The title of this section should be an embarrassment to the companies involved in supplying social media access.
The first form of Russian election influence came principally from the Internet Research Agency, LLC (IRA), a Russian organization funded by
This is proof that no company is out of the reach of Russia's communist government. They are all arms of the government and it's intelligence agencies. When anyone is conducting business with companies owned by Russians, they are doing business with Moscow and Putin.
...including Concord Management and Consulting LLC...
March 14, 2019
By Ronn Blizter
Concord Management and Consulting, LLC, (click here) the Russian company accused of being involved in a complex election interference operation in 2016, wants to know exactly what Special Counsel Robert Mueller thinks they did. In a Monday court filing, the firm asked the court to order the Special Counsel’s Office to file a bill of particulars that specifies exactly what they think Concord did, who they believe did it, and explain key words and phrases in the indictment...
Basically, Prigozhin is playing the dumb Russian. Asking what the meaning of words actually is to allow the Dumb Russian to properly address the court is a method of obstruction.
...and Concord Catering (collectively "Concord").2 The IRA conducted social media operations targeted at large U.S. audiences with the goal of sowing discord in the U.S. political system.3 These operations constituted "active measures" (Russian words - aKTMBHbie Meporrprumu1), a term that typically refers to operations conducted by Russian security services aimed at influencing the course of international affairs.4
The IRA and its employees began operations targeting the United States as early as 2014. Using fictitious U.S. personas, IRA employees operated social media accounts and group pages designed to attract U.S. audiences. These groups and accounts, which addressed divisive U.S. political and social issues, falsely claimed to be controlled by U.S. activists. Over time, these social media accounts became a means to reach large U.S. audiences. IRA employees travelled to the United States in mid-2014 on an intelligence-gathering mission to obtain information and photographs for use in their social media posts.
The IRA, Internet Research Agency, became aware of the fact ORIGINAL CONTENT would add to it's legitimacy for the entries to INFLUENCE the 2016 elections. It wasn't enough to "cut and paste" or "share" so much as introduce their own content composed with original content obtained from within the USA. Iconic photos and other materials that added legitimacy to the idea these were Americans reporting or complaining about their government.
IRA employees posted derogatory information about a number of candidates in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. By early to mid-2016, IRA operations included supporting the Trump Campaign and disparaging candidate Hillary Clinton. The IRA made various expenditures to carry out those activities, including buying political advertisements on social media in the names of U.S. persons and entities. (Citizens' United at work - there is no limit to the sources of information or spending to facilitate that point of view - I don't care who the candidate is, they do not have the capacity to spend money in the amounts of a sovereign government. That Supreme Court decision opened the USA to greater foreign influence.) Some IRA employees, posing as U.S. persons and without revealing their Russian association, communicated electronically with individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities, including the staging of political rallies.5 The investigation did not identify evidence that any U.S. persons knowingly or intentionally coordinated with the IRA's interference operation.
The Russians had a preference. They wanted Trump in office because they could control him. They probably had plenty of evidence regarding The Trump Company's need for foreign money. They had enough evidence to allow them to carry out a campaign for Trump facilitated by loose USA laws. There was nothing protecting ANY of the campaigns from Russian attacks. The adverse attacks were aimed at Clinton evidenced by the unilateral by the email releases on Wikileaks. The promotional attacks were aimed at Trump and his vulnerabilities to Russian power.
By the end of the 2016 U.S. election, the IRA had the ability to reach millions of U.S. persons through their social media accounts. Multiple IRA-controlled Facebook groups and Instagram accounts had hundreds of thousands of U.S. participants. IRA-controlled Twitter accounts separately had tens of thousands of followers, including multiple U.S. political figures who retweeted IRA-created content.
Personally, I do not do Twitter, even with an account rarely used. I don't subscribe to information sites on Facebook, except, for standard news organizations within the USA, such as CNN, NBC, CBS, etc. Newspapers such as the NYTimes, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Houston Chronicle and the list goes on. In defense of the Americans, they simply didn't know and participated in a way that has become a method of keeping in touch with family and friends. Americans simply don't feel badly about social media. They see it as an enhancement to their lives. That is especially true with family members that travel. I don't do Instagram. I believe all three social media companies are part of the Facebook Empire. Quite possibly to the point of anti-trust.
In November 2017, a Facebook representative testified that Facebook had identified 470 IRA-controlled Facebook accounts that collectively made 80,000 posts between January 2015 and August 2017. Facebook estimated the IRA reached as many as 126 million persons through its Facebook accounts. 6 In January 2018, Twitter announced that it had identified 3,814 IRA-controlled Twitter accounts and notified approximately 1 .4 million people Twitter believed may have been in contact with an iRA-controlled account.7
Americans were hacked. Plain and simple. They had been hacked by Vladimir Putin. They never bothered to ask why there weren't adverse activity regarding Trump on Wikileaks or otherwise.
