[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 [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20203]



[[Page 46841]]

Vol. 83

Friday,

No. 179

September 14, 2018

Part IV





The President





-----------------------------------------------------------------------



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

[[Page 46847]]

                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.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    September 12, 2018.

[FR Doc. 2018-20203
Filed 9-13-18; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F8-P