Posted on 09/05/2024 4:47:29 AM PDT by Tench_Coxe
Washington — Two Russian nationals working for a news network controlled by Vladimir Putin's government funneled millions of dollars to an American media company that paid right-wing influencers for videos pushing narratives favorable to the Kremlin, U.S. prosecutors alleged on Wednesday.
An indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York charged Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, both based in Moscow, with conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment came as the Justice Department unveiled sprawling allegations accusing the Russian government of meddling in the 2024 U.S. elections.
(snip)
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department "will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country's free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Any bets on which other media figures not in line with the Uniparty will be accused of being "agents of Russia"?
Come on, Zeepers and Liz Cheney....let your freak flags fly.
CBS = Commie BS
And the DOJ is a criminal operation telling more lies daily to hide their crimes. Ignoring the Constitution, Framing for entrapment, Projecting lies that they pay (indirectly) the media to spew their propaganda daily.
Just more liberal left loser blah, blah, blah...
Even if it is true, so what.
The United State does the same thing in countries all over the world.
And much, much worse.
I just wonder if Bill Gates is registered as a Foreign Agent.
He should be considering all of his efforts to subvert the US government to benefit the WHO and WEF.
If you go back a decade in Russia...election came up and a serious amount of anti-Putin stories got around (social media-wise). Not going to say it was the CIA, but it probably was. After that episode....Putin considered it a pay-back situation and I don’t think he’s ever halted the pay-back.
Everyone, from France and Germany included....voice the feeling of ‘Russia, Russia, Russia.’
“According to the court documents, RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is a state-controlled media outlet funded and directed by the Government of Russia. Over at least the past year, RT and its employees, including Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, deployed nearly $10 million to covertly finance and direct a Tennessee-based online content creation company (U.S. Company-1). In turn, U.S. Company-1 published English-language videos on multiple social media channels, including TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube. Since publicly launching in or about November 2023, U.S. Company-1 has posted nearly 2,000 videos that have garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone. Many of the videos posted by U.S. Company-1 contain commentary on events and issues in the U.S., such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy. While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, most are directed to the publicly stated goals of the Government of Russia and RT — to amplify domestic divisions in the United States.”
” Posing as an outside editor, Kalashnikov edited U.S. Company-1 content, monitored U.S. Company-1’s funding and hiring, and introduced Afanasyeva as a member of his purported editing team. Using the fake personas Helena Shudra and Victoria Pesti, Afanasyeva posted and directed the posting by U.S. Company-1 of hundreds of videos. Afanasyeva also collected information from and gave instructions to U.S. Company-1 staff. For example, after the March 22, 2024, terrorist attack on a music venue in Moscow, Afanasyeva asked one of U.S. Company-1’s founders to blame Ukraine and the United States for the attack, writing: “I think we can focus on the Ukraine/U.S. angle. . . . [T]he mainstream media spread fake news that ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack yet ISIS itself never made such statements. All terrorists are now detained while they were heading to the border with Ukraine which makes it even more suspicious why they would want to go to Ukraine to hide.””
“Between in or about October 2023 and in or about August 2024, RT sent wire transfers to U.S. Company-1 totaling approximately $9.7 million, which represented nearly 90% of U.S. Company-1’s bank deposits from all sources combined. The wires were sent from shell companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Mauritius, and were often accompanied by wire notes ascribing the payments to the purchase of electronics. For example, the wire note for a $318,800 wire payment from a shell entity in Turkey to U.S. Company-1 on March 1, read: “BUYING GOODS-INV.013-IPHONE 15 PRO MAX 512GB.”
“U.S. Company-1 never disclosed to its viewers that it was funded and directed by RT. Nor did U.S. Company-1 or its two founders register with the Attorney General as an agent of a foreign principal.”
Indictment: Russian propagandists used Tennessee content company to push disinformation (Sep 4, 2024)
I read the article, it seemed very specific about the charges. BUT the question I ask, Was what they posted on the web the Truth?
10 year ago I would have never thought that the US Fed Gov would intentionally project absolute lies to the citizens of our nation. That confidence has been totally destroyed. The DOJ and FIB have finally hit the bottom of the barrel, remember Russia, Russia, Russia? They cooked it out of nothing.
I am no fan of Putin, but what we have done by our CIA, State Department and “other” Fed alphabet agencies has brought us to the brink of WWIII and the issue of those behind the Assassination Attempt upon President Trump has soiled us totally. No, Crooks did not act by himself, totally beyond belief.
Let's stop the Fed Gov LIES. For the survival of our nation we must stop this Globalist Insanity.
“Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson”
“Lauren Southern, Tayler Hansen and Matt Christiansen”
“Tenet Media”
Go about 50% down to see how well the Russians paid one person:
https://www.latrobebulletinnews.com/ap/business/right-wing-influencers-were-duped-to-work-for-covert-russian-influence-operation-us-says/article_2bc23c64-9a2f-580f-9cde-840a80fb1d42.html
I would like to trust/believe the DOJ/FBI, but I have concluded they are LIARS. Period.
“will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas
Free exchange of ideas my foot!
Another collusion hoax?
“BlazeTV personality Dave Rubin posted a photo he says he personally took at Miami International Airport showing a TSA sign instructing illegal aliens on how to get through security checkpoints without the identification that American citizens and legal residents are required to have.”
Alinsky projection.
Note the TIMING of this.
Also note that China does EXACTLY the same (if even true for Russia), but on an order of magnitude more. But...crickets from the Left.
In seeing videos from both, I have trouble seeing where the (claimed) Russia-funded videos are propaganda. For example, they tend to show stores full of fresh food, and the low cost of living in Russia - neither of which are disputed by anyone other than Zeepers (operatives). The China ones are FAR WORSE, as they show obvious BS, like how happy the Weegers are in Western China, where millions are in re-education camps, for example.
So, the question is: Are Russian-funded videos necessarily untrue, or is only by omission (for example, not showing anti-Putin rallies, rare as they are)? In other words, are the NGO-funded operations any better, when they keep insisting that Russia is on the verge of economic collapse, even though their national debt is virtually non-existent, and their economy is outperforming just about every other economy in the West, to the point of the World Bank now classifying Russia as a “highly developed country”?
How much should we believe from our government when it is in a virtual state of war against Russia?
Hunter Biden, FARA and Unequal Justice
"Unequal justice has emerged as a theme in the Hunter Biden plea deal, and one example came last week when Judge Maryellen Noreika asked the prosecution and defense in court if their agreement meant the President’s son could still be prosecuted for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Hunter’s lawyers said no, but the prosecutor said yes, and Hunter can thank Robert Mueller if he is prosecuted under that statute."
We have seen a lot of Pro-Russian propaganda on freerepublic.
the 2014 election in Ukraine comes to mind - called for and managed by the State department and CIA.
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