Presidential DocumentExecutive Order 138482018-20203
Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election
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Published
September 14, 2018
Signed
September 12, 2018
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 179 (Friday, September 14, 2018)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 179 (Friday, September 14, 2018)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 46843-46848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20203]
[[Page 46841]]
Vol. 83
Friday,
No. 179
September 14, 2018
Part IV
The President
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Executive Order 13848--Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of
Foreign Interference in a United States Election
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 179 / Friday, September 14, 2018 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 46843]]
Executive Order 13848 of September 12, 2018
Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of
Foreign Interference in a United States Election
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)
(NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section
301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of
America, find that the ability of persons located, in
whole or in substantial part, outside the United States
to interfere in or undermine public confidence in
United States elections, including through the
unauthorized accessing of election and campaign
infrastructure or the covert distribution of propaganda
and disinformation, constitutes an unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security and
foreign policy of the United States. Although there has
been no evidence of a foreign power altering the
outcome or vote tabulation in any United States
election, foreign powers have historically sought to
exploit America's free and open political system. In
recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and
internet-based communications has created significant
vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and intensity
of the threat of foreign interference, as illustrated
in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. I hereby
declare a national emergency to deal with this threat.
Accordingly, I hereby order:
Section 1. (a) Not later than 45 days after the
conclusion of a United States election, the Director of
National Intelligence, in consultation with the heads
of any other appropriate executive departments and
agencies (agencies), shall conduct an assessment of any
information indicating that a foreign government, or
any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of a
foreign government, has acted with the intent or
purpose of interfering in that election. The assessment
shall identify, to the maximum extent ascertainable,
the nature of any foreign interference and any methods
employed to execute it, the persons involved, and the
foreign government or governments that authorized,
directed, sponsored, or supported it. The Director of
National Intelligence shall deliver this assessment and
appropriate supporting information to the President,
the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury,
the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the
Secretary of Homeland Security.
(b) Within 45 days of receiving the assessment and
information described in section 1(a) of this order,
the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland
Security, in consultation with the heads of any other
appropriate agencies and, as appropriate, State and
local officials, shall deliver to the President, the
Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and
the Secretary of Defense a report evaluating, with
respect to the United States election that is the
subject of the assessment described in section 1(a):
(i) the extent to which any foreign interference that targeted election
infrastructure materially affected the security or integrity of that
infrastructure, the tabulation of votes, or the timely transmission of
election results; and
(ii) if any foreign interference involved activities targeting the
infrastructure of, or pertaining to, a political organization, campaign, or
candidate, the
[[Page 46844]]
extent to which such activities materially affected the security or
integrity of that infrastructure, including by unauthorized access to,
disclosure or threatened disclosure of, or alteration or falsification of,
information or data.
The report shall identify any material issues of fact
with respect to these matters that the Attorney General
and the Secretary of Homeland Security are unable to
evaluate or reach agreement on at the time the report
is submitted. The report shall also include updates and
recommendations, when appropriate, regarding remedial
actions to be taken by the United States Government,
other than the sanctions described in sections 2 and 3
of this order.
(c) Heads of all relevant agencies shall transmit
to the Director of National Intelligence any
information relevant to the execution of the Director's
duties pursuant to this order, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law. If relevant information
emerges after the submission of the report mandated by
section 1(a) of this order, the Director, in
consultation with the heads of any other appropriate
agencies, shall amend the report, as appropriate, and
the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland
Security shall amend the report required by section
1(b), as appropriate.
(d) Nothing in this order shall prevent the head of
any agency or any other appropriate official from
tendering to the President, at any time through an
appropriate channel, any analysis, information,
assessment, or evaluation of foreign interference in a
United States election.
(e) If information indicating that foreign
interference in a State, tribal, or local election
within the United States has occurred is identified, it
may be included, as appropriate, in the assessment
mandated by section 1(a) of this order or in the report
mandated by section 1(b) of this order, or submitted to
the President in an independent report.
(f) Not later than 30 days following the date of
this order, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Secretary of
Homeland Security, and the Director of National
Intelligence shall develop a framework for the process
that will be used to carry out their respective
responsibilities pursuant to this order. The framework,
which may be classified in whole or in part, shall
focus on ensuring that agencies fulfill their
responsibilities pursuant to this order in a manner
that maintains methodological consistency; protects law
enforcement or other sensitive information and
intelligence sources and methods; maintains an
appropriate separation between intelligence functions
and policy and legal judgments; ensures that efforts to
protect electoral processes and institutions are
insulated from political bias; and respects the
principles of free speech and open debate.
Sec. 2. (a) All property and interests in property that
are in the United States, that hereafter come within
the United States, or that are or hereafter come within
the possession or control of any United States person
of the following persons are blocked and may not be
transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise
dealt in: any foreign person determined by the
Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the
Secretary of Homeland Security:
(i) to have directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or
otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in a United States
election;
(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial,
material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in
support of, any activity described in subsection (a)(i) of this section or
any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to
this order; or
(iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act
for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property or
interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.
(b) Executive Order 13694 of April 1, 2015, as
amended by Executive Order 13757 of December 28, 2016,
remains in effect. This order is not
[[Page 46845]]
intended to, and does not, serve to limit the Secretary
of the Treasury's discretion to exercise the
authorities provided in Executive Order 13694. Where
appropriate, the Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Attorney General and the
Secretary of State, may exercise the authorities
described in Executive Order 13694 or other authorities
in conjunction with the Secretary of the Treasury's
exercise of authorities provided in this order.
(c) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this
section apply except to the extent provided by
statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or
licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and
notwithstanding any contract entered into or any
license or permit granted prior to the date of this
order.
