Russia Denies Claims of Backing for Trump in US Election

Dmitry Peskov slammed the idea Moscow will attempt to help President Donald Trump achieve re-election as being of "paranoid character", RT reported.

He was responding to US media reports which claimed US intelligence has warned politicians that Moscow is already laying the groundwork to get behind the Republican Party incumbent.

CNN, quoting its usual anonymous sources, told of a briefing where Russian readiness to use hacking, the 'weaponization' of social media, and attacks on election infrastructure was outlined.

The new scare has echoes of the hysteria around the 2016 campaign when Trump unexpectedly beat favorite Hillary Clinton. That led of years of speculation, much of it often xenophobic, before special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation found no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.

"Unfortunately, there will be more and more [paranoia] as we approach the elections," Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Friday afternoon.

The New York Times, also relying on unnamed 'insiders,' kicked of the latest furore on Thursday evening when it reported how "intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected... a disclosure to Congress that angered Mr. Trump, who complained that Democrats would use it against him."