U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

79–011 2018

115th Congress, 2d Session – – – – – – – – – – – – House Document 115–152 

NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN 

INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS 

MESSAGE 

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRANSMITTING

AN EXECUTIVE ORDER DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY TO 

DEAL WITH THE THREAT OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

UNITED STATES ELECTIONS, PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 1703(b); 

PUBLIC LAW 95–223 SEC. 204(b); (91 STAT. 1627) 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018.—Message and accompanying papers referred to the 

Committees on Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, Intelligence (Permanent 

Select), and House Administration and ordered to be printed 


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To the Congress of the United States: 

Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 

(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 

1601 et seq.), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States 

Code, I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat of foreign interference in United States elections and authorizing the United 

States Government to impose a range of appropriate and meaningful sanctions against foreign individuals and entities determined to 

have engaged in election interference. 

Foreign powers have historically sought to exploit America’s free 

and open political system. In recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and internet-based communications has created significant vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and intensity of the 

threat of foreign interference. To deal with this threat, I have directed the Director of National Intelligence to conduct regular assessments of any information indicating that foreign election interference has taken place. I have also directed the Attorney General 

and Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct evaluations of the 

effects of any such interference that targeted election infrastructure or campaign-related infrastructure, and to provide updates 

and recommendations on appropriate measures to take in response. 

In the event foreign election interference is determined to have 

occurred, the Executive Order provides for the imposition of sanctions on foreign persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to have engaged 

in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in the interference, as well as other related persons. The Executive Order further directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to develop additional recommended sanctions measures, appropriately calibrated to account for the severity of the interference 

and any collateral effects on United States and allied financial stability and economic and security interests, targeting companies in 

significant economic sectors in a country whose government is determined to have engaged in or sponsored election interference. 

I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued. 

DONALD J. TRUMP. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, September 12, 2018. 


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EXECUTIVE ORDER

IMPOSING CERTAIN SANCTIONS IN THE EVENT OF FOREIGN

INTERFERENCE IN A UNITED STATES ELECTION

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) 

(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

(NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 

1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States 

Code, 

I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the ability of persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States to interfere in or undermine 

public confidence in United States elections, including through the 

unauthorized accessing of election and campaign infrastructure or 

the covert distribution of propaganda and disinformation, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Although there has 

been no evidence of a foreign power altering the outcome or vote 

tabulation in any United States election, foreign powers have historically sought to exploit America’s free and open political system. 

In recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and internetbased communications has created significant vulnerabilities and 

magnified the scope and intensity of the threat of foreign interference, as illustrated in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this 

threat. 

Accordingly, I hereby order: 

Section 1. (a) Not later than 45 days after the conclusion of a 

United States election, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the heads of any other appropriate executive departments and agencies (agencies), shall conduct an assessment of any 

information indicating that a foreign government, or any person 

acting as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign government, has 

acted with the intent or purpose of interfering in that election. The 

assessment shall identify, to the maximum extent ascertainable, 

the nature of any foreign interference and any methods employed 

to execute it, the persons involved, and the foreign government or 

governments that authorized, directed, sponsored, or supported it. 

The Director of National Intelligence shall deliver this assessment 

and appropriate supporting information to the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security. 


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(b) Within 45 days of receiving the assessment and information 

described in section 1(a) of this order, the Attorney General and 

the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the heads 

of any other appropriate agencies and, as appropriate, State and 

local officials, shall deliver to the President, the Secretary of State, 

the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Defense a report evaluating, with respect to the United States election that is 

the subject of the assessment described in section 1(a): 

(i) the extent to which any foreign interference that targeted 

election infrastructure materially affected the security or integrity of that infrastructure, the tabulation of votes, or the timely 

transmission of election results; and 

(ii) if any foreign interference involved activities targeting 

the infrastructure of, or pertaining to, a political organization, 

campaign, or candidate, the extent to which such activities materially affected the security or integrity of that infrastructure, 

including by unauthorized access to, disclosure or threatened 

disclosure of, or alteration or falsification of, information or 

data. 

