Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray met for a press conference where they announced a broad crackdown on the Russian government’s conflicting efforts to influence the upcoming 2024 election. They detailed that they are doing so through covert networks designed to spread disinformation to American voters.
Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray highlighted domestic and foreign incidents of attempts to influence voters in the United States, as well as widespread and growing threats against those administering the November 2024 elections.
“Our commitment is to protect the elections”
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas to covertly advance its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing,” Garland said during the briefing.
“Our commitment to protecting Americans’ elections and right to vote extends to an even broader range of threats — threats that the FBI, as both an intelligence and law enforcement agency, will continue to work 24/7 to uncover and disrupt,” Wray added.
The Justice Department alleged that two employees of Russia Today, or RT, a Russian-controlled media outlet, implemented a nearly $10 million scheme “to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government.”
Influencers hired for Russian propaganda
To accomplish this, the prosecutor general said, the two employees, who were identified as Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, allegedly ordered the company to hire influencers to amplify Russian propaganda.
“The company never disclosed to the influencers or their millions of followers its ties to RT and the Russian government. Instead, the defendants and the company claimed that the company was sponsored by a private investor, but that the private investor was a fictitious person,” Garland said.
Officials said Russian entities also allegedly created fake websites to further influence the country’s elections.
“The actions announced today focus on Russia, but Russia is by no means the only adversary we have seen attempt to intrude on our society and our democratic processes. Last month, for example, the FBI, in collaboration with the Intelligence Community, [estadounidense] and CISA [la Agencia de Seguridad Cibernética y de Infraestructura]accused Iran of attacking and trying to compromise the former president’s campaign [Donald] Trump,” the FBI director said.
“Tricking Americans into consuming Russian propaganda”
The Attorney General made clear that the RT news network has used people living and working in the US to facilitate contracts with American media figures for the purpose of spreading Russian propaganda.
“The content was presented as legitimate independent news when, in fact, much of it was created in Russia by RT employees working for the Russian government,” Wray added. “The second operation reveals even more malign activities by companies working under the direction and control of the Russian government – companies that created media websites to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda.”
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Russia is a major threat to the U.S. election on Nov. 5. She also made clear that Iran is also influencing the vote.
Regarding the protection of election workers, the FBI director confirmed that “election workers (many of whom are volunteers and all of whom are public servants) are the lifeblood of our elections and we are committed to ensuring that threats directed at election workers receive the swift and thorough response they deserve.”
He also said state and local law enforcement will be the first line of defense to protect election workers from violence and threats of violence.
“Enough is enough,” Wray
Wray had a strong message for Iran and China when asked what the FBI’s response would be to those seeking to interfere in the presidential election: “Enough is enough,” he said.
Russia is reportedly using new techniques such as artificial intelligence and other cyber tools.
“They are now using bot farms in ways that were not possible before, and so it is a bigger threat than ever before. I would just say that the reality is that Russia has been intruding into our society and trying to sow discord for decades,” Garland said at the conference.
The Justice Department also announced that it is targeting a Russian disinformation campaign known as “Doppelganger,” seizing 32 Internet domains that it says have been used by the Russian government and government-sponsored actors to allegedly engage in the influence campaign aimed at reducing international support for Ukraine, bolstering support for pro-Russian policies and swaying American voters, according to newly unsealed court records, ABC News reported.
“They represent attacks on our democracy”
“Whether it’s China, Iran, Russia, or any other country, attempts to interfere in our elections or destabilize our free and open society represent attacks on our democracy. And as long as foreign adversaries continue to engage in these hostile influence campaigns, they will continue to encounter the FBI,” Wray said.
Over the next several weeks, task force representatives will be meeting with election workers, and in early November, both before and after Election Day, the FBI will host federal partners at its headquarters command center to address election-related events, issues, and potential crimes in real time.
Visa restrictions and offering rewards
“As the lead investigative agency on threats to U.S. elections, the FBI is focused on ensuring our laws are respected and enforced,” they said.
Among the measures officials announced at the press conference were visa restrictions, designating RT’s parent company and subsidiaries as entities controlled by a foreign government, and offering cash rewards for information about the Russian intelligence-linked hacking group RaHDit under its “Rewards for Justice” program.
Also present at the conference were Deputy Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and Principal Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
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