Sec. 3. Following the transmission of the assessment
mandated by section 1(a) and the report mandated by
section 1(b):
(a) the Secretary of the Treasury shall review the
assessment mandated by section 1(a) and the report
mandated by section 1(b), and, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the
Secretary of Homeland Security, impose all appropriate
sanctions pursuant to section 2(a) of this order and
any appropriate sanctions described in section 2(b) of
this order; and
(b) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the heads of other
appropriate agencies, shall jointly prepare a
recommendation for the President as to whether
additional sanctions against foreign persons may be
appropriate in response to the identified foreign
interference and in light of the evaluation in the
report mandated by section 1(b) of this order,
including, as appropriate and consistent with
applicable law, proposed sanctions with respect to the
largest business entities licensed or domiciled in a
country whose government authorized, directed,
sponsored, or supported election interference,
including at least one entity from each of the
following sectors: financial services, defense, energy,
technology, and transportation (or, if inapplicable to
that country's largest business entities, sectors of
comparable strategic significance to that foreign
government). The recommendation shall include an
assessment of the effect of the recommended sanctions
on the economic and national security interests of the
United States and its allies. Any recommended sanctions
shall be appropriately calibrated to the scope of the
foreign interference identified, and may include one or
more of the following with respect to each targeted
foreign person:
(i) blocking and prohibiting all transactions in a person's property and
interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction;
(ii) export license restrictions under any statute or regulation that
requires the prior review and approval of the United States Government as a
condition for the export or re-export of goods or services;
(iii) prohibitions on United States financial institutions making loans or
providing credit to a person;
(iv) restrictions on transactions in foreign exchange in which a person has
any interest;
(v) prohibitions on transfers of credit or payments between financial
institutions, or by, through, or to any financial institution, for the
benefit of a person;
(vi) prohibitions on United States persons investing in or purchasing
equity or debt of a person;
(vii) exclusion of a person's alien corporate officers from the United
States;
(viii) imposition on a person's alien principal executive officers of any
of the sanctions described in this section; or
(ix) any other measures authorized by law.
Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations
of the type of articles specified in section 203(b)(2)
of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by,
[[Page 46846]]
to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and
interests in property are blocked pursuant to this
order would seriously impair my ability to deal with
the national emergency declared in this order, and I
hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 2
of this order.
Sec. 5. The prohibitions in section 2 of this order
include the following:
(a) the making of any contribution or provision of
funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of
any person whose property and interests in property are
blocked pursuant to this order; and
(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of
funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Sec. 6. I hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant
and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens
whose property and interests in property are blocked
pursuant to this order would be detrimental to the
interests of the United States, and I hereby suspend
entry into the United States, as immigrants or
nonimmigrants, of such persons. Such persons shall be
treated as persons covered by section 1 of Proclamation
8693 of July 24, 2011 (Suspension of Entry of Aliens
Subject to United Nations Security Council Travel Bans
and International Emergency Economic Powers Act
Sanctions).
Sec. 7. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has
the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation
of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set
forth in this order is prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the
prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 8. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term ``person'' means an individual or
entity;
(b) the term ``entity'' means a partnership,
association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group,
subgroup, or other organization;
(c) the term ``United States person'' means any
United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity
organized under the laws of the United States or any
jurisdiction within the United States (including
foreign branches), or any person (including a foreign
person) in the United States;
(d) the term ``election infrastructure'' means
information and communications technology and systems
used by or on behalf of the Federal Government or a
State or local government in managing the election
process, including voter registration databases, voting
machines, voting tabulation equipment, and equipment
for the secure transmission of election results;
(e) the term ``United States election'' means any
election for Federal office held on, or after, the date
of this order;
(f) the term ``foreign interference,'' with respect
to an election, includes any covert, fraudulent,
deceptive, or unlawful actions or attempted actions of
a foreign government, or of any person acting as an
agent of or on behalf of a foreign government,
undertaken with the purpose or effect of influencing,
undermining confidence in, or altering the result or
reported result of, the election, or undermining public
confidence in election processes or institutions;
(g) the term ``foreign government'' means any
national, state, provincial, or other governing
authority, any political party, or any official of any
governing authority or political party, in each case of
a country other than the United States;
(h) the term ``covert,'' with respect to an action
or attempted action, means characterized by an intent
or apparent intent that the role of a foreign
government will not be apparent or acknowledged
publicly; and
(i) the term ``State'' means the several States or
any of the territories, dependencies, or possessions of
the United States.
Sec. 9. For those persons whose property and interests
in property are blocked pursuant to this order who
might have a constitutional presence
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in the United States, I find that because of the
ability to transfer funds or other assets
instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of
measures to be taken pursuant to this order would
render those measures ineffectual. I therefore
determine that for these measures to be effective in
addressing the national emergency declared in this
order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or
determination made pursuant to section 2 of this order.
Sec. 10. Nothing in this order shall prohibit
transactions for the conduct of the official business
of the United States Government by employees, grantees,
or contractors thereof.
Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation
with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State,
is hereby authorized to take such actions, including
the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to
employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this
order. The Secretary of the Treasury may re-delegate
any of these functions to other officers within the
Department of the Treasury consistent with applicable
law. All agencies of the United States Government are
hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within
their authority to carry out the provisions of this
order.
Sec. 12. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation
with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State,
is hereby authorized to submit the recurring and final
reports to the Congress on the national emergency
declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c)
of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of
IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).
Sec. 13. This order shall be implemented consistent
with 50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1) and (3).
Sec. 14. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
[[Page 46848]]
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 12, 2018.
[FR Doc. 2018-20203
Filed 9-13-18; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F8-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 14, 2018.
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