Unsealed FBI Doc Exposes Terrifying Depth of Russian Disinfo Scheme
newrepublic.com
New court documents reveal that Russia is keeping a very, very long list of influencers to spread its propaganda.

New court documents reveal that Russia is keeping a very, very long list of influencers to spread its propaganda.

The Russian disinformation plot revealed in a Justice Department indictment this week may just be the tip of the iceberg, according to newly unsealed court documents.

On Wednesday, the DOJ announced it would seize 32 internet domains linked to a larger Kremlin scheme to promote disinformation and influence the 2024 election. The Russian campaign, known as Doppelganger, uses AI-generated content to create “fake news” boosted through social media with the aim of electing Donald Trump.

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Of particular note, the documents released Wednesday included an affidavit that noted a Russian company is keeping a list of more than 2,800 influencers world wide, about one-fifth of whom are based in the United States, to monitor and potentially groom to spread Russian propaganda. The affidavit does not mention the full list of influencers, but is still a terrifying indicator of how deep the Russian plot to interfere in U.S. politics really goes.

  • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    Banks are required to have KYC (know your customer) rules and report things to the FBI. Which the FBI received the reports and have caught the criminals.

    I’m convinced you aren’t American at this point and don’t have any understanding of how crime or police work around here.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      2 months ago

      Banks are required to have KYC (know your customer) rules and report things to the FBI.

      So which bank is being penalized for doing business with a Russian client operating under US sanctions?

      I’m convinced you aren’t American

      Why stop there? Be convinced I’m not human at all.

      • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        Because you obviously are asking stupid questions that Americans already know the answer for.

        For all the bullshit Europeans chastised me as an American for having an American centered viewpoints, we are talking about an American Police dealing with American Crimes in an efficient manner. And then we have someone in this discussion who doesn’t even know the basics.

        The least I expect of you is to at least pretend you have an American viewpoint of our police system and understand it (not necessarily agree with it). But if you want to ask dumb fucking questions all day imma call you out on your ignorance.

        So which bank is being penalized for doing business with a Russian client operating under US sanctions?

        The bank that obviously reported this suspicious behavior to the FBI and got these assholes caught.

        What, are you pissed that these Russians got caught in this scheme or something? This is a celebration topic. We caught the bad guys and caught them quickly before the election.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
          21·
          2 months ago

          The bank that obviously reported this suspicious behavior to the FBI

          And then continued to advance the money? That doesn’t pass the smell test and you know it.

          This is just the HSBC drug money laundering scandal all over again, except these bankers aren’t even being fined for getting caught.

          What, are you pissed that these Russians got caught in this scheme or something?

          Are they actually caught? Which employees of RT were arrested?

          Or is this just shutting down some Internet domains and allowing the next batch of crooks to do this again?

          • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            We can’t get the Russians because FBI is Police. The FBIs limits are inside of the USA.

            But we can point out the specific entities/middlemen to ban them from financ moving forward. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2559

            This announcement is that MOVING FORWARD, the listed entities are illegal to interact with. It was legal to send funds last week if you were a bank.

            Or is this just shutting down some Internet domains and allowing the next batch of crooks to do this again?

            Yeah. That’s the police’s job. Now the crooks have to start their infiltration all over again. Hopefully that delays this batch of propaganda till after the election. But it’s tireless thankless work.

            Now unless we send assassins into Russia or some other drastic action, we can’t really stop this. It’s foreign influence and Russia doesn’t follow our Police requests to deport / send the criminals to the USA.

            Now that you’ve proven yourself ignorant of American stuffs, please go through fuck away.

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
              21·
              2 months ago

              We can’t get the Russians because FBI is Police.

              Why can’t we get Benny Johnson and Tim Pool for taking their money without being registered foreign agents?

              Or any of the bankers, brokers, and agents that moved the money on the American side of transaction?

              This announcement is that MOVING FORWARD, the listed entities are illegal to interact with.

              So you get a couple of new guys cycled in to be the bag men, and we do this again in five years to the same effect?

              “Oops! How could we have known?! Oh well. Guess I’ll just start taking money from Russia Tomorrow instead, since I don’t know where that cash is coming from either.”

              Now the crooks have to start their infiltration all over again

              A trivial endeavor for an agency that’s been exploiting an ad sector more than willing to cooperate with anyone carrying a suitcase full of case.

              Now unless we send assassins into Russia

              You don’t need to send anyone in Russia to arrest the folks complicit with Russian disinformation in the States right now.

              But just like with the Trump indictments, this never actually goes anywhere.

              Now that you’ve proven yourself ignorant of American stuffs

              Too ignorant to know Americans will howl about “Russian interference” and then do nothing about it?

              Damn. Busted.

              • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                2 months ago

                So you get a couple of new guys cycled in to be the bag men, and we do this again in five years to the same effect?

                Yup. Good enough for me.

                Everything else you’ve got is pretty trash in terms of talking points. You’re even contradicting your own earlier posts. Try being more consistent ideologically next time.

                Why can’t we get Benny Johnson and Tim Pool for taking their money without being registered foreign agents?

                The fuck is this whattaboutism for example? These guys aren’t even related to the case discussed.

                We have a list of 2800 influencers who have been caught up into some Russian disinformation campaign, about 20% of whom are American and thus have rights against being outted right now (at least, until further crimes are found plausible). I’d say this is a big deal. And further interaction with the money is banned.