Justice Department accuses Russia of interfering with 2024 elections – mbracken

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The U.S. government formally accused Russia of attempting to interfere in the 2024 elections, as the Department of Justice unveiled charges Wednesday against multiple individuals and seized dozens of domains they say were part of a wide-ranging campaign to influence American voters.

During a press conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the operations “make clear the ends to which the Russian government, including at its highest levels, is willing to go to undermine our democratic process.”

Two employees of Russia Today, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, were indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges they used foreign shell companies to direct $10 million to an unnamed Tennessee-based company to disseminate Russian disinformation on social media. They also allegedly invented a fictitious private investor to engage U.S.-based social media influencers with large followings to spread similar content.

The DOJ also announced that it had seized 32 internet domains that they claim were part of an effort by top officials close to President Vladimir Putin to use Russian public relations companies, including the Social Design Agency, in order to promote disinformation and state-sponsored narratives to sway the 2024 U.S. election.

As part of that effort, operatives from the prolific Russian disinformation group Doppelganger created fake websites and articles using typosquatted web domains to impersonate American news outlets like the Washington Post and Fox News. 

In March, the U.S. government sanctioned the Social Design Agency for impersonating legitimate news websites in Europe and false personas online in support of the Russian government’s disinformation operations.

The Department of State also announced it was introducing new visa restrictions for foreign individuals that are found to have engaged in foreign influence operations, designating six individuals in the United States as agents of the Russian government, and offering a $10 million reward for information about ongoing foreign influence operations. 

In July, U.S. intelligence officials described the Russian government as the most active foreign power seeking to influence the 2024 U.S. elections, aiming to support former President Donald Trump’s campaign, sway congressional races, and undermine public confidence in the American electoral system. Officials also said Russia, along with other countries, were increasingly leveraging witting and unwitting Americans and third-party commercial firms to mask their propaganda campaigns. 

However, officials have also said these operations aren’t the same level of intensity as 2016. There are no indications thus far that Russian hackers have sought to compromise or disrupt voting machines, election software or other election infrastructure.

Also in July, the DOJ seized two U.S.-based domains and nearly 1,000 social media accounts that authorities said were part of a Kremlin-sponsored AI-powered bot farm that targeted audiences in the U.S. and abroad.  

The FBI claims that RT played a central role in that operation. According to search warrants, RT led the development of Meliorator, a new AI tool designed to create unique social media personas “en masse,” post content, mimic ordinary social media users, and align their posts with other disinformation accounts and bots, according to a joint advisory.

Leadership at RT approved Meliorator, and less than a year later the project was folded into a new private intelligence organization created by the Russian Federal Security Service and approved by top Kremlin leadership in order to sow discord in the United States, according to court documents.

In response to an emailed request for comment, RT deputy editor-in-chief Anna Belkina sent CyberScoop a series of sarcastic, trolling responses, including that “2016 called and it wants its clichés back.”

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