Investigation of Russian-Directed Foreign Malign Influence Campaigns “Doppelganger” by the U.S. Department of Justice
The U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday it had disrupted Russian-directed foreign malign influence campaigns it called the “Doppelganger” that were trying to spread Russian government propaganda.
The effort was meant to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies, and influence voters in the U.S. and elsewhere, the Justice Department said.
The indictment accuses the RT staffers of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and they are also accused of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. They’re accused of funneling nearly $10 million to an unnamed Tennessee company that contracted with online influencers with big audiences.
As part of the Doppelganger investigation, the DOJ said it seized 32 internet domains used in the effort, and named Russian companies Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog as being involved in the effort.
The effort involved Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, including First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, it said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges at a meeting of the DOJ’s election threats task force, which was set up in 2021 to counter the growing number of threats nationwide against election officials and administrators. He said the investigation remains active.
In the statement, which was posted on its website ahead of the charges, they joked that the responses to an office poll included comments like “Ha” and “I want your clichés back.”
Investigating Russian Bot Farms Using Artificial Intelligence: An Indictment of a Russian Foreign War Campaign in the 2024 Ukrainian Election
United States intelligence and security officials have been warning for months about Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2024 election, specifically to undermine the Democratic presidential nominee, exploit social divisions, sow distrust in democratic institutions and to erode support for Ukraine.
In May, the Director of National Intelligence told senators that Russia was the greatest foreign threat to our elections.
There is a network of fake accounts and news websites linked to the Kremlin that have been sanctions by the US and the European Union.
The US Treasury imposed sanctions against two Russian companies and their principals, saying they were involved in fake accounts and news websites at the orders of the Russian Presidential Administration.
The campaign recently used fake French-language news sites to push claims of corruption at the recent Paris Olympics and to warn of potential violence, according to a Microsoft report.
The bot farm used AI to create the fake profiles on X, formerly known as Twitter. Russia’s war in Ukraine was supported by the accounts. The effort and the AI software behind it were organized by an editor at RT, the Russian state-owned media outlet, the Justice Department alleged. The project was funded by the Kremlin and run by a Russian intelligence officer.
Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam, the company’s co-founders, concealed their firm’s links to Russia from the creators, prosecutors say in the indictment.
Tenet allegedly received some $9.7 million from RT, according to the DOJ. The production companies of three commentators received $8.7 million, the indictment states. One, referred to as “Commentator-1”—the description appears to be of either Johnson or Rubin—was allegedly contracted for $400,000 per month for four weekly videos. According to the DOJ, Tenet Media received almost $10 million from RT, and that they presented most of the money to the company’s accounts.
No one is accused of wrongdoing, so Johnson, Pool, Rubin, and Southern did not respond to requests for comment. “We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment,” Johnson wrote on X, referring to himself and his lawyers, “which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme.” Pool released a statement saying that he should be deceived and that other people are also victims if the allegations are true. Rubin liked Pool’s post.
Tenet publicly launched in November 2023 with six contributors well-known in right-wing media, including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, David Rubin, and Lauren Southern. They make videos for the Tenet that cover conservative topics such as “migrant gangs,” and even attacks on President Joe Biden.
The Tennessee Company that Made the Kremlin a Reality: Indictment of Johnson and Afanasyeva on the YouTube Channel of Tenet Media
Russia was accused by federal officials of using right-wing American speakers to spread Kremlin propaganda ahead of the presidential election.
The company did not reveal its ties to the Russian government or to the people who follow it on social media, Attorney General Garland said.
Afanasyeva also urged the influencers to share the company’s videos on their own channels, and got annoyed when she didn’t think they were promoting them enough, according to the indictment.
Johnson said he had been pitched by a “media startup” and had “negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated.” His most recent video on Tenet Media’s YouTube channel is from August 29th.
The Tennessee company offered lucrative terms, according to the indictment. One influencer was paid $400,000 a month, a $100,000 signing bonus, and an additional performance bonus in exchange for four videos a week.
Afanasyeva also allegedly requested the company post a video of “a well-known U.S. political commentator visiting a grocery store in Russia” — likely a reference to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who traveled to Moscow in February. According to the indictment, a producer at the company told one of the founders “it just feels like overt shilling,” but was told to “put it out there.”
There wasn’t an influence over me that way. Matt Christiansen, a contributor to Tenet Media, said in a video that there was no change to his perspective or the nature of his content. I wrote every single thing, but how come I am tricked into saying someone else’s words?
“Never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show and the contents of the show are often apolitical,” Pool wrote. “The show is produced in its entirety by our local team without input from anyone external to the company.”
The influencers were unaware of the project’s Russian connections. On Wednesday, Johnson, Pool and Rubin posted statements on X describing themselves as victims. Southern did not reply to the request for comment.
The true origins of the funding for the Tennessee company were concealed by Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva according to the indictment. They told some contributors that the company was being backed by a wealthy European banker named Eduard Grigoriann. In truth, Grigoriann was a fictional persona, according to the indictment.
“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,” the indictment said.
Source: How Russian operatives covertly hired U.S. influencers to create viral videos
Up First: an Observation on RT’s Operation — An Empirical Analysis and Insights into the Art of Interference
The author of the book Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lives into Reality, Renee DiResta, stated that buying authentic actors is a better use of money than creating fake ones.
The recognizable names behind theRT operation made it appear to reach a real audience, which distinguishes it from other interference efforts.
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Apalachee High School Shooting Suspect: Online Threats, a Grand Jury Indictment, and Russian Media in the Presidency of the 2021 Republican Presidential Primary Election
The FBI had prior warning about the 14-year-old accused of fatally shooting two students and two teachers and injuring nine others at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., the agency said on X. Authorities received several anonymous tips in May 2023 about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time. Those threats contained images of guns. The FBI interviewed the father of the suspect who was 13 at the time. The father said they had hunting guns but the teen didn’t have unsupervised access to them. The boy denied making the online threats. The sheriff’s office contacted local schools, but there was no reason to arrest him at the time. Chris Hoey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said that a teen would be charged with murder and tried as an adult.
The last election interference case before the election is set to be argued in a federal courtroom by lawyers for the former president and the Justice Department. Voters will choose the winner of the presidency and whether or not to allow Trump to remain in office. A D.C. grand jury indictment accused Trump of actions resulting in the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. If he ever takes back the White House, he’s expected to order new Justice Department leaders not to pursue the landmark case.
Grammy-winning folk duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have made a career singing about hard times. Now, they’re living one of their songs. Four years ago a tornado destroyed their Nashville studio, flipping their career and living upside down. They named their new album after the studio that was destroyed in disaster. It was necessary for us to make art or forget what type of people we were if we wanted to not go crazy.
Naturalist David Herasimtschuk and many other photographers as they capture symbiotic and planetary habitats in the Pacific Northwest
For the last decade, photographer David Herasimtschuk has captured images of forests across the Pacific Northwest, documenting the inhabitants of the last remaining old-growth ecosystems. He shows the beauty of the forests and the creatures that call it home, but also how important the symbiotic relationships are to the planet’s welfare.