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Donald Trump can be seen as a Russian asset, though not in the traditional sense of an active agent or a recruited resource, an ex-FBI deputy director who worked under the former US president said. Asked on a podcast if he thought it possible Trump was a Russian asset, Andrew McCabe, who Trump fired as FBI deputy director in 2018, said: “I do, I do.” He added: “I don’t know that I would characterize it as [an] active, recruited, knowing asset in the way that people in the intelligence community think of that term. But I do think that Donald...

U.S. — A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter touched down just outside the residence of Bill and Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, carrying the first lady's former CIA handler. According to an anonymous source, he approached Hillary to recruit her for one last Russian collusion hoax. "We've tried everything, Clinton, but Kamala's just too terrible," a man identified as Colonel Wes Danger explained. "You're our last hope." Clinton reportedly shrugged and reminded the colonel that she was retired. "I am at peace here with Bill," she said as she cut wood outside her cabin. "I quit that life." This only...

Russian Disinfo is baaack!

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...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed he supports Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. While speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok, Putin said he’s backing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and cited her “infectious” laugh as a reason to prefer her over Trump. Putin stated, “Biden was our favorite but he dropped out of the race, he recommended that all his supporters support Harris, so we will too.” The remarks by Putin come a day after the Department of Justice charged two Russian media executives for allegedly influencing the presidential election. Before Joe Biden dropped out...

Russian operatives reportedly funneled money to a Tennessee-based company linked to conservative commentators with millions of subscribers on social media platforms. Tenet Media was the unnamed company in the Department of Justice's indictment that was unsealed in New York's Southern District on Wednesday, CNN reported. The Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged two Russian state media employees in its most sweeping effort yet to push back against what it says are Russian attempts to spread disinformation ahead of the November presidential election.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday said it disrupted Russian-directed foreign malign influence campaigns it referred to as “Doppelganger,” that sought to spread Russian government propaganda. The effort was meant to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies, and influence voters in the U.S. and elsewhere, the Justice Department said. Separately, the DOJ accused two Russian employees of RT, the Russian state-owned media outlet, of a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences while keeping the connection to Russia hidden. RT worked with an online content creation company in Tennessee, which was directed to...

The Biden-Harris administration is planning to accuse Russia of a “covert” and “sustained effort to influence the 2024 presidential election” and take a “series of moves” to address it, “six sources familiar with the matter” told CNN. CNN reported that the administration will accuse Russia of doing so by claiming it uses Kremlin-run media and other online platforms to target U.S. voters with disinformation. The report did not provide evidence or examples of the disinformation, but it said RT — Russia’s state media network — is a major focus of the announcement. RT is widely known to be government-directed and...

CNN is reporting that Biden will hold a press conference today warning the public to be on the look out for Russian misinformation as they try to interfere in our upcoming elections … yet again.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Trial began Tuesday in Florida for four activists accused of illegally acting as Russian agents to help the Kremlin sow political discord and interfere in U.S. elections. All four are or were affiliated with the African People’s Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement, which has locations in St. Petersburg, Florida, and St. Louis... In his opening statement, Justice Department attorney Menno Goedman said the group’s members acted under Russian direction to stage protests in 2016 claiming Black people have been victims of genocide in the U.S. and took other actions for the following six years that would...

First, the transfer of power happens on January 20 not January 6. (And DOJ let off the hook hundreds of 2017 inaugural rioters.) Second, there is no law guaranteeing the "peaceful transfer of power." Which is why the Constitution provides several weeks between election day and inauguration day with both a state and congressional certification process and opportunities to contest the results. Third, as he brags about the nearly 1,500 J6ers arrested and charged so far for January 6--including at least seven last week during the DNC--most face misdemeanors.

Foreign state actors may be amplifying online disinformation that has fuelled a week of riots on the streets of Britain, Downing Street has suggested. Russian state media were among those sharing false claims that the suspect accused of killing three young girls in Southport last Monday was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat. Channel3Now, which purports to be a legitimate American news outlet but acts as an “aggregator” for fake claims, wrongly named the attacker as Ali Al-Shakati, believed to be a fictitious name. The subsequent unrest has prompted calls for greater efforts...

A Russian-linked fake news website fuelled lies that sparked violent protests over the Southport stabbings. A Mail investigation traced the misinformation that spread like wildfire online, leading – 27 hours later – to an attack on a mosque and 53 police officers being injured as they tried to protect it. There were further ugly scenes last night as flares and glass bottles were thrown near Downing Street when protesters clashed with officers. The violence has been stirred up by false claims the triple murder suspect was an asylum seeker called Ali Al-Shakati who arrived in the UK on a small...

The U.S. intelligence community believes the Kremlin will direct its propaganda efforts to support former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the election, an intelligence official indicated in a media call Monday. The call was held by the Foreign Malign Influence Center, one of the few arms of the U.S. government devoted to countering foreign propaganda campaigns.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - An air defense missile that hit a children's hospital in Kiev was likely fired from a Norway-supplied NASAMS system, and Russia is waiting for a reaction from Oslo in this regard, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON-Russia is turning to a familiar playbook in its attempt to sway the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, looking for ways to boost the candidacy of former President Donald Trump by disparaging the campaign of incumbent President Joe Biden, according to American intelligence officials. A new assessment of threats to the November election, shared Tuesday, does not mention either candidate by name. But an intelligence official told reporters that the Kremlin view of the U.S. political landscape has not changed from previous election cycles...

After his historic guilty verdict in his hush money case, Donald Trump attacked the U.S. criminal justice system, making unfounded claims of a “rigged” trial that echoed remarks from the Kremlin. “If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Trump said Friday, speaking from his namesake tower in New York on Friday. Thousands of miles away, Russian President Vladimir Putin was probably “rubbing his hands with glee,” said Fiona Hill, a former senior White House national security adviser to three U.S. presidents, including Trump. Hill and other analysts say Trump’s attacks could be useful to...

When AP reports that “Putin says Russia prefers Biden to Trump, calling the US president more experienced and predictable,” how should we interpret this? Vladimir Putin hopes to help Donald Trump by tainting Joe Biden? Or by reminding Americans of his past meddling, Mr. Putin’s actually helping Mr. Biden? Or maybe he really just wants to signal to a Russian audience that he’s not depending on Mr. Trump for a Ukraine resolution? Get ready for the most polluted election in American memory. Here’s CNN: “US intelligence officials are watching closely to see if the United States’ support for Ukraine will...

Russia warned Monday that the risk of a “direct military clash” between Russia and nuclear powers in the West is rising. “Westerners are dangerously balancing on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video message to the participants of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference. The comments come after Russia reacted angrily to the U.S. House of Representatives passing a $61 billion foreign aid package for Kyiv at the weekend. House lawmakers approved the aid Saturday despite long-standing objections from hardline Republicans; the bill now...

Germany's domestic spy agency urged Berlin on Monday to give it more powers to monitor financial flows amid growing concerns over potential Russian financing of regional far-right parties ahead of European parliamentary elections. While Germany's interior ministry said in February it was working on adapting existing legislation to this effect, the issue has gained fresh urgency following a report that a lawmaker for the far-right Alternative for Germany party had received money from a pro-Russian news portal. "I would hope to have more authority" to monitor financial developments, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency Thomas Haldenwang told a news...