1. “We acknowledge the threat. It is real. It is continuing.”

That was Dan Coats, above, the director of national intelligence, describing Russia’s attempts to influence U.S. elections. He and other top national security officials pledged to help ward off those efforts ahead of the midterms, using far blunter language about the threat than the president has.

And as Facebook works to delete fake accounts that it says are part of a political influence campaign, many activists are feeling the pinch.