The Biden administration on Wednesday condemned Russian efforts to influence the 2024 U.S. election as the Justice Department announced it seized 32 web domains the country has used for its covert campaigns.
The action also targeted two employees of RT, formerly known as Russia Today, a Russian state media outlet with content available in English, charging the duo with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Collectively, the two actions are some of the strongest moves taken under the Biden White House to confront accelerating efforts by the Russian government the intelligence community has deemed “the predominant threat to U.S. elections.”
Deemed “Doppelganger,” the Russian effort employed a mix of creating sites with slightly different web addresses that mimic U.S. news outlets, including one appearing to be The Washington Post, and are plastered with pro-Russian narratives. It also created other media brands to funnel Russian content.
“As of noon today, we've seized those sites, rendered them inoperable, and made clear to the world what they are: Russian attempts to interfere in our elections and influence our society,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said as Justice Department officials convened an Election Threats Task Force meeting.
“When we learn that adversaries overseas are trying to hide who they are and where their propaganda is coming from as part of campaigns to deliberately sow discord, we're going to continue to do everything we can to expose their hidden hand and disrupt their efforts,” Wray added.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday that “President Vladimir Putin's inner circle” directed the influence campaign with the broader goals of drumming up support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “securing Russia's preferred outcome in the election.”
While neither officials nor the filings unsealed Wednesday named Russia’s preferred candidate, supporting exhibits included make its support for former President Trump clear.
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