国际英语资讯:President Trump authorizes sanctions against U.S. elections meddling_时事

国际英语资讯:President Trump authorizes sanctions against U.S. elections meddling

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 -- U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on Wednesday to punish any foreign interference in U.S. elections, a latest attempt by the administration to show its resolution to fight against elections meddling, said U.S. officials.

The order will direct the intelligence community to assess if any foreign individual, entity or country has interfered in a U.S. election, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told reporters at a conference call held at Wednesday noon.

After an up-to-45-day assessing period, the gathered information will be passed to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, who also have 45 days to decide if they should go forward with the sanctions, explained National Security Advisor John Bolton who jointed the call.

The sanctions will be automatically triggered if any foreign interference has been found, said Coats, adding that the U.S. State and Treasury departments, sharing the intelligence information, could impose additional sanctions "if the automatic sanctions we deem is not enough."

The sanctions could include blocking the assets of the individuals and entities within the U.S. jurisdiction, prohibiting U.S. individuals and entities from engaging in transactions with or investing in the entities involved.

Bolton, describing the order as a mandate that "goes to any action that's taken with the intent of interfering in the election," also said it was not "country-specific."