On the eve of John Bolton's Moscow trip, the Director of National Intelligence, DOJ, FBI, & DHS warn of ongoing campaigns by Russia, China & Iran to interfere with the Midterm & 2020 elections.
by @mattzap @rachelweinerwp @nakashimae @DevlinBarrett #Maddow wapo.st/2NQkg4a?tid=ss…
by @mattzap @rachelweinerwp @nakashimae @DevlinBarrett #Maddow wapo.st/2NQkg4a?tid=ss…
The Justice Dept has charged a Russian woman, Elena Khusyaynova, for conspiracy to interfere with the 2018 US election – the first criminal case against a foreign national for meddling in the 2018 Midterms. Prosecutors said she managed the finances of “Project Lakhta.”
#Maddow
#Maddow
Elena Khusyaynova, whose "Project Lakhta" was funded by "Putin's chef" Yeveniy Prigozhin [indicted by Mueller], managed the $35M budget, which included paying activists in the US, social media ads, registering domain names, & buying proxy servers.
#Maddow
#Maddow
The conspiracy, in which Khusyaynova played a central financial management role, sought to conduct "information warfare against the US" and "took extraordinary steps to make it appear that they were American political activists...and to obfuscate their Russian origin."
#Maddow
#Maddow
Conspirators created thousands of social media accounts, and posing as US persons, posted thousands of messages to thousands of followers to sow discord in the US re: immigration, gun control, race relations, the NFL national anthem debate, & more.
#Maddow
#Maddow
READ this real conversation between Russian troll "Bertha Malone" [pretending to be an American] and a US person on FaceBook.
via @oneunderscore__
#Maddow
via @oneunderscore__
#Maddow
•➤ In JUN 2014, the Mercers & Bannon formed Cambridge Analytica & launched a ‘research project' in Russia — the same month that Prigozhin's troll farm, the Internet Research Agency, launched their campaign to interfere in the 2016 POTUS election.
#Maddow
#Maddow
“Beginning in mid-2014, Project Lakhta obscured its conduct by operating through a number of Russian entities, including the IRA...Concord & Prigozhin spent significant funds to further the project whose goal in the US since May 2014 was to spread distrust towards candidates."
"Since at least 2014, Elena Khusyaynova has been employed by various Project Lakhta entities, including the IRA…from at least 2014, she conspired with persons known & unknown to defraud the US by impairing, obstructing, & defeating lawful functions of the US DOJ & FEC."
#Maddow
#Maddow
