Russia is attempting to influence the upcoming election. Providing right-wing influencers in the U.S. with $10 million dollars to promote disinformation to undermine our democracy. The DOJ indictment yesterday has exposed this all. The payments, the shady internet sites peddling disinformation, the right-wing influencers shoveling Russian talking points, the involved scammy companies owned by MAGA politicians & promoters, the look-alike fake websites, and all the other shady behavior. At this point, it is time to mock these right-wing influencers and their interview subjects who peddled Russian propaganda. One amusing part of this situation is that many of the domains that have been seized have regularly been linked to by right-wing MAGA ET posters in this forum. Where will they get their fake news now? Seeing that their favorite Russian fake news sources are kaput. Putin’s Right-Wing Accomplices Will “Squeal Like Stuck Pigs” Harvard Lawyer Says https://2paragraphs.com/2024/09/put...l-squeal-like-stuck-pigs-harvard-lawyer-says/ At a press conference on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland outlined what he called “sophisticated disinformation campaigns” undertaken by Russia to promote lies via fake news outlets and through right-wing social media influencers. (The DOJ says it has tracked millions of dollars paid out by Putin’s program.) [Note: The DOJ seized 32 Internet domains that they say were designed to look like American news sites and were used to spread Russian propaganda in an effort to influence American voters.] John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor, said in an interview with PBS: “We believe Mr. Putin is witting of this scheme — or these schemes,” and added that Putin “certainly has shown a proclivity for one particular candidate.” Kirby implies that the Russian operatives favor the GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has repeatedly voiced his admiration for Putin, especially as Trump is viewed as less supportive of Ukraine and NATO than the current administration. Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Putin wants Trump back in the White House because “Putin thinks Trump is an easy mark. He’d be happy to deal with him.” Conservative Harvard-trained lawyer and top Trump critic George Conway responded to the news and the reaction in Washington, D.C. by writing: “The most interesting aspect of the Putin Payola indictment *isn’t* what and who it refers to – it’s all the folks *not* mentioned in it who feel the need to squeal like stuck pigs.” Tennessee Democratic State Representative Gloria Johnson, who is running against MAGA loyalist Senator Marsha Blackburn, is recirculating an interview Blackburn did with Lauren Chen, a right-wing YouTube star. The post Johnson shared (below) portrays Chen as a founder of Tenet Media. CNN has independently confirmed that “Company 1” on the DOJ indictment is Tenet Media. The media platform lists right-wing personalities Benny Johnson and Tim Pool as Tenet commentators on its website.
All that money Fox pays her and she still won't do a makeover... Fox News attacks Biden for warning of Russian interference in U.S. election Fox News personalities cried foul after reports said President Joe Biden would warn of Russian interference in U.S. elections. On Wednesday, Fox News host Harris Faulkner confirmed that Biden intended to address Russia's "sustained effort" to influence the 2024 presidential election by using state-run media. "Why is that suddenly a concern now?" Faulkner complained to Fox News contributor Steve Hilton.
It's amazing that these clowns ACTUALLY ASK "Why is that suddenly a concern now?". This just begs the question on which FOX contributors will be indicted in the next round of DOJ filings in this case?
DOJ releases translated Russian documents from online disinformation campaign for, "the victory of [US Political Party A] (candidate [Candidate A]" who opposes support for Ukraine. Whoever that is. What a mystery. Plenty of nuggets of corruption and illegality to be found in the released attachments and information. Justice Department Disrupts Covert Russian Government-Sponsored Foreign Malign Influence Operation Targeting Audiences in the United States and Elsewhere Influence Operation Relied on Influencers, AI-Generated Content, Paid Social Media Advertisements, and Social Media Accounts to Drive Internet Traffic to Cybersquatted and Other Domains https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/just...government-sponsored-foreign-malign-influence
WATCH: Alleged Russian Propagandist Tim Pool Screams That ‘Ukraine is the Enemy of the US’ https://www.mediaite.com/online/wat...-screams-that-ukraine-is-the-enemy-of-the-us/ A gaggle of pro-Trump social media influencers are under intense scrutiny following a Department of Justice indictment that alleged they received large payments to produce videos as part of a Russian influence operation. As Mediaite’s Sarah Rumpf reported, the recently unsealed indictment accuses a Tennessee-based content company with several high-profile right-wing personalities on its roster of being part of a Russian influence operation, working to infiltrate U.S. media with the Kremlin’s propaganda. While it does not identify the company by name, reporting has identified it as Tenet Media. Tenet Media’s website declares that “fearless voices live here” and that the network features “heterodox commentators” focusing on Western political and cultural issues. Creators currently listed on the site and featured in videos on its YouTube channel include Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson, and Tim Pool, among others. Following this bombshell news, video evidence of pro-Russian commentary from Tenet’s personalities has resurfaced, such as the clip above, which appeared on the r/JoeRogan subreddit. The clip appears to show Pool blaming Ukraine for the incursion of Russian military forces into their country before demanding the US “should apologize to Russia.” This is psychotic. Ukraine is the enemy of this country. Ukraine is our enemy. Being funded by the Democrats, I will stress again, one of the greatest enemies of our nation right now is Ukraine. They are expanding this war. Now, don’t get me wrong. I know you’ve got criminal elements of the US government pushing them and guiding them and telling them what to do. Ukraine is now accused. A German warrant issued for blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline is triggering this conflict. Ukraine is the greatest threat to this nation and to the world. We should rescind all funding and financing, pull out all military support, and we should apologize to Russia. Rubin, Johnson, and Pool have each claimed to be victims of the propaganda scheme and appear to be unwitting participants in promoting Russian propaganda. However, if the allegations in the indictment are proven to be true, getting $100,000 for weekly videos that further Russia’s interests does not paint any of these participants in a particularly flattering light. In fact, the term “useful idiots” comes to mind, though one might qualify that as “suddenly rich, useful idiots.” Watch above via TimCast.