The report shall identify any material issues of fact with respect 

to these matters that the Attorney General and the Secretary of 

Homeland Security are unable to evaluate or reach agreement on 

at the time the report is submitted. The report shall also include 

updates and recommendations, when appropriate, regarding remedial actions to be taken by the United States Government, other 

than the sanctions described in sections 2 and 3 of this order. 

(c) Heads of all relevant agencies shall transmit to the Director 

of National Intelligence any information relevant to the execution 

of the Director’s duties pursuant to this order, as appropriate and 

consistent with applicable law. If relevant information emerges 

after the submission of the report mandated by section 1(a) of this 

order, the Director, in consultation with the heads of any other appropriate agencies, shall amend the report, as appropriate, and the 

Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

amend the report required by section 1(b), as appropriate. 

(d) Nothing in this order shall prevent the head of any agency 

or any other appropriate official from tendering to the President, 

at any time through an appropriate channel, any analysis, information, assessment, or evaluation of foreign interference in a United 

States election. 

(e) If information indicating that foreign interference in a State, 

tribal, or local election within the United States has occurred is 

identified, it may be included, as appropriate, in the assessment 

mandated by section 1(a) of this order or in the report mandated 

by section 1(b) of this order, or submitted to the President in an 

independent report. 

(f) Not later than 30 days following the date of this order, the 

Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney 

General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of 

National Intelligence shall develop a framework for the process 

that will be used to carry out their respective responsibilities pursuant to this order. The framework, which may be classified in 

whole or in part, shall focus on ensuring that agencies fulfill their 

responsibilities pursuant to this order in a manner that maintains 


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methodological consistency; protects law enforcement or other sensitive information and intelligence sources and methods; maintains 

an appropriate separation between intelligence functions and policy 

and legal judgments; ensures that efforts to protect electoral processes and institutions are insulated from political bias; and respects the principles of free speech and open debate. 

Sec. 2. (a) All property and interests in property that are in the 

United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or 

that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any 

United States person of the following persons are blocked and may 

not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt 

in: any foreign person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, 

in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, 

and the Secretary of Homeland Security: 

(i) to have directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in a 

United States election; 

(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services 

to or in support of, any activity described in subsection (a)(i) 

of this section or any person whose property and interests in 

property are blocked pursuant to this order; or 

(iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order. 

(b) Executive Order 13694 of April 1, 2015, as amended by Executive Order 13757 of December 28, 2016, remains in effect. This 

order is not intended to, and does not, serve to limit the Secretary 

of the Treasury’s discretion to exercise the authorities provided in 

Executive Order 13694. Where appropriate, the Secretary of the 

Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, may exercise the authorities described in Executive 

Order 13694 or other authorities in conjunction with the Secretary 

of the Treasury’s exercise of authorities provided in this order. 

(c) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except 

to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and 

notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit 

granted prior to the date of this order. 

Sec. 3. Following the transmission of the assessment mandated 

by section 1(a) and the report mandated by section 1(b): 

(a) the Secretary of the Treasury shall review the assessment 

mandated by section 1(a) and the report mandated by section 1(b), 

and, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, impose all appropriate sanctions pursuant to section 2(a) of this order and any appropriate sanctions described in section 2(b) of this order; and 

(b) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, in 

consultation with the heads of other appropriate agencies, shall 

jointly prepare a recommendation for the President as to whether 

additional sanctions against foreign persons may be appropriate in 

response to the identified foreign interference and in light of the 

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cluding, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, proposed sanctions with respect to the largest business entities licensed or domiciled in a country whose government authorized, directed, sponsored, or supported election interference, including at 

least one entity from each of the following sectors: financial services, defense, energy, technology, and transportation (or, if inapplicable to that country’s largest business entities, sectors of comparable strategic significance to that foreign government). The recommendation shall include an assessment of the effect of the recommended sanctions on the economic and national security interests of the United States and its allies. Any recommended sanctions shall be appropriately calibrated to the scope of the foreign 

interference identified, and may include one or more of the following with respect to each targeted foreign person: 

