RUSSIA/РОССИЯ THREAD—ASSANGE CHRGD W/ SPYING—DJT IMPEACHED TWICE-US TREASURY SANCTS KILIMNIK AS RUSSIAN AGNT
- Thread starter ☑︎#VoteDemocrat
- Start date
:ALERTRED::ALERTRED:
:weebaynanimated:
:shakingdamn:
:weebaynanimated:
:shakingdamn:
Russian Trolls Tried to Torpedo Mitt Romney’s Shot at Secretary of State
Online campaign targeted the ex-GOP nominee as Donald Trump considered him in late 2016
March 8, 2018 5:30 a.m. ET
Donald Trump, then the president-elect, with Mitt Romney after their meeting at Trump International Golf Club in New Jersey in November 2016. Photo: drew angerer/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Weeks after Donald Trump was elected president, Russia-backed online “trolls” flooded social media to try to block Mitt Romney from securing a top job in the incoming administration, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.
The operatives called the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, then a contender for secretary of state, a “two headed snake” and a “globalist puppet,” promoted a rally outside Trump Tower and spread a petition to block Mr. Romney’s appointment to the top diplomatic job, according to a review of now-deleted social-media posts.
The revelation comes alongside a new report, in the New Yorker, that alleges the Kremlin pressured then-President Elect Trump to consider a candidate more favorable to Russian interests. Mr. Trump ultimately appointed former Exxon MobilCorp. chief Rex Tillerson, who has said he has a “very close relationship with” Russian President Vladimir Putin, to lead the department.
Mr. Romney is a Russia hawk, saying during the 2012 campaign that the country was the U.S.’s “No. 1 geopolitical foe.”
“It’s not surprising that the Russian troll operation tried to do whatever it could to prevent [Mr. Romney] from being secretary of state,” said Ryan Williams, a political strategist and former Romney spokesman.
The White House didn’t respond to requests for comment. The administration has denied any political coordination with Russia during the 2016 campaign, which is a focus of the special counsel investigation that has ensnared a number of Trump associates. Russia has denied having interfered in the election.
The Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency, a.k.a. the Troll Factory, used fake social media accounts before and after the 2016 U.S. election to collect sensitive personal information on Americans, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. Shelby Holliday explains how the Russian schemes worked.
The Journal analysis, which included a review of now-deleted tweets as well as posts on Facebook and Instagram from accounts linked to a pro-Kremlin propaganda agency, showed the trolls’ disdain for Mr. Romney was clear. Several of the most popular accounts slammed the former Massachusetts governor in late November and early December 2016, encouraging their tens of thousands of followers to take action.
The push came just as reports swirled that Mr. Romney could get the job, despite his frequent, harsh criticism of Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign.
“No Romney for Secretary of State! #NeverRomney,” wrote the Twitter account USA_Gunslinger on Nov. 25 to its then more than 26,000 followers. Around that time, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said Mr. Romney had been “nothing but awful” to Mr. Trump during the campaign, and tweeted that she was getting a “deluge” of negative comments about him from Trump loyalists.
The Russian front accounts tried to do more than just spread messages on social media.
One group, “Being Patriotic,” which earlier purchased pro-Trump advertisements on Facebook, encouraged people to gather outside Trump Tower in New York City and protest Mr. Romney’s possible nomination, according to an event listing linked to the group.
“We did NOT fight this hard to get backstabbing Romney as Secretary of State! He will run it like the Clinton Foundation!” the event post said.
The Being Patriotic account, which was booted from Facebook and other social-media platforms last fall, also used Instagram to bash Mr. Romney and promote Rudy Giuliani for secretary of state, according to reposts of the images.
Facebook, which also owns Instagram, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Twitter also didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Several of the most prominent Russian-linked Twitter accounts urged people to sign a petition on the website change.org. “Romney is everything we voted against when we voted Trump to #DrainTheSwamp! Sign the petition & RT #NeverRomney,” wrote TEN_GOP, an account masquerading as the Tennessee GOP, to more than 50,000 followers on Nov. 30, 2016.
The allegations of Kremlin opposition to Mr. Romney surfaced in a New Yorker article about Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled a dossier of allegations the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian intelligence agencies to win the election.
According to the report, Mr. Steele created another, previously unreleased memo in late November 2016, which said the Kremlin “intervened to block” Mr. Trump’s choice of Mr. Romney for secretary of state. The memo is attributed to a single source described as “a senior Russian official.”
