Will sanction RT executives // Says Kremlin recruit to influencers // The accusations, trite clichésthe media points out
AP and AFP
The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, September 5, 2024, p. 24
Washington. The US government announced a wide range of actions yesterday aimed at combating Russian interference in the November presidential election, announcing sanctions against executives of RT, a Russian state-funded news outlet, and others, accusing them of making malicious influence efforts in the elections.
The moves are an attempt by the U.S. government to thwart what it sees as a persistent threat from Russia, which officials say has the potential to sow discord and create confusion among voters.
Washington has said Moscow remains the main threat to the election and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating a hacking from Iran to Donald Trump’s campaign and an attempt to undermine that of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
One of the criminal cases involves two employees of RT, which was forced by the Justice Department to declare itself a foreign agent, who are accused of covertly funding a Tennessee-based content creation company to publish nearly 2,000 videos containing Russian propaganda. The defendants, who remain at large, used false identities and the company was unaware that it was being used by Russia.
In a separate move, authorities announced the seizure of 32 Internet domains that were used by the Kremlin to spread Russian propaganda and undermine global support for Ukraine.
Inevitable like death and taxes
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the actions are part of Russia’s use of its state-run media to recruit influential content creators in the United States to spread propaganda and disinformation.
The two RT employees have been charged in a New York court with money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, he said.
RT reacted through its Telegram channel and described it as trite clichés US accusations. “Three things are inevitable in life: death, taxes and RT’s ‘interference in the US elections,’” the outlet wrote ironically.
Intelligence agencies have accused Russia of using disinformation to try to interfere in the election process. The new measures reflect the depth of US concerns and announce legal action against the suspects.
“Today’s announcement underscores the lengths to which some foreign governments will go to undermine American democratic institutions,” the State Department said. “But these foreign governments should also know that we will not tolerate malign foreign actors intentionally interfering in and undermining free and fair elections.”
In a speech last month, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Russia remained the greatest threat to election integrity, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin and “his proxies of using increasingly sophisticated techniques in their interference operations. They are targeting specific voter demographics and swing state voters to manipulate the results of presidential and congressional elections. They seek to co-opt on social media to unwitting Americans to spread messages that favor Russian interests.”