The FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies are examining
faked documents aimed at discrediting the Hillary Clinton campaign as part of a
broader investigation into what U.S. officials believe has been an attempt by
Russia to disrupt the presidential election, people with knowledge of the
matter said.
U.S. Senator Tom Carper, a Democrat on the Senate Homeland
Security Committee, has referred one of the documents to the FBI for
investigation on the grounds that his name and stationery were forged to appear
authentic, some of the sources who had knowledge of that discussion said.
In the letter identified as fake, Carper is quoted
as writing to Clinton, “We will not let you lose this election,” a person who
saw the document told Reuters.
The fake Carper letter, which was described to
Reuters, is one of several documents presented to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and the U.S. Department of Justice for review in recent weeks, the sources
said.
A spokeswoman for Carper declined to comment.
As part of an investigation into suspected Russian
hacking, FBI investigators have also asked Democratic Party officials to
provide copies of other suspected faked documents that have been circulating
along with emails and other legitimate documents taken in the hack, people
involved in those conversations said.
A spokesman for the FBI confirmed the agency was “in
receipt of a complaint about an alleged fake letter” related to the election
but declined further comment. Others with knowledge of the matter said the FBI
was also examining other fake documents that recently surfaced.
U.S. intelligence officials have warned privately
that a campaign they believe is backed by the Russian government to undermine
the credibility of the U.S. presidential election could move beyond the hacking
of Democratic Party email systems. That could include posting fictional
evidence of voter fraud or other disinformation in the run-up to voting on Nov.
8, U.S. officials have said.
Russian officials deny any such effort.
In addition to the Carper letter, the FBI has also
reviewed a seven-page electronic document that carries the logos of Democratic
pollster Joel Benenson’s firm, the Benenson Strategy Group, and the Clinton
Foundation, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The document, identified as a fake by the Clinton
campaign, claims poll ratings had plunged for Clinton and called for “severe
strategy changes for November” that could include “staged civil unrest” and
“radiological attack” with dirty bombs to disrupt the vote.
Like the Carper letter, it was not immediately clear
where the fraudulent document had originated or how it had begun to
circulate.
On Oct. 20, Roger Stone, a former Trump aide and
Republican operative, linked to a copy of the document on Twitter with the tag,
“If this is real: OMG!!”
Benenson’s firm had no immediate comment. Craig
Minassian, a spokesman for the Clinton Foundation, said the document was
“fake.” He said he did not know if the FBI had examined it.
A spokesman for the Clinton campaign, Glen Caplin,
said the document was a fake and part of a “desperate stunt” to capitalize on
the leak of Democratic emails by Wikileaks.
The developments highlight the unusually prominent
role U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies have played in a
contentious election and an ongoing debate about how public they can or should
be about their inquiries.
FBI Director James Comey, a Republican appointed by
President Obama, touched off an outcry from Democrats last week when he alerted
Congress that agents had found other emails that could be linked to an inquiry
into Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was Secretary of State,
effectively re-opening an investigation he had closed in July.
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