(i) blocking and prohibiting all transactions in a person’s 

property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction; 

(ii) export license restrictions under any statute or regulation 

that requires the prior review and approval of the United 

States Government as a condition for the export or re-export 

of goods or services; 

(iii) prohibitions on United States financial institutions making loans or providing credit to a person; 

(iv) restrictions on transactions in foreign exchange in which 

a person has any interest; 

(v) prohibitions on transfers of credit or payments between 

financial institutions, or by, through, or to any financial institution, for the benefit of a person; 

(vi) prohibitions on United States persons investing in or 

purchasing equity or debt of a person; 

(vii) exclusion of a person’s alien corporate officers from the 

United States; 

(viii) imposition on a person’s alien principal executive officers of any of the sanctions described in this section; or 

(ix) any other measures authorized by law. 

Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the 

type of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 

1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property 

and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would 

seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 2 of this order. 

Sec. 5. The prohibitions in section 2 of this order include the following: 

(a) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, 

or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property 

and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and 

(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, 

or services from any such person. 

Sec. 6. I hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens whose property 

and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would 

be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and I hereby 

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immigrants, of such persons. Such persons shall be treated as persons covered by section 1 of Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011 

(Suspension of Entry of Aliens Subject to United Nations Security 

Council Travel Bans and International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions). 

Sec. 7. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose 

of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate 

any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited. 

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set 

forth in this order is prohibited. 

Sec. 8. For the purposes of this order: 

(a) the term ‘‘person’’ means an individual or entity; 

(b) the term ‘‘entity’’ means a partnership, association, trust, 

joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; 

(c) the term ‘‘United States person’’ means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of 

the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person (including a foreign person) in the United States; 

(d) the term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means information and 

communications technology and systems used by or on behalf of the 

Federal Government or a State or local government in managing 

the election process, including voter registration databases, voting 

machines, voting tabulation equipment, and equipment for the secure transmission of election results; 

(e) the term ‘‘United States election’’ means any election for Federal office held on, or after, the date of this order; 

(f) the term ‘‘foreign interference,’’ with respect to an election, includes any covert, fraudulent, deceptive, or unlawful actions or attempted actions of a foreign government, or of any person acting 

as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign government, undertaken 

with the purpose or effect of influencing, undermining confidence 

in, or altering the result or reported result of, the election, or undermining public confidence in election processes or institutions; 

(g) the term ‘‘foreign government’’ means any national, state, provincial, or other governing authority, any political party, or any official of any governing authority or political party, in each case of 

a country other than the United States; 

(h) the term ‘‘covert,’’ with respect to an action or attempted action, means characterized by an intent or apparent intent that the 

role of a foreign government will not be apparent or acknowledged 

publicly; and 

(i) the term ‘‘State’’ means the several States or any of the territories, dependencies, or possessions of the United States. 

Sec. 9. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice 

to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order 

would render those measures ineffectual. I therefore determine 

that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national 

emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice of 

a listing or determination made pursuant to section 2 of this order. 


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Sec. 10. Nothing in this order shall prohibit transactions for the 

conduct of the official business of the United States Government by 

employees, grantees, or contractors thereof. 

Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized 

to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by 

IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. 

The Secretary of the Treasury may re-delegate any of these functions to other officers within the Department of the Treasury consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order. 

Sec. 12. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized 

to submit the recurring and final reports to the Congress on the 

national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 

401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA 

(50 U.S.C. 1703(c)). 

Sec. 13. This order shall be implemented consistent with 50 

U.S.C. 1702(b)(1) and (3). 

Sec. 14. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or 

otherwise affect: 

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department 

or agency, or the head thereof; or 

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative 

proposals. 

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable 

law and subject to the availability of appropriations. 

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right 

or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

DONALD J. TRUMP. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, September 12, 2018. 

Æ 


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