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    Russia Secretly Worms Its Way Into America’s Conservative Media — Federal prosecutors say Russia paid an American media company to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.
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    Russia Secretly Worms Its Way Into America’s Conservative Media — Federal prosecutors say Russia paid an American media company to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.


    Russia Secretly Worms Its Way Into America’s Conservative Media — Federal prosecutors say Russia paid an American media company to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/07/business/media/russia-tenet-media-tim-pool.html

    View 48 Comments

    48 Comments

    1. JaVelin-X- on

      All these federal Investigations exposing these bastards would never have happened in a Trump administration.

    2. Cyklisk on

      America can’t differentiate anymore. Half of their talking points in society are just propaganda pushed by anti-American nations.

      Good luck, America.

    3. Tainuia_Kid on

      They were spreading information which they knew very well was false. They heard repeated claims that the information was coming from Russia, and hundreds of thousands of dollars appeared in their bank accounts for spreading that false information.

      They don’t get to claim innocence and say they were deceived. At the very least, they deliberately kept themselves in the dark.

    4. claudecardinal on

      Republicans don’t care if Putin is running the show. Just so long as it isn’t communists like Harris and Walz.

    7. pine-cone-sundae on

      hasn’t felt that “secret” to observers with functioning brains, but it helps to have suspicions confirmed.

    8. Aldren on

      Also affecting Canada. The leader of the conservatives followed them for his information while refusing to get a security clearance

    13. JubalHarshaw23 on

      It wasn’t all that secret, and the DOJ is allowing the American Conspirators to pretend they were “Victims”.

    15. Otherwise_Variety719 on

      Yeah, in a “not so secret way to anyone who pays attention to the fact that they were literally saying the same things as kremlin TV” kind of way.

    16. cisscumshitlord on

      i read [the document they submitted](https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-09/u.s._v._kalashnikov_and_afanasyeva_indictment_0.pdf) (relevant descriptions are on page 27) summarizing the charges/events, and i came to the conclusion that the two shell companies that were based in UAE are [Sonorous Technologies](https://www.sonorous-technologies.com/) and [Dayford Trust.](https://www.dayfordtrust.com/index.php) sonorous technology website has text that matches word for word for UAE shell entity 1, and dayford trust description fits UAE shell entity 2 almost perfectly.

      First thing you see on Sonorous is the exact text cited by the DOJ

      I can’t find a reference to construction projects on dayford’s site, but they do have construction products, as well as the textiles, electronics, jewelry, a yacht consultancy service, and a mention of “analysis of investment attractiveness.” That particular, pretty specific, combination of things leads me to believe that construction **projects** was most likely an error by whoever wrote up the DOJ’s document.

      Both companies have an address in Dubai listed.

      someone better at chasing down information than I am can probably take it further.

      edit: i’m also pretty sure the czech shell entity description (page 10) has an error as well. couldnt find much for cyberamor suite, but change it to cybera**r**mor suite, which makes more sense, and you come across [Craftbrain Global,](https://craftbrain-parts.com/) which fits the description of appearing to sell auto parts, based in czech republic, and also a random mention of a cyberarmor suite.

    19. gentleman_bronco on

      The most telling aspect of this entire event is that these treasonous conservatives will be given direct evidence of their part in a Kremlin influenced plot, and not a single one will do *any* introspection on their opinions. They will all come to the conclusion that Russia is right to interfere in American politics.

    21. That_Standard_5194 on

      Do yall believe it’s only ONE company? That these “influencers” are the ONLY ones pushing kremlin talking points? This web is bigger than even DoJ or FBI want to believe.

    22. TwoKeyLock on

      It makes me wonder how many rank and file republicans have been influenced by Russian and other foreign countries’ media infiltration.

      Remember: the war on Christmas, an Obama false flag, the summer of CRT, laws against trans people reading books at the library, book bans, public school teachers indoctrinating students by teaching them actual history, mandates to teach creationism as part of a science curriculum, and so on. Were these generated by a troll farm, ginned up by a fake facebook account, and became the next outrage?

      These things all sort of emerge from the ether, becoming outrage talking points on Fox for a few months, and fade away on to the next crisis.

    25. CleanBongWater420 on

      Stop calling them conservatives. There’s no such thing as a conservative. They are oppressors and fascists. Call them what they are.

    26. mynamesyow19 on

      Does anyone doubt that if Trump were President than this would have 100% been swept under the rug and never been prosecuted ?

      Of course maybe Russia wouldnt have needed to then bc they had would have had what they wanted already

    27. samwstew on

      “Secretly”????? Come on. Why is the media giving them all a pass. They absolutely knew what they were doing and should be tried for treason.

    28. katieleehaw on

      “Secretly” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

      People have been calling all the blatant Russian propaganda being spread by these people for many years.

    29. hillbillyspellingbee on

      “Secretly”

      It’s been wide open obvious since 2015 and before. Remember them fawning over bare-cheated Putin on a horse? Fox showed that shit every day for months and months. 

      NYT is a rag at this point. 

    30. Leehblanc on

      Anyone with 2 brain cells adjacent to each other has known this for 4-8 years. FFS, we have grown-ass men and women wearing diapers and putting maxi pads on their ears. You don’t get there quickly… that’s years of incessant brainwashing.

    33. shlongkong on

      “New York Yankees start ‘secretly’ selling Yankees merch at major retailers in Boston”

      Shit has been so obvious for so long and just now political careers favor investigating and exposing the source, since Trump’s chances are declining. As opposed to everyone “wondering” why people frequenting media outlets ended up spouting/believing divisive rhetoric

    34. im_in_stitches on

      Secretly? Really, was it such a secrete? We have politicians who shill for Russia, “news” people who show up on Russian media as the correct voice to listen to, Tucker, Bill, etc. It has not been a secrete, it’s just now being taken seriously.

    36. doofnoobler on

      “secretly” is doing a lot of work here. When my conservative step dad was championing putin I knew full well what the score was.

    37. Brave_Fheart on

      Let’s be clear, it’s not really a *secret* that Russia has wormed its way in. It’s been pretty apparent to anyone paying attention.

    38. ssbSciencE on

      There was nothing secret about it! We’ve been screaming about this kind of shit since 2016!

    42. Electrical_Room5091 on

      This article should be 10 years old. This happened over a decade ago. Ron Paul literally was on Russian radio stations spewing Russian talking points. Trump’s campaign met with Russian spies. 

    45. TerminalObsessions on

      “Secretly,” as in it’s been common knowledge for nearly a decade. Bravo, NYT, you never fail to fail.

    46. festivesnowrunner on

      They’ve been coordinating with/using right wing media for years:

      [https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-coronavirus-pandemic-health-moscow-media-ff4a56b7b08bcdc6adaf02313a85edd9](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-coronavirus-pandemic-health-moscow-media-ff4a56b7b08bcdc6adaf02313a85edd9)

      [https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-election-2020-indictments-913895489c6e64cac8f8811e91a8338c](https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-election-2020-indictments-913895489c6e64cac8f8811e91a8338c)

    47. earhere on

      Ironic that the conservatives despised the soviet union, but once Russia became a hyper capitalist hellhole like the US; they’re all for accepting oligarch money to push forth disinformation.

    48. T33CH33R on

      Conservatives are groomed from birth to believe things like sky gods without evidence, so it makes sense that they would be targeted by the Russians.