I am going to take a 30 minute break and I will be back. This section is really important to me. Thank you for your patience.
I am sure that was longer than 30 minutes.
6. Targeting and Recruitment of U.S. Persons
As early as 2014, the IRA instructed its employees to target U.S. persons who could be used to advance it's operational goals.
This was a primary directive from the beginning. If one remembers their FORWARD persons began their planning in 2014. It was a two year lead in to the attack on the 2016 elections. The directive to involve Americans didn't occur because their covert operations were turning out well, it was the primary focus of the operation. In other words, the plans went well because estranging Americans was the plan from the beginning. This operation throughout it's entire existence, including any taking place now, was planned and carried out to the perfection they had.
Initially, recruitment focused on U. S. Persons who could amplify the content posted by the IRA.
Harm to Ongoing Matter
IRA employees frequently used Investigative Technique (a method) Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to contact and recruit U.S. persons who followed the group. The IRA recruited U.S. persons from across the spectrum. For example, the IRA targeted the family of Personal Privacy and a number of black social justice activists. while posing as a grassroots group called "Black Matters US." 89 In February 2017, the persona
"Black Fist" (purporting to want to teach African-Americans to protect themselves when contacted
by law enforcement) hired a self-defense instructor in New York to offer classes sponsored by
Black Fist. The IRA also recruited moderators of conservative social media groups to promote
IRA-generated content,90 as well as recruited individuals to perform political acts (such as walking
around New York City dressed up as Santa Claus with a Trump mask). 91
This is Russian Rubles talking. This is exactly why no one has a chance against the funding of a sovereign government. The government can fund any and every effort it cares to and gains influence with people. How many African Americans would not be interested in classes that teach them how to protect from contact with law enforcement? Russia could spend all the money it wanted so long as they were achieving their final goal, to estrange Americans from their government.
This is seriously important. Russia uses it's power to intimidate people into service for Russia. It is no different than the oligarchs that carry out horrible acts in the name of Russia. They go about their daily lives uninterrupted until Russia calls.
Every American involved with these groups were going to be used to agitate, grow unrest and build groups of people that would be willing to turn a civil society into warring factions.
I sincerely believe Americans have brushed this off as hacking as they have so many times before with credit agencies and the like. This is not the same kind of hacking. This is a planned assault by a sovereign power on the people of the USA to overthrow their government.
During 2016, I ran across a friend of a friend and we were playing "Scrabble." We started talking politics and she stated, "I want it all to end. I am so tired of all that the government of this country does wrong. I want to vote for Trump to end the way the establishment has power over us." No lie. I calmly pointed out we are a compassionate society interested in the well being of all our citizens and the government is an intricate part of our lives to carry out important laws and regulations. Well, I may as well have thrown gas on a burning fire and she told me she wanted everything to end. All of it. She wanted the USA Constitution to be pure again. She definitely was a Trumpie. I said, "You want Social Security to end?" She stated, "Yes." And I asked what she thought would come of the elderly in our society if all of a sudden there was no more Social Security? She looked at me and said, "Well. I guess I might be wrong about that."
Those are the people I believe were finding importance in messaging that was completely UnAmerican. She didn't get those ideas by herself. She felt confident in her own words and she expected her anger to vanquish my thoughts. When I didn't relent, she decided she might be wrong. She was influenced by powers outside the normal realm of politics. I am confident of it. It was only when she faced another person still believing what we do as compassionate Americans is important that she reflected on the idea of being compassionate. It was a true interaction and I believe her callous attitudes and ideas were directly from such undermining attempts by an alternative source of information, namely Russians. If the Russians were that successful in drumming up hate, they could do exactly as they planned to bring an end to the USA.
Footnote 86 The pro-Trump rallies were organized through multiple Facebook, Twitter, and email accounts.
See, e.g.,
Facebook ID 100009922908461 (Matt Skiber);
Facebook ID 1601685693432389 (Being
Patriotic);
Twitter Account @march_for_trump; beingpatriotic@gmail.com. (Rallies were organized in
New York on June 25, 2016; Florida on August 20, 2016; and Pennsylvania on October 2, 2016.)9
Footnote 87 Harm to Ongoing Matter
Footnote 88 Harm to Ongoing Matter
Harm of Onging Matter
92, 93, 94
as the IRA's online audience became larger, the IRA tracked U.S. persons with whom they communicated and had successfully tasked (with tasks ranging from organizing rallies to taking pictures with certain political messages).
Harm of Ongoing Matter
95
89 3/11/16 Facebook Advertisement ID 6045078289928,
5/6/16 Facebook Advertisement ID
6051652423528,
10/26/16 Facebook Advertisement ID 6055238604687;
10/27/16 Facebook Message, ID Personal Privacy & ID 100011698576461 (Taylor Brooks)
90 8/19/16 Facebook Message, ID 100009922908461 (Matt Skiber) to ID Personal Privacy
91 12/8/16 Email, robot@craigslist.org to beingpatriotic@gmail.com (confirming Craigslist
advertisement).
92 8/18-19/16 Twitter DMs, @march_for_trump & Personal Privacy
93 See, e.g., 11/11-26/16 Facebook Message ID 100011698576461 (Taylor Brooks) & ID Personal Privacy (arranging to pay for plane tickets and for a bull horn)
94 See, e.g., 9/10/16 Facebook Message, ID 100009922908461 (Matt Skiber) & ID Personal Privacy (discussing payment for rally supplies); 8/18/16 Twitter DM, @march_for_trump to PP (discussing payment for construction materials).
95 Harm to Ongoing Matter
The people becoming involved with the Russians were going to have their lives changed forever if the FBI didn't stop them. There were all kinds of favors taking place, traveling in planes, providing supplies, etc. This movement the Russians were building was real to these Americans. They were finally seeing some type of real purpose to their political lives. They were status, or so they thought. They were becoming leaders. They were being recruited by Russians to carry out an overthrow of their government and they never knew. The FBI knew and ended the danger in those lives.
I am going to watch the evening news and catch up with texts. I will start again here:
7. Interactions and Contacts with the Trump Campaign
To be continued in a later entry.