Footnotes:
2 is about the evidence in possession of the Special Counsel and it's distribution.
2 The Office is aware of reports that other Russian entities engaged in similar active measures operations targeting the United States. Some evidence collected by the Office corroborates those reports, and the Office has shared that evidence with other offices in the Department of Justice and FBI.
This is what is stated in the report with this footnote.
The IRA conducted social media operations targeted at large U.S. audiences with the goal of sowing discord in the U.S. political system
I am quite confident Footnote 3 refers to the process of the FBI in obtaining the information (which is evidence) that lead to the statement it is affiliated.
3 HARM OF ONGOING MATTER see also SM-2230634, serial 44 (analysis). The FBI case number cited here, and other FBI case numbers identified in the report, should be treated as law enforcement sensitive given the context. The report contains additional law enforcement sensitive information.
4 As discussed in Part V below, the active measures investigation has resulted in criminal charges against 13 individual Russian nationals and three Russian entities, principally for conspiracy to defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371....
Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States (click here)
See Volume I, Section V.A, infra; Indictment, United States v. Internet Research Agency, et al., 1 :18-cr-32 (D.D.C. Feb. 16, 2018), Doc. I ("Internet Research Agency Indictment"). This is the reference to the specific case before the courts or Grand Jury.
March 23, 2019 - Special Counsel Robert Mueller Ends Investigation (click here)
Six days after the end of the Special Counsel investigation the USA, under Bill Barr, vacated it's complaint against the Russians. This is called corruption and quite possibly illegal. I thought this would occur. Where is the judge is allowing such hideous activity?
These cases have to be called up before the Oversight of the USA Congress to bring charges against this administration. I strongly believe Robert S. Mueller needs to address these cases to the US Congress.
The evidence, including the documentation by the FBI of the facts, need to be handed over from Barr. There is a reason why Barr doesn't want to appear before the US House. Perhaps the US House may want to read him his rights before he testifies.
These cases have to be called up before the Oversight of the USA Congress to bring charges against this administration. I strongly believe Robert S. Mueller needs to address these cases to the US Congress.
The evidence, including the documentation by the FBI of the facts, need to be handed over from Barr. There is a reason why Barr doesn't want to appear before the US House. Perhaps the US House may want to read him his rights before he testifies.
Mar 29, 2019 (click here)
NOTICE of Withdrawal of Appearance by USA as to INTERNET RESEARCH AGENCY LLC, CONCORD MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING LLC, CONCORD CATERING, YEVGENIY VIKTOROVICH PRIGOZHIN, MIKHAIL IVANOVICH BYSTROV, MIKHAIL LEONIDOVICH BURCHIK, ALEKSANDRA YURYEVNA KRYLOVA, ANNA VLADISLAVOVNA BOGACHEVA, SERGEY PAVLOVICH POLOZOV, MARIA ANATOLYEVNA BOVDA, ROBERT SERGEYEVICH BOVDA, DZHEYKHUN NASIMI OGLY ASLANOV, VADIM VLADIMIROVICH PODKOPAEV, GLEB IGOREVICH VASILCHENKO, IRINA VIKTOROVNA KAVERZINA, VLADIMIR VENKOV (Dreeben, Michael) (Entered: 03/29/2019)
Barr has been a busy boy defrauding the USA Justice System. He is nothing more than a defense attorney looking for every loophole he can find to make Trump and Putin happy. He wants to create the idea" the Special Counsel is a fraud. a witch hunt. For that reason and that reason alone I demand the USA Congress subpoena ALL THE RECORDS of the Special Counsel investigation.
It is my opinion Barr is also acting as a foreign agent in removing charges from those indicted by the Special Counsel. Both Trump and Barr are acting as foreign agents. Barr may very well have a legal order stating to drop the charges against the Russians and every Russian agency cited by the Special Counsel.
I don't see that Robert Mueller cannot testify realizing this is going on.
5 Internet Research Agency INDICTMENT 52, 54, 55(a), 56, 74 (click here) Harm of Ongoing Matter
6 Social Media Influence in the 2016 US. Election, Hearing Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 115th Cong. 13 (11/1/17) (testimony of Colin Stretch, General Counsel of Facebook)... (click here - Colin Stretch's testimony begins on page 7 of the US Senate document and page 13 of the PDF. It is listed in the Table of Contents)
STATEMENT OF COLIN STRETCH, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, FACEBOOK Mr. STRETCH. Chairman Burr, Vice Chairman Warner and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today. My name is Colin Stretch and since July 2013 I’ve served as the General Counsel of Facebook. We appreciate this Committee’s hard work to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.
