Russian National Falsely Charged with Interfering in US Midterm Elections
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
All US new millennium charges against Russia were and remain baseless, no evidence supporting them presented because none exists.
Since early 2018, the US intelligence community falsely accused Russia of attempting to influence the outcome of November midterm elections, including through social media.
In February, DNI Dan Coats lied under oath during congressional testimony, falsely claiming “the US is under attack” by Moscow.
He falsely claimed Russian hackers are scanning US electoral systems, using bot agents to sow social discord.
Then-CIA director Mike Pompeo made similar accusations. As secretary of state, he claimed the US wasn’t adequately protected against alleged Russian electoral interference.
In August, Senator Jeanne Shaheen falsely accused Russia of trying to compromise her reelection campaign.
At the same time, Senator Bill Nelson falsely accused the Kremlin of penetrating Florida’s election systems ahead of the November midterms.
On October 19, the Justice Department charged Russian national Elena Khusyaynova with attempting to interfere with upcoming November elections.
Falsely accusing her of conducting “information warfare against the United States,” the DOJ claimed she used social media to try influencing US public opinion ahead of 2016 elections and upcoming ones.
The charge came one day before John Bolton meets with Russian officials in Moscow. He’s expected to say the US intends abandoning the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. More on this below.
The DOJ claims Khusyaynov is involved in a so-called Project Lakhta to “sow discord in the US political system and to undermine faith in our democratic institutions,” according to US attorney Zachary Terwilliger.
He accused Khusayayonov of using its $35 million budget to buy domain names for trolls to post inflammatory content on issues including “immigration, gun control and the Second Amendment, the Confederate flag, race relations, LGBT issues, the Women’s March, and the NFL national anthem debate,” among others.
The last time the DOJ indicted alleged Russian hackers came days before July 16 Putin/Trump summit discussions in Helsinki.
Khusayayonov’s indictment said nothing about a Kremlin conspiracy to influence the outcome of November midterms.
It came on the same day the DNI, DOJ and FBI warned about unspecified “ongoing campaigns” by Russia, China and Iran to influence next month’s elections – no evidence backing the clearly spurious claims.
The NYT, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, CNN, and other US major media all reported the above accusations without due diligence checking, the way they always operate, repeating the official narrative on US adversaries – no matter how spurious, deceiving their readers and viewers instead of informing them accurately.
On Friday, a shameful NYT editorial claimed America’s elections could be hacked without providing any evidence proving it.
It’s editors lied saying ahead of “the 2016 presidential election, Russian hackers tried to infiltrate voting systems in dozens of states,” adding (t)hey succeeded in at least one, gaining access to tens of thousands of voter-registration records in Illinois.”
“(W)hether or not (Russian or other foreign) hackers manage to gain access to voting systems, they have already achieved their main goal, which is to sow pervasive doubt over the integrity of American elections.”
“(T)he Russians show no signs of slowing their efforts to disrupt American elections through disinformation campaigns.”
The Times and other US major media “show no signs of” shifting from disinformation and Big Lies, to journalism the way it’s supposed to be.
It’s available only through alternative sources, mainly online, a state-sponsored social media censorship campaign aiming to undermine them.
No evidence indicates foreign interference in US elections any time earlier or planned.
What reason would another nation want to interfere in the US electoral process?
Each cycle, things always turn out the same way. Dirty business as usual wins every time under duopoly governance with two extremist right wings, taking turns controlling the White House and Congress – reflecting fantasy democracy, not the real thing.
Last week, Russia’s US envoy Anatoly Antonov debunked the Trump regime’s claims about alleged Kremlin INF violations, stressing:
“(W)e do not see any clear facts or arguments that could lead to conclusions of violations,” adding:
The US appears intending to use its unfounded accusation as a pretext for abandoning the INF treaty – “while obviously blaming Russia” for its action.
Antonov accused the Trump regime of flagrant INF violations by deploying its Aegis Ashore missile defense systems in Romania, intending to do the same in Poland.
“They are intended for offensive purposes, including use of sea-based intermediate-range Tomahawk cruise missiles,” he explained, a clear INF breach, adding:
“If we were to deploy such missiles near the US territory, wouldn’t it be taken in the United States as a direct threat to its national security?”
No explanation was given to Moscow for Washington’s action, said Antonov. It’s also increasing production of assault drones, Moscow believes is an INF violation because of the weapons they carry.
The INF treaty prohibits development, deployment, and testing of ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles able to strike targets between 300 and 3,400 miles distant, the US a repeated violator.
US accusations of alleged Russian violations lack proof corroborating them.
Russia’s US embassy debunked them, saying “(d)espite the readiness to constructively cooperate on the issues related to cybersecurity, repeatedly voiced by our country, some politicians and bureaucrats in Washington prefer using unfounded accusations without presenting any proof.”
“It was possible to expect that the upcoming midterm elections would also become a convenient excuse for new attacks against Russia and attributing the continuation of meddling to us.”
In early October, Mike Pence falsely accused China of “mobiliz(ing) covert actors, front groups, and propaganda outlets to shift Americans’ perception of Chinese policies,” accusing Beijing of interfering in upcoming midterm elections, adding:
“As a senior career member of our intelligence community recently told me, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison” to China’s actions, he claimed – citing no evidence proving it.
China and Russia strongly debunked US accusations against their countries. There’s likely no end of them coming ahead, strategically timed when announced.
Responding to Washington’s phony accusation against Khusyaynova, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the following:
“Demonstrating hostility to Russia and contempt for the whole world, (Trump regime hardliners) will only receive an increasingly tough response,” adding:
“The US is obviously overrating its abilities. Washington is fabricating a pretext for imposing the notorious sanctions once again against our country.”
“After spreading lies regarding the mythical ‘hand of Moscow’ for more than two years, since the latest presidential election, Washington is now trying to play the same card in the lead-up to the upcoming election day of November 6 in the US.”
A Final Comment
As expected, Trump on Saturday announced his regime will pull out from the INF Treaty over phony allegations of Russian violations.
In response, Russian upper house Federation Council Defense Committee member Frants Klintsevich said the following:
“US President Donald Trump’s decision to leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is not surprising to us but we hoped that the common sense would prevail. It is obvious that the United States has no evidence proving Russia’s violations of the treaty’s provisions,” adding:
US regime hardliners want to “drag us, like the Soviet Union, into an arms race. It will not succeed. I have no doubts that our country will manage to ensure its security under any circumstances.”
Russian Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Konstantin Kosachev said Trump’s announced withdrawal risks “complete chaos in terms of nuclear weapons.”
Washington notoriously breaches treaties it agreed to uphold – including hundreds with Native Americans, the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2001, the Biological Weapons Convention Protocol in 2001, the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty in 2004, along with the JCPOA last May and INF Treaty yesterday by Trump, saying:
“We are going to terminate the agreement, and then we are going to develop (new) weapons,” claiming Russia violated the treaty, citing no evidence proving it because none exists.
All of the above and much more provide clear evidence that the US can never be trusted to keep its word. Trump’s pullout from two important treaties is a major blow to world security and stability.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
