Breaking: Facing pressure from lawmakers to beef up election security, President Donald Trump signed an executive order today that would impose sanctions on any person or country that attempts to interfere in U.S. elections.
The new order sets up a framework for intelligence agencies to investigate whether foreign actors are attempting to influence any aspect of the electoral process.
The Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, would then turn over any significant findings to the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to determine whether to move ahead with sanctions.
Sanctions would include the blocking of assets belonging to the person or entity, but the State and Treasury departments could also seek more expansive sanctions, such as curtailing access to U.S. financial markets.