Mr. Steele didn’t respond to requests for comment. When asked about the report that Moscow weighed in on Mr. Romney’s appointment at a briefing Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “I’m not aware of anything regarding that, and don’t know that to be factual in any capacity at all.”
Mr. Romney, who is now running for a Utah Senate seat, said he doesn’t know why Mr. Trump didn’t pick him.
“I don’t know…why he chose to ask me to come in, or decided not to have me as his secretary of state,” Mr. Romney said in a statement. “I do believe it’s pretty clear that I’m not a fan of Vladimir Putin’s and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not a fan of mine either.”
Based on the information that's now coming out of congressional committees, Russian goals to interfere in the 2016 election were very broad. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains just how sophisticated the Russian efforts were using social media. Photo: AP
Intelligence experts cautioned that the trolls’ messages aren’t proof of the Kremlin’s preference.
“In many cases the underlying objective is to create confusion and conflict,” said Sean Kanuck, the former head of cyber issues for the U.S. National Intelligence Council now with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “I would expect the trolls to create uncertainty around whomever is the front runner.”
By mid-December, Mr. Trump had changed course, naming Mr. Tillerson as his choice to lead the department. The oil executive rose to the top of Exxon Mobil partly by negotiating a project with the Russian president.
Most of the posts about Mr. Tillerson in the Journal’s analysis were repetitions of news reports, though a scattering of Russian accounts voiced a positive opinion about the formerly “dark horse” candidate. “Trump to name Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State! Good! #NeverRomney,” wrote the Twitter account ELEVEN_GOP on Dec. 10.
Last edited:
Russia is bold as fuuucccckkk
that's so gangster.
straight up gully.
i wonder how the poison was administered.
going after his daughter is a whole other level of sinister.
:shakingdamn:
Russian state TV anchor warns 'traitors'
BBC Monitoring
The world through its media
Channel One
Channel One 's presenter warns "traitors" from choosing the UK as a place of abode
For days, Russia's main national TV channels were practically silent on the attempt to kill former spy Sergei Skripal with a nerve agent, but this changed in Wednesday's main evening bulletins.
The comment by Kirill Kleimenov - the presenter on government-controlled Channel One's flagship Vremya news programme - sounded like a veiled, mocking threat to anyone considering becoming a double agent for Britain.
"I don't wish death on anyone, but for purely educational purposes, I have a warning for anyone who dreams of such a career," he said.
"The profession of a traitor is one of the most dangerous in the world," Kleimenov said, adding that few who had chosen it had lived to a ripe old age.
Alcoholism, drug addiction, stress and depression resulting in heart attacks and even suicide were the "professional illnesses of a traitor", according to Kleimenov.
'Maybe it's the climate'
He also had a second piece of advice for such "traitors or those who simply hate their country in their free time": "Don't choose Britain as a place to live."
Reuters
Russian media have made suggestive hints about the involvement of the UK's Porton Down military research facility
"Something is wrong there. Maybe it's the climate, but in recent years there have been too many strange incidents with grave outcomes there."
The remarks stood out from the rest of the evening's coverage, which followed the line often taken by Russian state media in similar circumstances - denial and wry bemusement that anyone should be pointing the finger at Russia.
On NTV - ultimately controlled by state gas company Gazprom - a presenter said the Western media were accusing Russia of poisoning Mr Skripal despite the lack of any evidence or any "expert conclusions".
Its London correspondent, Liza Gerson, mentioned the role of the UK's Porton Down research facility in the investigation, pointing out that it tested chemicals used against German soldiers in World War One.
NEIL HALL
Pro-Kremlin media accuse British counterparts of seeking a "Russian trace" in the poisoning
She also took a swipe at Boris Johnson's warning to Russia this week, saying the foreign secretary was known for his "unpredictable antics" and was "an infant in a man's suit".
Over on state channel Rossiya 1, the presenter said the British authorities "didn't even try" to seek Russia's co-operation in the investigation, "but have already discovered a Russian trace in the case".
'Anti-Russian hysteria'
Before the leading TV channels picked up the story, it had been widely covered by newspapers, news websites and niche liberal outlets such as Dozhd TV and Ekho Moskvy radio, as well as the relatively little-watched state news channel Rossiya 24.
"The British media continue to fan anti-Russian hysteria," one Rossiya 24 report said, adding that attempts to find a "Kremlin trace" were based "not on facts, but purely on rumours and fabrication".
The channel's UK correspondent reported the "interesting detail" that Britain's "secret" Porton Down facility manufactures the VX and sarin nerve agents, as well as other "UK weapons of mass destruction".
