ELECTION/RUSSIA/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States issued new economic sanctions on Monday [9-30-19] against seven Russians linked to an internet troll factory in what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a warning to foreigners who seek to interfere in American elections. The penalties were announced as Congress is investigating whether President Trump tried to enlist Ukraine’s leader in a political smear campaign against one of his top Democratic challengers in 2020, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr…The Treasury Department said the sanctions sought to punish attempts to influence the 2018 midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of the House. Early last year, the Justice Department indicted 13 Russians and companies linked to the Internet Research Agency on charges of meddling in the 2016 presidential election.”
–Lara Jakes, “With Sanctions on Russians, U.S. Warns Against Foreign Election Meddling,” The New York Times online, September 30, 2019