Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

So let's break down this newly unsealed complaint charging Russian national Elena Alekseevna Khusyanova with conspiracy to defraud the United States, shall we? Here we go:
@CourthouseNews

Prosecutors claim Elena Alekseevna Khusyanova was the chief accountant who managed the books of an online troll farm that was tasked with promoting disinformation and disrupting the U.S. political system.

The operation was known as Project Lakhta, which according to FBI Special Agent David Holt's affidavit, has been ongoing since at least 2014. She managed a budget of $35M. Where did all this $ come from?
Known Putin associate and oligarch Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin.

For those keeping track at home, Prigozhin is the owner of Concord Mgmt and Consulting. One of agencies that also allegedly funded the troll ops was the Internet Research Agency. Mueller charged that firm earlier this year.

14 different bank accounts were used to conceal Khusyanova's activities as well as other members of the alleged conspiracy. According to Holt's affidavit, Project Lakhta sowed discord in the U.S. by "inflaming tension" on issues like:

"Immigration, gun control and the Second Amendment, the Confederate flag, race relations, LGBT issues, the Women’s March, and the NFL national anthem debate.” Prosecutors allege the project specifically took advantage of events in the U.S. to "anchor" their themes.

The shooting of church members in Charleston, SC, the mass shooting in Las Vegas, the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. They leaned on topics like police brutality as well.
Prosecutors say specific instructions were given about how to target specific groups too.

The directive was to “aggravate the conflict between minorities and the rest of the population," and in one example, the complaint recalls directives like this:

EXCERPT: "Colored LGBT are less sophisticated than white, therefore, complicated phrases and messages do not work. Be careful dealing with racial content. Just like ordinary Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans, colored LGBT people are very sensitive towards #whiteprivilege..."

EXCERPT CONTINUED: "..and they react to posts and pictures that favor white people…"
The project also allegedly worked to spread an article online about John McCain's and his thoughts on immigration.

Conspirators were told to brand McCain an "old geezer."
Speaker Paul Ryan should be described as a"complete and absolute nobody" and a "two-faced loudmouth."
Read the whole complaint here:
documentcloud.org/documents/5011…
END (for now)