Russian agitation of anti-government groups.
Russian agitation of anti-government groups.
I'm sure many will be opining about the Russian propaganda/hacking report in the coming days. This is my take. https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf …
I've been jumping up and down and waving my hands for years trying to bring attention to Russian agitation of anti-government groups.
I'm therefore really excited by the details outlined in Annex A of this report.
Prior to the 2016 election, Russia, using state-sponsored media, attempted to throw a series of wrenches into the US democratic system.
On the left, Russia boosted the Occupy Wall Street movement.
On the right, Russia pushed hard to promote "libertarian" thought leaders, some of whom transitioned to Alt-right in mid-2016.
Anyone watching militia, sovereign & related "patriot" FB pages in 2014 would have been hammered w/ anti-Obama/pro-Putin memes and fake news
Prior to 2016, their propaganda focused on third party candidates and worked to cast doubt on mainstream American media outlets.
Then came the 2016 election, which is well documented in the report. Russia published hacked emails to cast doubt on our democratic system.
It's probably unknowable whether it caused anyone to vote Trump who wasn't already planning to do so.
It's also unknowable how many lukewarm Hillary supporters stayed home on election day just because those emails were a final straw.
The report talks about the plan the Russians had to cast doubt on election results if Hillary won:
The report is silent on the plan if Trump won.
Could Russian influence be pushing #notmypresident #calexit #theresistance? I don't know, but articles like this...
From His Home in Russia, #Calexit Leader Plots California Secession
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/12/13/from-his-home-in-russia-calexit-leader-plots-california-secession/
Did the Russians tap Trump because he's friendly to their cause and/or easily manipulated?
Or was it because he's such an incompetent buffoon that turning Americans against their own President will be easy?
I don't think the Russians are going to take a breather now. A couple of Russia backed FB groups just went active for the 1st time in mos.
JJ MacNab @jjmacnab Jan 6
https://twitter.com/jjmacnab/status/817509507244822528
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