LONDON (AP) – The British government on Thursday accused “Russian actors” of interfering in the uk’s last general election, and a tough committee of lawmakers showed that it would publish a long-awaited report on Moscow’s past accusations of interference in the days.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers in a brief that it was “almost certain” that anonymous Americans had “attempted to interfere” in the December 2019 election by expanding “illegally acquired and disclosed government documents” online. Raab also said that “a criminal investigation was underway” into how the documents were obtained.
UNITED KINGDOM USA. documents Industry negotiations were used through Jeremy Corthroughn, then leader of the main opposition Labour Party, to support his claims that the Conservative government is preparing to “sell” the National Health Service.
Newspapers are thought to have given the impression online a few months earlier, but did little to gain popularity until they were picked up through the Labour crusade and highlighted at a press convention in November. After his revelation, the online discussion site Reddit said his own research had linked his appearance to a Russian crossover of misinformation.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Raab “vague and contradictory” and called on the UK to “present facts” to support the allegations.
“On the one hand, there is no evidence, on the other hand, there are safe imaginable retaliatory measures,” Zakharova said at his weekly press conference. “These are mutually exclusive things.”
The UK also joined the US and Canada on Thursday by accusing Russia of hunting to use data borrowed from researchers for a coronavirus vaccine.
Raab’s alleged interference in the election came when the newly installed Intelligence and Security Committee in Parliament announced that it would publish the report on past allegations of Russian interference before the start of Parliament’s summer recess next week. The committee has a broad and largely secret role in overseeing the UK’s intelligence and security services.
It has not been able to publish the report since it was compiled last year after Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to publish it before the December election. The report must be approved through the government before it can be made public.
Johnson has been bullied through questions about the unpublished report for months, which he says about any Russian involvement in the 2016 Brexit campaign, in which Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Labour accused the government of not publishing the report because it would raise questions about Russia’s ties to Johnson’s Brexit campaign.
The resolution to publish the report came a day after the formation of the Intelligence and Security Committee for the existing legislature. The first action by the committee to reject the government’s favorite candidate to lead him.
The nine-member committee elected lawmaker Julian Lewis as its chairman. The position is expected to pass to a former minister, Chris Grayling, who is a staunch supporter of Johnson.
A political typhoon ensued and Lewis was expelled from the party group in Parliament. Lewis said the resolution to take him out of his “strange” conservative prestige given that the committee is destined to be out of government influence.