What’s in the President’s Executive Order on Election Interference?
On September 12 2018, President Donald Trump signed executive order 13848 (1), an order which looks to “Impose certain sanctions in the event of foreign interference in a United States election”. What exactly does this mean and what does the President look to achieve through this order?
The executive order opens by expressing worry that United States elections may be undermined or manipulated by foreign persons or entities stating, “…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.” (2) Further along the order states in no uncertain terms that there has been no evidence of foreign interference in United States elections, but with the increased use of digital devices and internet based communications, it has created significant vulnerabilities in the voting system.
The President declared a national emergency to deal with this threat, which was extended in a White House statement on September 10th 2020 claiming the threat continues, and extending the national emergency for another year (3).
Section 1a of the executive order appears to speak of United States federal agencies coming together with the Director of National Intelligence to compile and file any evidence that a foreign entity may have interfered in an election. Going on to say, “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” (4). While section 1b goes into a little more depth on what’s expected in two parts.
Sections 2 and 3 of the executive order continue on with separate ways to impose sanctions if a foreign entity happens to be caught committing election fraud in the United States. Section 2 focuses more on the Department of Treasury invoking sanctions allowing the Secretary of the Treasury alongside the Attorney General, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to block all property and interests in property if foreign persons are seen;
(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. (5)
Section 3 although still needing consultation with Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and other appropriate agencies, gives the President power to impose additional sanctions against foreign persons where appropriate (6). Also stating that “Any recommended sanctions shall be appropriately calibrated to the scope of the foreign interference identified ”. (7)
It is interesting that this executive order was signed in 2018 with all the election fraud claims currently around the United States election. Perhaps this executive order will come in to play.
-Trent Naz
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Source List
(1) Homeland Security Digital Library. 2020. Executive Order 13848: Imposing Certain Sanctions In The Event Of Foreign Interference In A United States Election. [online] Available at: <https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=815661> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(2) Trump, D., 2020. Executive Order On Imposing Certain Sanctions In The Event Of Foreign Interference In A United States Election. [online] The White House. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(3) Trump, D., 2020. Text Of A Notice On Continuation Of The National Emergency With Respect To Foreign Interference In Or Undermining Public Confidence In U.S. Elections. [online] The White House. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/text-notice-continuation-national-emergency-respect-foreign-interference-undermining-public-confidence-u-s-elections/> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(Image2) Trump, D., 2020. Text Of A Notice On Continuation Of The National Emergency With Respect To Foreign Interference In Or Undermining Public Confidence In U.S. Elections. [online] The White House. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/text-notice-continuation-national-emergency-respect-foreign-interference-undermining-public-confidence-u-s-elections/> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(4) Trump, D., 2020. Executive Order On Imposing Certain Sanctions In The Event Of Foreign Interference In A United States Election. [online] The White House. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(Image3) Trump, D., 2020. Executive Order On Imposing Certain Sanctions In The Event Of Foreign Interference In A United States Election. [online] The White House. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(5) Trump, D., 2020. Executive Order On Imposing Certain Sanctions In The Event Of Foreign Interference In A United States Election. [online] The White House. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(6) Homeland Security Digital Library. 2020. Executive Order 13848: Imposing Certain Sanctions In The Event Of Foreign Interference In A United States Election. [online] Available at: <https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=815661> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
(7) Trump, D., 2020. Executive Order On Imposing Certain Sanctions In The Event Of Foreign Interference In A United States Election. [online] The White House. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/> [Accessed 5 December 2020].
