“I wonder if any FR trolls were (are?) Russian-paid operatives?”
Yes, Russian paid operatives are on all the open social media sites, including Free Republic. We have a couple on this thread. And it’s not just the Russians. China, North Korea, Iran, Turkey and Cuba among others are also flooding forums and websites with propaganda that doesn’t take a genius to figure out. It’s also good to remember our domestic enemies also use false front operations to spread discord among us.
I think you are correct in this.