered cases of fraud in which dead people had 

16 voted. Another disinformation campaign targeted the 

17 ‘‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’’, prompting the 

18 Bureau to say its name and logo were being used to 

19 spread election falsehoods. 

20 (3) On November 5, 2024, Reuters reported 

21 that according to the Federal Bureau of Investiga22 tion, hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to 

23 originate from Russian e-mail domains, were di24 rected on Tuesday at polling locations in 5 battle25 ground States, including Georgia, Michigan, AriVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 04, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5365.IS S5365

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1 zona, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, as election day 

2 voting was underway. 

3 (4) On November 1, 2024, the New York Times 

4 reported United States intelligence agencies have 

5 concluded that Russia was behind 2 new fabricated 

6 videos that appeared on social media this week false7 ly claiming that Haitians illegally voted in Georgia 

8 and that Vice President Kamala Harris and her hus9 band received a $500,000 bribe from the performer 

10 Sean Combs. 

11 (5) On November 2, 2024, the Washington 

12 Post reported that the China-linked hack of at least 

13 3 major United States telecommunications providers 

14 targeted high-level figures in the presidential cam15 paign. Officials have said that information related to 

16 Federal requests for wiretaps was targeted, as well 

17 as telephones used by former President Donald 

18 Trump, Senator JD Vance, campaign workers in 

19 both the Kamala Harris and Trump campaigns, and 

20 members of President Trump’s family. It is being 

21 reported as the first time Beijing is known to have 

22 targeted presidential election candidates directly. 

23 (6) On October 29, 2024, the New York Times 

24 reported ‘‘Disinformation from abroad—particularly 

25 from Russia, China and Iran—has matured into a 


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1 consistent and pernicious threat’’. They note the fol2 lowing 5 key trends: 

3 (A) A broad expansion of disinformation 

4 across a multiplicity of social media outlets. 

5 (B) The content is far more targeted to 

6 specific demographics. 

7 (C) Artificial intelligence is propelling this 

8 evolution. 

9 (D) It is becoming much harder to identify 

10 disinformation. 

11 (E) Technology companies are not doing as 

12 much to stop disinformation. 

13 (7) On October 25, 2024, the Federal Bureau 

14 of Investigation and officials from the Office of the 

15 Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecu16 rity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a 

17 statement indicating Russian actors ‘‘manufactured 

18 and amplified’’ a recent viral video that falsely 

19 showed a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania. 

20 They added ‘‘this Russian activity is part of Mos21 cow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions 

22 about the integrity of the US election and stoke divi23 sions among Americans,’’ the agencies said in a 

24 statement. 


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1 (8) On October 25, 2024, investigators on back2 ground told United States media ‘‘The Chinese 

3 hackers who burrowed into the networks of U.S. 

4 telecommunications firms have used their deep ac5 cess to target the phones of former President Don6 ald Trump, his running mate, JD Vance, and people 

7 affiliated with Vice President Kamala Harris’s presi8 dential campaign, according to people familiar with 

9 the matter.’’ 

10 (9) Separately on October 25, 2024, the Fed11 eral Bureau of Investigation confirmed it was inves12 tigating ‘‘unauthorized access to commercial tele13 communications infrastructure’’ by Chinese actors. 

14 The statement was the first formal acknowledgment 

15 by the United States Government about the massive 

16 breach. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

17 identified specific malicious activity targeting the 

18 sector, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the 

19 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 

20 issued a statement and notified affected companies, 

21 rendered technical assistance, and rapidly shared in22 formation to assist other potential victims. 

23 (10) An October 23, 2024, Microsoft Threat 

24 Analysis Center report revealed Chinese influence 

25 operations targeted a handful of Republican canVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Dec 13, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5365.IS S5365

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1 didates and congressional members who ‘‘advocate 

2 for anti-Chinese policies.’’ 

3 (11) On October 22, 2024, United States intel4 ligence officials on Tuesday said Russians seeking to 

5 disrupt the United States elections created a faked 

6 video and other material smearing Democratic vice7 presidential nominee Tim Walz with abuse allega8 tions and are considering fomenting violence during 

9 and after the vote. 

