U.S. accuses Russia of using unwitting influencers, fake news sites to sway presidential election

The United States on Wednesday took a series of actions against Russia in response to what it described as extensive efforts to meddle in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. Justice Department said Russia has used state-run media, unwitting influencers and websites masquerading as prominent American news sites to spread disinformation and sway American voters ahead of the vote in November.

"The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power is attempting to exploit our country's free exchange of ideas in order to send around its own propaganda," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters on Wednesday.

"That is what we allege happened in this case."

In one step announced Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed criminal charges against two employees of RT, a Russian state-run media organization. An indictment said Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, directed a Tennessee-based content creation company to spread pro-Russia propaganda and erode support for Ukraine.

U.S.-based influencers and personalities were recruited to help with the nearly $10-million US campaign. They did not know about Russia's involvement, Garland said, having been led to believe their work was being funded by a made-up investor named "Eduard Grigoriann."

Canadian connection

The indictment doesn't name the Tennessee company, but details in the court document match Tenet Media — a company founded by Canadian far-right commentator Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovan. 

The indictment said the company in question is self-described as "a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues," which matches word-for-word the description on Tenet Media's homepage. The indictment also said the company was incorporated on Jan. 19, 2022, which matches publicly available records with the Tennessee Secretary of State.

Commentators like Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Lauren Southern are among Tenet's personalities.

The indictment also includes more than a dozen references to another Canadian company owned by Chen and Donovan that was used as a vehicle to receive payment from RT.

Research by CBC News found a federally registered corporation linked to Chen and Donovan called Roaming Millennial Inc., which had an address in Montreal until last November.

Roaming Millennial was Chen's username on YouTube and Instagram in her earlier days as a content creator. 

Roaming USA Corp. is the corporate name for the entity that operates Tenet Media.   

Chen and Donovan were not named in the indictment and have not been criminally charged. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva remain at large. 

U.S. to seize web domains

In another action announced Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said it would seize 32 web domains it said Russian President Vladimir Putin used to covertly influence American elections.

The attorney general said the websites were designed to mimic major American news sites, like the Washington Post or Fox News.

"[The sites] were filled with Russian government propaganda that had been created by the Kremlin to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies and influence voters in the United States and other countries," Garland said.

"An internal document of the Kremlin described the content as, quote, 'Bogus stories disguised as newsworthy events.' "

Garland said Putin's "inner circle" had directed Russian public relations companies to promote disinformation to help sway the American vote. He said those firms also recruited American influencers, who were again in the dark about the Russian connection.

"An internal planning document created by the Kremlin states that a goal of the campaign is securing Russia's preferred outcome in the election," Garland said.

Vladislav Inozemtsev, a Russian columnist and Putin critic who now lives in the U.S., said Russian propaganda is about destabilizing countries that aren't aligned with the Russian regime — not necessarily by ensuring preferred politicians win the race, but by stoking political tensions and distrust with regular citizens.

"Russian propaganda is very focused on the idea of undermining the existing political regimes in Western Europe and in the United States. It's not about getting more Russia-friendly figures on the top ... but to make [the country] more unstable," Inozemtsev told CBC News in an interview Wednesday.

"Whatever divides the nation which [Putin] believes is unfriendly to Russia, it's good for him."

Russia, RT refute allegations

A Russian lawmaker called the reported accusations again "pure rubbish" and said Moscow does not think it matters whether Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris wins the Nov. 5 election.

"The only winner of the U.S. election is the U.S. private military industrial complex," State Duma deputy Maria Butina told Reuters.

The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Moscow has repeatedly said it has not meddled in the U.S. election.

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RT responded with ridicule.

"Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT's interference in the US elections," the media outlet told Reuters.

The outlet was forced to stopped operating in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and the European Union after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Ongoing threat to U.S. election

The Justice Department has previously warned Russia is still a key threat to American elections. U.S. officials have said Russia has not changed preference since previous American presidential elections, indicating Moscow favours Trump.

U.S. intelligence assessments found Russia tried to help Trump in 2016 and 2020. The nation has denied the allegations.

Garland also accused Iran on Wednesday of trying to influence the upcoming election through cyber operations against the campaigns of Trump and Harris. The Trump campaign has said Iran was responsible for recently leaking internal campaign documents to U.S. news outlets.