The United States hit Moscow-linked companies and their employees with a combination of criminal charges, sanctions, and other measures in response to what U.S. officials described as a malicious influence campaign meant to upend American society and impact the outcome of the presidential election.
The announcements by the Departments of Justice, State, and Treasury charge Russia with breaking U.S. laws and international norms in a wide-ranging effort directed, in part, by members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
The schemes “make clear the ends to which the Russian government, including at its highest levels, is willing to go to undermine our democratic process,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, addressing a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force.
“This is deadly serious, and we are going to treat it accordingly,” he added.
The Justice Department indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges Russia tried to “hide its hand,” using two employees of the state-controlled RT media outlet, shell companies, and fake personas to funnel nearly $10 million to a U.S. company in Tennessee to promote and distribute English-language material favorable to the Russian government.
Officials said the unnamed company has produced almost 2,000 videos since November 2023, posting on social media platforms such as TikTok, X, and YouTube, garnering more than 16 million views on YouTube alone.
“While RT America suspended its official operations in the U.S. back in early 2022, our investigation revealed that since at least last year, RT has used people living and working inside the U.S. to facilitate contracts with American media figures to create and disseminate Russian propaganda,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“The content was pitched as legitimate independent news, when in fact, much of it was created in Russia by RT employees who work for the Russian government,” he added.