10 (12) On September 25, 2024, the Wall Street 

11 Journal reported that hackers linked to the Chinese 

12 government have broken into a handful of United 

13 States internet-service providers in recent months in 

14 pursuit of sensitive information, according to people 

15 familiar with the matter. The hacking campaign, 

16 called ‘‘Salt Typhoon’’ by investigators, hasn’t pre17 viously been publicly disclosed and is the latest in a 

18 series of incursions that United States investigators 

19 have linked to China in recent years. 

20 (13) A September 2024 Office of the Director 

21 of National Intelligence conference call about foreign 

22 election interference efforts stated propagandists in 

23 China, Iran, and Russia are using artificial intel24 ligence to create content designed to deceive Ameri25 cans about the presidential election. 


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1 (14) In April 2024, Secretary of State Anthony 

2 Blinken told CNN that China was attempting to in3 fluence and interfere in the United States election 

4 despite President Xi previously giving assurances to 

5 President Biden that it would not do so. 

6 (15) In an April 2024, New York Times article, 

7 United States officials claimed covert Chinese ac8 counts are promoting conspiracy theories, stoking 

9 domestic divisions, and attacking President Biden 

10 ahead of the election in November, according to re11 searchers and government officials. 

12 (16) Researchers at the Institute for Strategic 

13 Dialogue connected China’s online interference to a 

14 long-running network of accounts connected with the 

15 Chinese government known as Spamouflage. 

16 (17) An October 2024 Office of the Director of 

17 National Intelligence report warned that the United 

18 States intelligence community expected ‘‘foreign in19 fluence actors to . . . call into question the validity 

20 of the election’s results after the polls close.’’ 

21 (18) The October 2024 Office of the Director 

22 of National Intelligence report stated that ‘‘foreign 

23 actors are almost certainly considering the possi24 bility of another contested presidential election and 


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1 a tight contest for control of both the Senate and 

2 the House of Representatives.’’ 

3 (19) The October 2024 Office of the Director 

4 of National Intelligence report stated that foreign 

5 actors ‘‘will likely take advantage of such an oppor6 tunity to use similar tactics in a post-election period 

7 to undermine trust in the integrity of the election, 

8 election processes, and further exacerbate divisions 

9 among Americans.’’ 

10 (20) An October 2024 New York Times article 

11 quoted a Biden administration official who stated 

12 ‘‘foreign powers realize . . . they can spread mes13 sages that suggest the process was flawed. Officials 

14 said they called such efforts ‘‘perception hacking’’. 

15 (21) A February 2024 Office of the Director of 

16 National Intelligence Threat Assessment states: 

17 ‘‘The PRC aims to sow doubts about U.S. leader18 ship, undermine democracy, and extend Beijing’s in19 fluence . . .’’ due to ‘‘its desire to sideline critics of 

20 China and magnify U.S. societal divisions. PRC ac21 tors have increased their capabilities to conduct cov22 ert influence operations and disseminate 

23 disinformation.’’ 

24 (22) A December 2022 National Intelligence 

25 Council report states China tacitly approved efforts 


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1 to try to influence a handful of 2022 midterm races 

2 involving members of both U.S. political parties.’’ 

3 The assessment adds with high confidence that Chi4 na’s goals are ‘‘to counter U.S. politicians viewed as 

5 anti-China and to support others viewed as pro6 China.’’ 

7 (23) Cybersecurity firm Mandiant alleged Chi8 nese interference in the 2022 United States midterm 

9 elections via DRAGONBRIDGE, an influence cam10 paign assessed to be operating in support of the po11 litical interests of the People’s Republic of China. 

12 (24) A November 2023 memo by the Select 

13 Committee on the Chinese Communist Party out14 lines China’s ‘‘united front work,’’ described as ‘‘a 

15 unique blend of engagement, influence activities, and 

16 intelligence operations that the CCP uses to shape 

17 its political environment, including to influence other 

18 countries’ policy toward the PRC and to gain access 

19 to advanced foreign technology.’’ 

