I wrote earlier today that the administration started laying the groundwork to blame Russia for the 2024 election.
Well, the DOJ indicted two employees from RT (formerly Russia Today) and seized dozens of internet domains.
RT, formerly known as “Russia Today,” is a state-controlled media outlet funded and directed by the Government of Russia. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, RT was sanctioned, dropped by distributors, and ultimately forced to cease formal operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. In response, RT created, in the words of its editor-in-chief, an “entire empire of covert projects” designed to shape public opinion in “Western audiences.” One of RT’s “covert projects,” as described herein, is its funding and direction of a Tennessee-based online content creation company (“U.S. Company-I “).Over at least the past year, RT and its employees, including KOSTIANTYN KALASHNIKOV, a/k/a “Kostya,” and ELENA AFANASYEVA, a/k/a “Lena,” the defendants, have deployed nearly $10 million, laundered through a network of foreign shell entities, to covertly fund and direct U.S. Company-I. U.S. Company-I publishes English-language videos on multiple social media channels, including TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube. Using multiple fake personas, AFANASYEVA edited, posted, and directed the posting by U.S. Company-I of hundreds of videos. Many of the videos published by U.S. Company-I contain commentary on events and issues in the United States, such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy. While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos are often consistent with the Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Government of Russia interests, such as its ongoing war in Ukraine.Since publicly launching in or about November 2023, U.S. Company-I has posted nearly 2,000 videos that have garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone. U.S. Company-I never disclosed to its viewers that it was funded and directed by RT. Nor did U.S. Company-I or its two founders and principal executives (“Founder-I ” and “Founder-2”) register with the Attorney General as an agent of a foreign principal, as required by law
The government claims the Russians used the 32 internet domains “to engage in a covert campaign to interfere and influence the outcome of our country’s elections.”
The filings allege that Russian President Vladimir Putin and others in his inner circle told “Russian public relations companies to promote disinformation and state-sponsored narratives as part of a campaign to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”
Garland added at the press conference: “These websites were designed to appear to American readers as if they were major U.S. news sites, like the Washington Post or Fox News, but in fact they were fake sites. They were filled with Russian government propaganda that had been created by the Kremlin to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies and interests, and influence voters in the United States and in other countries. Internal documents of the Kremlin described the content as, ‘bogus stories disguised as newsworthy events.’ This malign influence campaign has been referred to as ‘doppelganger.’”
Notice how no one mentioned Donald Trump or Joe Biden.
But the indictment shows the right has a grifter problem since the alleged company and people in the indictment include influential people..
But we all know that the administration wants us to think Russia is trying to help Trump win in November.
As I said before, the administration will use these indictments and allegations to “prove” Russian influence or use them as breadcrumbs, leading to accusations of collusion!
If Trump loses, Harris will brag that the Democrats stopped Russia and Trump.
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