Influence peddling, sounds like something tribalistic goverments would pay for. General public is not in the club (tribe). When a tribe fears losing power they turn against the people. Election machines and judges looking the other way has lessened the need for physical violence against the public.
So the right-wing influencers are claiming either "first amendment free speech" or "I didn't know" as their excuse. Well, it should have been obvious when their paychecks were in rubles. Let's catch up with a few of the Russian-paid influencers and their whining as they try to avoid indictment. Right-Wing Influencers Tied to Russian Disinfo Campaign Say They Are ‘Victims’ https://time.com/7018028/conservati...ssia-disinformation-indictment-tenet-victims/ After the Department of Justice issued an indictment Wednesday accusing Russia of using American right-wing commentators to peddle propaganda ahead of the November election, several public figures linked to the scandal have spoken out, claiming that they are “victims” of the alleged influence operation. According to the indictment, two employees at Russian state media RT have been secretly funding a Tennessee-based media company with nearly $10 million, laundered through foreign shell entities. The company allegedly paid some commentators hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to make videos—mainly about political issues—for its platforms, and the two RT employees allegedly deceived the commentators about where the company’s funding came from. One of the company’s co-founders was also allegedly paid by ANO TV-Novosti, the parent organization of RT, to write opinion articles published on the news site, according to the indictment. While the indictment did not name the media company or any of the commentators, observers quickly noted that its descriptions matched that of Tenet Media, a right-wing content company founded in 2022, and its contributors. Tenet posts videos promoting conservative narratives on issues including immigration, inflation, and gender—many of which were “edited, posted, and directed” by one of the RT employees, 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. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Wednesday that “the Justice Department will be aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by the Russian government, or any other malign actor, to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy.” In the wake of the bombshell indictment suggesting their unwitting involvement in spreading disinformation, some of the commentators associated with Tenet Media have posted responses on social media. They’ve emphasized that they maintained editorial control over their content but that, if the allegations are true, then they are “victims.” Here’s what they’ve said. Benny Johnson Benny Johnson, a 37-year-old former BuzzFeed plagiarist-turned-conservative commentator with nearly 2.4 million YouTube subscribers, wrote on X that a year ago his company negotiated a “standard, arms length deal” with a media startup that was later terminated. Johnson is a regular host on Tenet videos, with his latest video published on Wednesday. “We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme,” he said. Dave Rubin “These allegations clearly show that I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme,” Dave Rubin, a regular host of Tenet’s YouTube videos, wrote on X to his 1.5 million followers. “I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity. Period.” Rubin is also the creator and host of the YouTube political talk show The Rubin Report, which has 2.5 million subscribers, and has described himself as a former left-leaning progressive before becoming a conservative Tim Pool Tim Pool, the 38-year-old right-wing commentator and host of Tenet’s podcast series “The Culture War with Tim Pool,” wrote on X, where he has over 2 million followers, that the podcast “existed well before any license agreement with Tenet and it will continue to exist after any such agreement expires.” “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 said. “Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims.” Tayler Hansen Tayler Hansen, another regular host on Tenet, wrote on X, where he has over 173,000 followers, that the allegations “come as a complete shock.” “I want to be as clear as possible, I was never directed to report on any topic and had complete freedom and control over my reporting at all times,” he said, adding that with the election coming up this is “a big smear job against an uncensored, unapologetic, and America first media company.” He also appeared to mock the DOJ indictment in another post, with a screenshot of his video on Tenet, sarcastically describing his coverage of a protest as “Russian election disinformation effort.” Matt Christiansen Matt Christiansen, a conservative YouTuber with over 235,000 subscribers, acknowledged in a live stream on Wednesday that he was referenced in the DOJ document as “Commentator-6.” “If this was some big propaganda op, phenomenally bad job,” he said, adding that there was no evidence of Russian influence during the company’s operation. “I was not duped, wittingly or unwittingly. Everyone’s been honest with me, as far as I’m aware.”
Great question. DOJ’s Alleged Russian Propaganda Messaging Is Nearly Identical to Fox News Opinion Programming https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/do...ly-identical-to-fox-news-opinion-programming/