US accuses Russia’s RT of interference in 2024 election
The US has announced a number of steps to counteract Russian efforts to rig the 2024 presidential election, including the indictment of two state media employees who are accused of funding a US media company covertly to stoke political unrest.
The US Justice Department alleged in an indictment released on Wednesday that two Russian RT employees used fake identities and shell companies to pay $ 10 million to a Tennessee media outlet as part of a Moscow-directed influence operation.
Elena Afanasyeva and Kostiantyn Kalashnikov are accused of conspiring to extort money and obstructing the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The influence campaign, according to US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, targeted US audiences with “hidden Russian government messaging.”
The business never made its ties to RT and the Russian government known to the influential people or their millions of followers. Instead, the defendants and the business asserted sponsorship from a private investor. That private investor was a fictitious persona”, Garland said.
Authorities, according to Garland, would not allow an “authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas to covertly advance its own propaganda efforts,” and investigations were ongoing.
The Tennessee-based outlet was not named by US authorities, but according to the indictment, the organization describes itself as a “network of heterodox commentators that concentrate on Western political and cultural issues.”
The description matches Tenet Media, a network of influencers known for their right-wing views that includes Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, Lauren Southern and Benny Johnson.
RT and Tenet Media did not respond to e-mail requests for comment right away.
Rubin claimed that the allegations “clearly demonstrate that this scheme was the responsibility of me and other commentators.”
In a post on X, he wrote, “I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity.”
Johnson said he was “disturbed” by the allegations, which “make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme”.
He said on X that “my lawyers will handle anyone who states or suggests otherwise.”
If the allegations were accurate, Pool claimed he had been deceived.
He said on X that “never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show, and the show’s contents are frequently apolitical.”
Separately, US officials said they had seized 32 internet domains used for Russian-led “malign influence campaigns” aimed at interfering in the US election and reducing international support for Ukraine.
“Companies operating at the direction of the Russian government created websites to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda”, FBI director, Christopher Wray, said in a statement.
The FBI is making known to the world that Russia is attempting to tamper with our elections and influence our society by seizing these websites.
US officials have repeatedly accused foreign governments, including Moscow, of seeking to meddle in the country’s elections, including the presidential votes in 2016 and 2020.
US intelligence agencies accused Iran of hacking Donald Trump’s and Kamala Harris’ presidential campaigns last month.
In May, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines named Russia, China and Iran as the most prolific “foreign actors” seeking to meddle in elections.
Source: Aljazeera
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