Anatomy of an incredibly well-preserved Russian disinformation site, a thread. 
Yesterday I found the right-wing Russian (aligned or controlled) disinformation site, RumorMillNews, which is incredibly well archived in the Way Back Machine to 1999, the internet disinformation equivalent of finding a fully preserved t-rex in the mud.
Let’s start with the fun stuff. Okay, how do we establish this is a Russian propaganda site? Does it consistently pump out headlines with Russian narratives on things Americans don’t know or care about? Yup!
If you need more examples, they are endless. So, if we accept this is a Russian propaganda site, what can we learn about Russian ops? Well, what was its relationship with Trump? From the early 2000s-2015, Trump is treated as simply an amplifier.
As they put it in 2011, "He may be Puppet #37 but he can mainstream stuff." web.archive.org/web/2011102520…
Then in June 2015 (the same month he announced his campaign's start), boom, it's all promotion.
Probably the most interesting find was how quickly they started promoting Qanon. The first Q post on 4chan was Oct 28, 2017, and on that day, they are setting their audience up for an info drop.
and from there it's off to the races.
What about earlier? Did it push any of the guys who would be Qanon promoters before Qanon? YUP.
Did it push pre-Q related conspiracies? Yup.
Did it promote Mike Flynn, Bannon, and Roger Stone? YUP.
How about Musk? But of course.
I AM cult Ascended Masters nonsense? You know they do.
Does it connect to @WesClarkjr and @American_Psyop? Doesn't it always?
Did they push their readers to Jan 6th? Yeah.
There really is no end to the fun. I recommend anyone interested in studying disinformation to check out this site and tell me what you found. There's just so much, an embarrassment of riches. web.archive.org/web/2022040100…
Also, if you look into who is behind the site it claims to be former CIA, but he was really a conman who pretended to be military until he died in 2005.
side note, If the
@WesClarkjr
reference was confusing you need to listen to podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ame…
@WesClarkjr
reference was confusing you need to listen to podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ame…
@WesClarkjr Another fun find is how often and early they amplified Joe Rogan. (searches get harder before 2011)
And Matt Taibbi
No mentions of Tulsi Gabbard until she goes to Syria, then instant and constant cheerleading.
Glenn Greenwald is such an easy setup, I figured why even bother, but yeah, he's constantly amplified going way back.
And of course, even the right-wing Russian-aligned sites loved them some Jill Stein in 2016.
What about the father son Rand/Ron Paul? They are all over this site. Like, hard to find a page they aren't on.
Also really quick with 9/11 conspiracies. One I remember from the time of a guy riding the buildings down and living. The rest are all "Israel knew!" conspiracies.
after the spring but by september 2002 they have gone "advanced knowledge" narrative, but right around the first anniversary they start pushing "inside job"
oh and for you nerds out there, yeah, plenty of Lyndon LaRouche.
They started promoting Tim Pool one month after he started Timcast News in November 2017.
Promoted Dave Rubin starting jan 2018
They were promoting Lauren Southern starting in April 2017, one month after she became an independent "journalist".
Also Matt Christiansen starting Aug 2019
Looks like Benny Johnson didn't get any love until very recently.
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