20 (25) In April 2023, the United States Attor21 ney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York 

22 charged 44 Chinese nationals for conducting online 

23 disinformation campaigns that promoted PRC prop24 aganda and for attempting to intimidate and silence 

25 PRC critics. 


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1 (26) An October 2024 Office of the Director of 

2 National Intelligence report states ‘‘Russia is 

3 leveraging a wide range of influence actors in an ef4 fort to influence congressional races and in par5 ticular to encourage the U.S. public to oppose pro6 Ukraine policies and politicians.’’ 

7 (27) In September 2024, the Biden administra8 tion announced a broad effort to counter Russia’s 

9 influence campaigns in the 2024 election, including 

10 through sanctions, indictments, and seizing of web 

11 domains that United States officials say the Kremlin 

12 uses to spread propaganda and disinformation. 

13 (28) A nearly 300-page FBI affidavit lays out 

14 a broad, Kremlin-backed effort to seed fake news 

15 stories to attack United States politicians supporting 

16 Ukraine in the war against Russia and stoke ten17 sions in United States society. 

18 (29) In September 2024, the State Department 

19 announced forthcoming designations of 5 Russian 

20 state-funded news outlets, including RT, Ruptly and 

21 Sputnik, as foreign government missions and restrict 

22 the issuance of visas to people working for Kremlin23 supported media institutions. 

24 (30) In a September 2024 report, the Founda25 tion for the Defense of Democracies identified 19 


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1 websites that Iran has used to spread disinformation 

2 through what appear to be American and foreign 

3 news outlets. 

4 (31) In August 2024, the FBI and United 

5 States intelligence agencies stated the Iranian gov6 ernment was behind a hack and leak operation tar7 geting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and 

8 also attempted to target the Biden-Harris campaign. 

9 (32) The dictators running these countries of 

10 concern would never stand for free, fair, and open 

11 elections themselves because they fear their own peo12 ple and prioritize their power over them above all 

13 else. 

14 SEC. 3. REQUIRING THE PRESIDENT TO NOTIFY CONGRESS 

15 AND TAKE CERTAIN ACTIONS IN RESPONSE 

16 TO ANY ATTEMPT BY A COUNTRY OF CON17 CERN TO AFFECT UNITED STATES ELEC18 TIONS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the President determines that 

20 the government, or an individual acting on behalf of the 

21 government, of a country of concern is attempting to af22 fect the outcome of any Federal, State, or local election 

23 through the dissemination of disinformation, the President 

24 shall— 


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1 (1) not later than 30 days after making such 

2 determination, notify the appropriate committees of 

3 Congress of— 

4 (A) such attempt; and 

5 (B) any actions the President intends to 

6 take under paragraph (2), including any waiver 

7 of the disclosure of information described in 

8 such paragraph under subsection (b); and 

9 (2) subject to subsections (b) and (c), take ac10 tion, including through international media and 

11 media available in the country of concern in ques12 tion, or through any other means available to the 

13 United States, to reveal any information the United 

14 States Government has in its possession relating to 

15 any unexplained wealth, corruption, or malfeasance 

16 of any senior official of the government in question, 

17 their family members, or the political party or par18 ties which govern it, to as many of the citizens as 

19 possible in such country of concern. 

20 (b) WAIVER OF DISCLOSURE.—The President may 

21 waive the disclosure of information under subsection 

22 (a)(2) if the President determines that the disclosure of 

23 such information would be detrimental to the national in24 terest. In the case where the President waives such disclo25 sure, the President shall submit to the appropriate comVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 04, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5365.IS S5365

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1 mittees of Congress an explanation of why the disclosure 

2 of such information would be detrimental to the national 

3 interest. 

4 (c) TREATMENT OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.— 

5 The release or disclosure of classified information under 

6 subsection (a)(2) shall be subject to the standards and 

7 procedures established under Executive Order 13526 (50 

8 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national security 

9 information). 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON12 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con13 gress’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

15 the Senate; 

16 (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence 

17 of the Senate; 

18 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

19 the House of Representatives; and 

20 (D) the Permanent Select Committee on 

21 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

22 (2) COUNTRY OF CONCERN.—The term ‘‘coun23 try of concern’’ has the meaning given to the term 

24 ‘‘covered nation’’ in section 4872(d)(2) of title 10, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (3) DISINFORMATION.—The term 

2 ‘‘disinformation’’ means any false information or de3 piction that is deliberately meant to mislead. 

Æ 


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