Russia & U.S. electionsFBI investigating fake documents targeting Clinton campaign

The FBI, as part of a broader investigation into attempts by Russia to interfere in and influence the U.S. presidential election, is examining forged documents aiming to discredit and disrupt the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The Daily Mail reports that Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware), who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has referred one of the fake documents to FBI investigators, informing the agency that his name and stationery were forged to appear authentic.

The forged document was made to look like a letter Carper was writing to Clinton, in which Carper is quoted as saying that DHS had advised him of a risk that a “massive” cyberattack “could change the election results in favor of a specific candidate.” The forged document, dated 3 October, was obtained by Reuters.

It concludes, “Any suspicious incident will be immediately reported to your assistants so that a recount of votes could be timely organized. You will not lose the election because of some compromised electronic voting systems.”

Law enforcement sources told the Mail that the fake Carper letter is one of several documents handed over to the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice for review in recent weeks.

Meghan Pennington, Carper spokeswoman, confirmed on Friday that the senator had sent a copy of the letter to the FBI and the Senate’s chief law enforcement officer.

“Our office became aware of a fake letter on Senator Carper’s official letterhead and immediately referred it to federal law enforcement to investigate its genesis,” Pennington said.

As part of an on-going investigation into Russian hacking, FBI investigators have also asked officials of the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign to provide copies of other suspected faked documents that have been circulating along with e-mails and other documents which appear legitimate, and which have been taken by the Russian government hackers, people involved in the investigation 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 on-going investigation said the FBI was examining other fake documents which have recently come to light.

U.S. officials have been privately warning since August that the Russian government agencies orchestrating the hacking campaign could move beyond hacking the e-mail systems ofthe Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign, to include posting fictional “evidence” of voter fraud or other disinformation in the run-up to Election Day.

The Mail reports that among the forged documents it is now investigating, the FBI has been reviewing a seven-page electronic document that carries the logos of Democratic pollster Joel Benenson’s firm, the Benenson Strategy Group, and the Clinton Foundation. Benenson is the Clinton campaign’s chief strategist.

The document, which was identified as a fake by both the Clinton campaign and the Clinton Foundation, claims that in order to counter-act plunging poll ratings for Clinton, the campaign should consider “severe strategy changes for November” which may include “staged civil unrest” and “radiological attack” with dirty bombs to disrupt the vote.

The FBI has not yet determined how the document where the fraudulent document had originated or how it had begun to circulate.

On 20 October, Roger Stone, a Republican operative and a former Trump aide, linked to a copy of the fake document on Twitter with the tag, “If this is real: OMG!!”

Craig Minassian, a spokesman for the Clinton Foundation, said the document was “fake.”

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 e-mails by Wikileaks.