Pelosi calls Iran ‘bad actor’ but not equivalent to Russia on election interference

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said Iran is a “bad actor” but not on par with Russia in terms of seeking to influence the U.S. election. 

Pelosi and other Democrats sought to draw attention on Russian interference after Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe warned Wednesday both countries are behind efforts to sway public opinion related to the presidential election. 

He particularly called out Iran as being behind spoofed emails to registered voters that he said aimed to damage President Trump, but Pelosi said Ratcliffe is suggesting a false equivalence regarding interference efforts from Iran and Russia.  

“I will be very interested to hear what they have to say in a classified briefing, because everything we have seen in the public domain does not justify the statements that we heard yesterday,” Pelosi said at a press conference Thursday, regarding Ratcliffe’s comments the night before. 

“Russia is the villain here from what we have seen in the public domain,” Pelosi added. “Iran is a bad actor but in no way equivalent. And they always try to find some equivalence to protect their friend, Russia.”

She spoke to reporters shortly before receiving a classified briefing on the intelligence about the efforts. 

Pelosi’s remarks are in line with similar critical comments from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) the night before, after he received a classified briefing. He said on MSNBC the briefing did not convince him the effort is aimed at any particular candidate.

“I’m not saying what he told me in their briefing, I can tell you that from the briefing I had the strong impression it was much rather to undermine confidence in elections and not aimed at any particular figure, but rather to undermine the very wellspring of our democracy,” Schumer said. 

National Counterintelligence and Security Director William Evanina in August warned of ongoing election interference by China, Russia and Iran. He said that China prefers Trump not win reelection and Iran seeks to undermine both Trump and U.S. institutions, while Russia is working to “primarily denigrate” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. 

Ratcliffe’s comments Wednesday evening about Iranian interference came after registered voters in several states reported receiving emails from domains purporting to be far-right group Proud Boys that threatened recipients to vote for Trump or face consequences. 

Individuals affiliated with the Proud Boys had denied sending the emails before Ratcliffe’s press conference, according to The Washington Post.