BINGO! A just-released interview hits all the squares on my Russian Intelligence Bingo card
All our favorite characters and narratives in one place!
I’m back! Welcome to 2024 and all the chaos it is bound to bring our way.
ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
As I sat down yesterday wondering what the hell I was going to write about for my first Rant! of 2024, the Gods of Russian Propaganda answered my call: A story that hits pretty much every square on any Russian Intelligence Bingo card. Kremlin agents, check! Projection, check! Biden corruption, Burisma, Deep state, check, check, check!
Here’s the story: Simona Mangiante, the wife of George Papadopoulos—a Trump campaign foreign policy advisor who pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with Russians; who met with Joseph Mifsud, the missing Maltese professor who is a Russian intelligence agent; and who told an Australian diplomat that Russia was planning to help Trump win in 2016 by releasing dirt on Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of missing emails—has interviewed Andrey Derkach, also a Russian agent, who planted the "Joe Biden is corrupt because of Burisma" story (a corruption story I can't even summarize because it keeps changing and defies logic), and the interview is appearing on Gateway Pundit, the oft-cited propaganda outlet Trump adores.
A quick summary of who Derkach is: he is a Ukrainian oligarch who, according to the Director of National Intelligence, played a prominent role in Russia’s election influence activities. He has developed networks to help launder Russian narratives, including the “Biden Burisma corruption” story, into the US media ecosystem and to push them with US politicians (like Republican members of Congress).
Mangiante’s interview with Derkach is yet another example of how Russian intelligence is actively pursuing avenues to manipulate the information space to Russia’s advantage. I didn’t have time to watch the entire one-hour interview, but even the first twenty minutes are filled with tactics that will be familiar to anyone who has taken my Foreign Influence Operations course (or, really, anyone who has been paying attention). Let’s dig in.
Before the interview even begins, Mangiante says Derkach has spent the last two years “researching and analyzing new evidence of international corruption, including those related to [the] Biden family’s involvement in Ukraine.” Which means we can expect a number of new bullshit narratives to rear their ugly head in the coming weeks and months.
Mangiante then starts the interview with an effort to deflect from the fact that Derkach is an agent of the Kremlin. She says:
“To most of the Western audience, you are portrayed as an agent of the Kremlin…But also it is coming clear right now that everyone who exposes the corruption of the Biden family in Ukraine is somehow targeted as a Russian agent, and every piece of sensitive evidence or information against the Biden family is Russian propaganda.”
Do you see what she did there? By saying, “They will call us all Russian agents,” she aims to mute anyone who calls them Russian agents. But they are agents of the Kremlin and the “Biden corruption in Ukraine” story is Russian propaganda.
Derkach then adds to this circular logic, saying, “Everything we said about Biden corruption in Ukraine is confirmed by Congressional materials.” Yes, materials provided to Congress by Derkach.
Derkach goes on to make a number of whacky accusations, among them:
Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency is “completely controlled by the American embassy.”
Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and undersecretary of State for political affairs Victoria Nuland are a Deep State organized crime group.
Former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin might be assassinated (by this Deep State organized crime group, he implies) for talking to Congress.
Blinken told Zelensky he must “resolve the issue of Derkach” and if Zelensky doesn’t, Blinken will, implying Blinken would have Derkach extrajudicially killed.
Ukraine’s citizens are hostages of Zelensky and they suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.
Mind you, all of this happened in the first few minutes of the interview!
Mangiante then sets up a question allowing Derkach to introduce a number of new accusations that Derkach possesses in “secret rulings.” This is where I stopped watching, but we can safely assume every one of these new accusations will be introduced into the US information space in the coming weeks and months.
Indeed, Mangiante claims Derkach’s “evidence” “may lead to Biden’s impeachment,” in case you were wondering if Russian assets were helping fuel the GOP’s bullshit impeachment process.
Then, in her tweet announcing her exclusive interview, Mangiante tagged a number of right-wing influencers, basically giving us a list of other Russian assets, because it is only a matter of time before everyone on this list starts using Derkach’s interview as “evidence” of Joe Biden’s corruption.
Or is it simply a coincidence that these accusations from Derkach appear now, just as House impeachment hearings heat up? (Spoiler: It is not a coincidence. Indeed, Russian state propaganda outlet RT is already repeating many of the insinuations raised by Derkach in the interview.)
Let’s be clear, this is Russian assets feeding bullshit to the House GOP in order to hurt Biden. That’s all this Biden impeachment nonsense has been about since the beginning. Meaning: Russia sees Biden as a threat and sees Trump as an ally.
For more details on Derkach and his relationship with Giuliani, see this:
I keep hearing that Russia doesn't matter because our own politicians are lying and manipulating the information space, so we should concentrate on our own. BUT THESE ARE ALL CONNECTED, you see.
Putin, Trump, and many in the GOP want the same outcome: the end of democracy. Why? Because that allows them to seize and maintain power. Integral to achieving this objective is corrupting the information space.
It still boggles my mind that Republicans willingly participate in this mindfuckery that is supported by, amplified by, and often instigated by RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE. Reagan would flip in his grave!
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of stories you should be reading
EUROPE
Russia works to subvert French support for Ukraine, documents show (Washington Post)
RUSSIA
Rebirth of Russian Spycraft: How the Ukraine War Has Changed the Game for the Kremlin’s Operatives—and Their Western Rivals (Foreign Affairs)
Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She writes and teaches about terrorism, disinformation / covert influence, and oligarch yachts. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, The Center for Public Integrity, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, France24, and numerous other media outlets. She was also invited once to speak at Harvard, which she now tells everyone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. She is the author of the Victor Caro series, satirical novels about the CIA. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Did she mention she was invited to speak at Harvard?
So many active measures. They’re too active to measure.
Almost as newsworthy as the sun rise in the east tomorrow....
And if that dynamic could possibly change? I mean that’s what they do .