A CNN investigation examined how the dismantling of many of the federal programs built over the past decade to counter foreign election interference, from the shuttering of ODNI's Foreign Malign Influence Center to sweeping cuts at CISA and the FBI. The piece drew on a previously unreported Cyber Command operation against Russian trolls ahead of the 2024 election to illustrate what is now at risk of going undetected.
Alethea's research contributed evidence of that risk in the 2025 off-year elections. As the reporting detailed, Alethea identified Chinese state-owned media accounts repeatedly amplifying attacks on NYC Mayor (then mayoral candidate) Zohran Mamdani. Alethea also tracked a shift among pro-Iranian accounts, which went from attacking Mamdani to labeling him a "Zionist apologist" after he made outreach efforts to Jewish voters in the city.
The findings illustrate a pattern Alethea has tracked well beyond the 2025 cycle: foreign-linked accounts don't need a general election to be active, and off-year and local races are proving to be a consistent testing ground for narratives later scaled into bigger contests.
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