The United States government has confirmed that Andrii Derkach is a Russian agent and they have sanctioned him for attempting to influence the 2020 election. This is a great step for our government because it shows that they are finally cracking down on Russian interference.

This announcement has also had the effect of both Democrats and Republicans questioning the credibility of President Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who worked with Derkach to produce and spread anti-Biden propaganda. Trump also continuously refuses to acknowledge that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to benefit his campaign even though it has been confirmed by the United States Intelligence Agencies and the Senate Intelligence Committee.

I believe that Trump is saying some of the outrageous things that he is in order to overshadow the meddling of Russia in the upcoming election. If we look back throughout Trump’s presidency, we can see that he has used this same strategy with numerous issues since he started running for president.

The Russians have a history of meddling but the meddling in the 2016 election and the upcoming election has come to the forefront. According to the former director of the National Security Agency, Mike Rogers, this is due to the larger scale of the effort and the fact that it wasn’t just cyber-attacks.

It was an “aggressive disinformation campaign.” Rogers also said that President “Vladimir Putin himself directed this activity and we watched the subordinate elements in the Russian government then executing this strategy that he had approved.” Now we know the level of coercion, and we know that our government can no longer accept it.

Although, the main problem is finding a way to remedy the problem without the government violating our First Amendment right of free speech.

My worry is that the White House is downplaying the threat from Russia to aid President Trump’s campaign. In my opinion the most upsetting part of the Russian meddling is the way that it has hurt our faith in democracy and trust in our federal government. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said, “It’s dangerous, because if they’re not sharing this information with the American people, the country isn’t protected.”

Lindsey Ulrey is a freshman political science major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or lrulrey@eiu.edu.