News websites widely reported remarks by Andrei Lugovoi - a suspect in the killing of former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 - dismissing talk of a "Russian trace".
"The English suffer from phobias," Mr Lugovoi - now a member of the Russian parliament - told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Dozhd TV's take was entirely different from the state media. Here, a presenter said that the discovery that Mr Skripal was poisoned by a nerve agent means "Russia is in for a high-profile criminal investigation".
reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.
Russian state TV anchor warns 'traitors'
BBC Monitoring
The world through its media
Channel One 's presenter warns "traitors" from choosing the UK as a place of abode
For days, Russia's main national TV channels were practically silent on the attempt to kill former spy Sergei Skripal with a nerve agent, but this changed in Wednesday's main evening bulletins.
The comment by Kirill Kleimenov - the presenter on government-controlled Channel One's flagship Vremya news programme - sounded like a veiled, mocking threat to anyone considering becoming a double agent for Britain.
"I don't wish death on anyone, but for purely educational purposes, I have a warning for anyone who dreams of such a career," he said.
"The profession of a traitor is one of the most dangerous in the world," Kleimenov said, adding that few who had chosen it had lived to a ripe old age.
Alcoholism, drug addiction, stress and depression resulting in heart attacks and even suicide were the "professional illnesses of a traitor", according to Kleimenov.
'Maybe it's the climate'
He also had a second piece of advice for such "traitors or those who simply hate their country in their free time": "Don't choose Britain as a place to live."
Russian media have made suggestive hints about the involvement of the UK's Porton Down military research facility
"Something is wrong there. Maybe it's the climate, but in recent years there have been too many strange incidents with grave outcomes there."
The remarks stood out from the rest of the evening's coverage, which followed the line often taken by Russian state media in similar circumstances - denial and wry bemusement that anyone should be pointing the finger at Russia.
On NTV - ultimately controlled by state gas company Gazprom - a presenter said the Western media were accusing Russia of poisoning Mr Skripal despite the lack of any evidence or any "expert conclusions".
Its London correspondent, Liza Gerson, mentioned the role of the UK's Porton Down research facility in the investigation, pointing out that it tested chemicals used against German soldiers in World War One.
Pro-Kremlin media accuse British counterparts of seeking a "Russian trace" in the poisoning
She also took a swipe at Boris Johnson's warning to Russia this week, saying the foreign secretary was known for his "unpredictable antics" and was "an infant in a man's suit".
Over on state channel Rossiya 1, the presenter said the British authorities "didn't even try" to seek Russia's co-operation in the investigation, "but have already discovered a Russian trace in the case".
'Anti-Russian hysteria'
Before the leading TV channels picked up the story, it had been widely covered by newspapers, news websites and niche liberal outlets such as Dozhd TV and Ekho Moskvy radio, as well as the relatively little-watched state news channel Rossiya 24.
"The British media continue to fan anti-Russian hysteria," one Rossiya 24 report said, adding that attempts to find a "Kremlin trace" were based "not on facts, but purely on rumours and fabrication".
The channel's UK correspondent reported the "interesting detail" that Britain's "secret" Porton Down facility manufactures the VX and sarin nerve agents, as well as other "UK weapons of mass destruction".
News websites widely reported remarks by Andrei Lugovoi - a suspect in the killing of former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 - dismissing talk of a "Russian trace".
"The English suffer from phobias," Mr Lugovoi - now a member of the Russian parliament - told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Dozhd TV's take was entirely different from the state media. Here, a presenter said that the discovery that Mr Skripal was poisoned by a nerve agent means "Russia is in for a high-profile criminal investigation".
reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.
Man God Damn
Russia, what are you doing?
Russia, what are you doing?
Christopher Steele stay safe out here
Last edited:
Sidebar- I feel for all the Russians who have nothing to do with this shyt. Nobody chooses where they are born. This is Putin shyt, not Russia shyt
UK is dealing with Brexit.Man God Damn
Russia, what are you doing?
Trump ain't going to do shyt.
Putin is flexing for his election.
If they touch him, Russians will Start droppingChristopher Steele stay safe out here
The Fukin Prophecy
RIP Champ
Haven't read up much on this but was his daughter actually targeted ?
Russians have a relatively strict code when it comes to shyt like this...
No Women
No Children
Its Amerikkkans that don't give a fukk and would bomb a school of 40 kids to assassinate a single target...
Just emailed my friend who is a bio terrorism research (anthrax, etc) he thinks it’s sarin