US intelligence and law enforcement officials say they have found no direct evidence of plans for an election-related terror attack after a five-week investigation.
Citing unnamed officials in an article on the Washington Post's Web site, the newspaper said a key CIA source who claimed knowledge of such plans has since been discredited, casting doubt on earlier pieces of evidence pointing to an attack.
That earlier information led the FBI and other agencies across the government to launch a well-publicized campaign aimed at foiling potential plots before the elections. That effort included hundreds of interviews in immigrant neighbourhoods, the paper wrote.
Intelligence officials say they continue to receive reports suggesting al Qaeda and its allies would like to mount attacks in the U.S. close to the November 2 elections. The paper said these reports have been streaming in since commuter trains in Madrid were blown up days before Spain's elections last March.
But even after hundreds of interviews, immigration arrests and other efforts, law enforcement officials said they have been unable to detect signs of a plot in the US, nor have they identified specific targets, dates or methods that might be used, the paper reported.