Russia’s long-standing efforts to spread disinformation in US politics have taken a new turn. This week’s indictment of two Russian state media employees revealed a scheme where they allegedly paid a Tennessee (a state in the southern United States) company to create pro-Russian content, highlighting an escalated attempt to meddle in the upcoming November election. This case reveals a broader strategy by the Kremlin to indirectly influence US elections and deepen political polarisation, reports Associated Press.
According to US prosecutors, the indicted employees from RT, a Russian media outlet formerly known as Russia Today, funneled $10 million to the U.S. media company, which then paid prominent right-wing influencers for their content, with one receiving $400,000 per month. Two of these influencers have denied knowing that their work was funded by Russia, describing themselves as unwitting victims.
The disinformation campaign appears to be part of a larger Russian strategy to diminish U.S. support for Ukraine, paving the way for a swift Russian victory in the ongoing conflict. Intelligence officials believe that Russia views Donald Trump as a favourable candidate in the 2024 US election due to his less supportive stance on Ukraine. Trump has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressed interest in cutting aid to Ukraine, and criticized NATO. Meanwhile, Putin made a sarcastic remark that he was rooting for Vice President Kamala Harris to win, further adding to the intrigue around Russian interference.
While sowing distrust and division remains a central goal of Russia’s disinformation tactics, intelligence agencies have recently warned that Russia is using unwitting Americans to propagate its messaging by exploiting existing social debates rather than fabricating new ones. This tactic has proven successful in recent incidents, such as the Ohio train derailment and debates over immigration, where Russian voices manipulated conversations that were later amplified by US social media users. A similar pattern was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic when Russia pushed baseless conspiracy theories that the virus was a US bioweapon.
Tim Pool and Benny Johnson, two right-wing influencers paid by the US company hired by RT, have denied knowing the Russian connection. While Pool condemned Russia and called Putin a “scumbag,” he has previously expressed anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian views, even advocating for the US to cut all ties with Ukraine and apologise to Russia.
Trump, responding to the latest revelations, accused federal prosecutors of “resurrecting the Russia Hoax” to undermine his candidacy, referring to earlier concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections, both of which saw efforts to support his campaign.
While China and Iran are also involved in manipulating US public opinion through disinformation campaigns, intelligence officials consider Russia the primary threat. They have noted that Moscow increasingly outsources its influence operations to third-party firms in the U.S. to avoid detection, a tactic Russian officials have proudly acknowledged.
RT’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, recently boasted on a Russian talk show about how Moscow hides its involvement, creating anonymous sources to confuse U.S. intelligence, describing it as a game of cat and mouse.
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