Russian fake news operative Alexander Malkevich detained by FBI

[greyl]

By Josh Marshall November 10, 2018 11:31 pm

Alexander Malkevich runs an outfit called USA Really, a kind of Russia Today/RT on steroids, basically a Russian-financed news operation the aim of which is to portray the USA as in a state of tumult and chaos. Admittedly this is probably an easier case to make than it might have been in the past. Needless to say, Malkevich, a Russian national is an epic Trump. Here’s how McClatchy described it in June …

"USA Really has all the markings of a Russian troll factory trying to undermine U.S. democracy, spinning conspiracy theories, aggregated news and opinions with an aim to show America in a state of near-chaos. Facebook and Twitter have shut down its accounts. When Malkevich’s website called for a rally June 14 to support President Donald Trump, it fizzled for lack of a correct city permit."

The content is a sort of agitated hybrid of Jill Stein, Tucker Carlson and Michael Tracey. One story I saw tonight was headlined “A USA Really correspondent went to Washington D.C. to take part in a meeting held by leading Republican political scientists to hear their opinion on the main features of this mid-terms campaign, and what has dramatically changed for the Party in the era of censorship and neo-liberal agenda.”

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/bet-well-hearing-more-about-this

Link to tweet

Russian embassy in DC is reporting that journalist Alexander Malkevich was detained by FBI. He has been pushing Russian propaganda in the states and is known as an info warrior. What’s very concerning is that he was here as an election observer

__________________________________

History:

This Man is Running Russia's Newest Propaganda Effort in the U.S. — Or at Least He's Trying to June 15, 2018
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-running-russia-s-newest-propaganda-effort-u-s-or-n883736

Meet the Man Behind a New Pro-Trump, Russian Website in the U.S. August 22, 2018
https://www.yahoo.com/news/meet-man-behind-new-pro-trump-russian-website-u-s-2-102124858.html

Is a New Russian Meddling Tactic Hiding in Plain Sight? Sept. 25, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/technology/usareally-russian-news-site-propaganda.html

[byronius]

1. K&R.

[Achilleaze]

2. republicans will no doubt start a go-fund-me campaign for this russian thug

who is working so damn hard to destroy American democracy.

[lindysalsagal]

3. FBI can follow the money behind it.

But we do have to remember to maintain freedom of the press, so, keep watching for these stories as the noise tightens around the orange swamp monster.

[Hortensis]

4. "Does The Internet Research Agency Work for the FBI?"

That's a USA Really (Really-Not) headline from yesterday. The article's a nice little lesson in the kind of poison they're spreading and, obligingly of them, a couple of their major techniques.

How about this:

The United States will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from Russia, China, Iran, or other nations. As noted in a joint statement on October 19, 2018, such actions are a threat to our democracy, and identifying and preventing this interference is one of our highest priorities. On September 12th, President Trump signed an executive order that makes clear the U.S. government will not hesitate to defend our electoral processes or punish those who attempt to undermine them,” the statement ends.

Sounds good. These are the good guys! Oh, wait, what's this:

True, “the American public can mitigate these efforts by remaining informed,” but not about the fact-free, xenophobic “Russian collusion” conspiracy theory which has been implanted into people’s memories. People need to be informed, instead, about the reality being created by U.S. operatives. ...

The rest of the article is a lengthy application of techniques the article itself explains:

This is not the only example of falsification and memory implantation aiming people believe that they remember an event that actually never happened.

Apparently Mueller is going after USA Really-Not, including its chief accountant, Elena Khusyaynova, and many paragraphs of fabrications about Mueller and our intelligence services followed. Since our brains often store information known to be false as just information, I declined the false memory implantation and didn't read.