Long Island members of Congress have asked national security leaders to investigate whether foreign adversaries are stoking hate crimes in the U.S.
Reps. Tom Suozzi, Congressman Peter King, Kathleen Rice, Gregory Meeks and Lee Zeldin sent a letter to top-ranking national security officials calling for an investigation into foreign adversaries continuing use of social media and other efforts to foment hate and civil unrest across America.
The letter comes after several anti-Semitic attacks in New York and New Jersey. It said, “We are requesting that your offices specifically investigate potential state-sponsored campaigns by our foreign adversaries to sow civil unrest in America using social media disinformation campaigns, corruption and foreign actors. The power of social media provides nefarious actors the ability to exploit ignorance and spread hate, in an effort to undermine national unity for their strategic interest. In addition to tanks, missiles and soldiers, we must be conscious of our adversaries’ efforts to undermine our nation using cyberspace, economic systems and corruption.”
Letters were sent to: Mark Esper, secretary of defense; Gina Haspel, director of the Central Intelligence Agency; Chad Wolf, acting secretary of Homeland Security; and Christopher Wray, FBI director.