At Facebook, our mission is to create technology that gives people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. We are proud that each of you uses Facebook to connect with your constituents, and we understand that the people you represent expect authentic experiences when they come to our platform to share and connect....
...("We estimate that roughly 29 million people were served content in their News Feeds directly from the IRA's 80,000 posts over the two years. Posts from these Pages were also shared, liked, and followed by people on Facebook, and, as a result, three times more people may have been exposed to a story that originated from the Russian operation. Our best estimate is that approximately 126 million people may have been served content from a Page associated with the IRA at some point during the two-year period."). The Facebook representative also testified that Facebook had identified 170 Instagram accounts that posted approximately 120,000 pieces of content during that time. Facebook did not offer an estimate of the audience reached via Instagram.
7 Twitter, Update on Twitter's Review of the 2016 US Election (Jan. 31, 2018). (click here)
continued in next entry
NOTICE of Withdrawal of Appearance by USA as to INTERNET RESEARCH AGENCY LLC, CONCORD MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING LLC, CONCORD CATERING, YEVGENIY VIKTOROVICH PRIGOZHIN, MIKHAIL IVANOVICH BYSTROV, MIKHAIL LEONIDOVICH BURCHIK, ALEKSANDRA YURYEVNA KRYLOVA, ANNA VLADISLAVOVNA BOGACHEVA, SERGEY PAVLOVICH POLOZOV, MARIA ANATOLYEVNA BOVDA, ROBERT SERGEYEVICH BOVDA, DZHEYKHUN NASIMI OGLY ASLANOV, VADIM VLADIMIROVICH PODKOPAEV, GLEB IGOREVICH VASILCHENKO, IRINA VIKTOROVNA KAVERZINA, VLADIMIR VENKOV (Dreeben, Michael) (Entered: 03/29/2019)
Barr has been a busy boy defrauding the USA Justice System. He is nothing more than a defense attorney looking for every loophole he can find to make Trump and Putin happy. He wants to create the idea" the Special Counsel is a fraud. a witch hunt. For that reason and that reason alone I demand the USA Congress subpoena ALL THE RECORDS of the Special Counsel investigation.
It is my opinion Barr is also acting as a foreign agent in removing charges from those indicted by the Special Counsel. Both Trump and Barr are acting as foreign agents. Barr may very well have a legal order stating to drop the charges against the Russians and every Russian agency cited by the Special Counsel.
I don't see that Robert Mueller cannot testify realizing this is going on.
5 Internet Research Agency INDICTMENT 52, 54, 55(a), 56, 74 (click here) Harm of Ongoing Matter
6 Social Media Influence in the 2016 US. Election, Hearing Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 115th Cong. 13 (11/1/17) (testimony of Colin Stretch, General Counsel of Facebook)... (click here - Colin Stretch's testimony begins on page 7 of the US Senate document and page 13 of the PDF. It is listed in the Table of Contents)
STATEMENT OF COLIN STRETCH, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, FACEBOOK Mr. STRETCH. Chairman Burr, Vice Chairman Warner and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today. My name is Colin Stretch and since July 2013 I’ve served as the General Counsel of Facebook. We appreciate this Committee’s hard work to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.
At Facebook, our mission is to create technology that gives people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. We are proud that each of you uses Facebook to connect with your constituents, and we understand that the people you represent expect authentic experiences when they come to our platform to share and connect....
...("We estimate that roughly 29 million people were served content in their News Feeds directly from the IRA's 80,000 posts over the two years. Posts from these Pages were also shared, liked, and followed by people on Facebook, and, as a result, three times more people may have been exposed to a story that originated from the Russian operation. Our best estimate is that approximately 126 million people may have been served content from a Page associated with the IRA at some point during the two-year period."). The Facebook representative also testified that Facebook had identified 170 Instagram accounts that posted approximately 120,000 pieces of content during that time. Facebook did not offer an estimate of the audience reached via Instagram.
7 Twitter, Update on Twitter's Review of the 2016 US Election (Jan. 31, 2018). (click here)
Updated on January 31, 2018
We have expanded the number of people notified about interactions with Twitter accounts potentially connected to a propaganda effort by a Russian government-linked organization known as the Internet Research Agency. Our notice efforts are focused on certain types of interactions, and they will not encompass every person that ever saw this content. Our goal in providing these notifications is to advance public awareness of and engagement with the important issues raised in our blog post, and provide greater transparency to our account holders and the public....
