Dem
49
GOP
51
We begin today with a bit of news that you surely already knew, even if you've been living in a cave for the last 3 years. The Russians are once again mucking around in a presidential election. They've been doing it for years, but have really increased the intensity of their activity over the last few cycles. Is that because Donald Trump has been on the ballot? Is it because the media and social media ecosystem makes it so easy to spread propaganda and misinformation? We would guess the answer to both questions is "yes."
On Wednesday, Russian interference was back in the headlines because the Biden administration announced some pretty strong moves meant to combat the problem. Specifically, the Department of Justice indicted two Russian nationals, imposed sanctions on 10 individuals and entities, and seized 32 internet domains. So much for Electoral-Vote.ru.
At the heart of the indictment is a scheme in which the two RT employees funneled $10 million toward the founding of Tenet Media in Tennessee. Tenet Media was founded by right-wing bomb thrower Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovan. We would be remiss if we did not note that, in addition to being Russian assets, Chen and Donovan are also... Canadians. At Tenet, they employed many pro-Trump provocateurs, including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin. Pool, Johnson and Rubin claim they didn't know where the money was coming from, and that may be true. Though if so, that makes them a textbook example of "useful idiots," to use the Russian term. As you might guess, Tenet's "coverage" penetrated deeply into the right-wing mediasphere, and was/is particularly palpable in the programming on Fox.
How did the right-wing media respond to all of this? Well, to its credit, Blaze Media fired Chen from her position there. Fox, for its part, devoted much of its nighttime programming bloc to making the somewhat contrary arguments that: (1) this is much ado about nothing, and (2) this is a Biden-administration scheme to make Fox and other right-wing outlets look bad. Caught with your hand in the cookie jar, perhaps?
Donald Trump also blew his stack on his boutique social media platform:
Comrade Kamala Harris and her Department of Justice are trying to interfere in and suppress the Election in favor of the Democrats by resurrecting the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and trying to say that Russia is trying to help me, which is absolutely FALSE. In fact, President Putin would much rather see Comrade Kamala Harris in Office, as he strongly said just this morning. Why aren't they looking into Iran, China, & other Countries and, more importantly, why aren't they looking at Marc Elias, Mark Pomerantz, the relationship between Lisa Monaco to Andrew Weissmann, CREW, and all of the other Enemies of the People that had such an effect on the 2020 Election, and are trying to Rig and Steal the 2024 Presidential Election. So ironic watching Lisa Monaco, a figurehead for Weissmann and the group of Radical Left Lunatics who had so much to do with the original Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and now she is at it again, leading A.G. Merrick Garland down an empty and Country destroying path...
Vladimir Putin also decided to get in on the performance art, and announced his endorsement of Kamala Harris. For anyone who believes that is genuine, can we interest you in buying some of our new E-V.com cryptocurrency? Note that we don't accept rubles or riyals in payment, however.
Obviously, the federal government is doing what it can to combat this, but the Russkies are sneaky. In the end, Putin's thumb on the scale for Trump is now pretty much baked into the process. (Z)