GOP finally (!) starts calling out the party's Russia stooges
Three Republican Congressmen said this week that Russian disinformation is warping their party
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ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
I want to start with this story I just published with The New Republic. In it, I explain how Russian influence operations uncovered in Europe should serve as a warning sign to us in the United States. Many of our own politicians are openly doing the Kremlin’s bidding. We need to start asking why (I already know why, and if you’ve taken my Foreign Influence Operations course, you already know why).
Because I was not sure when the piece would be published, I prepared the following Rant! as well. Many of the points and examples are the same, but I still think it’s worth sending this out.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Deep Knowledge Of The Orthodox Church
On Steve Bannon’s podcast this week, Marjorie Taylor Greene went on a rant about Ukraine persecuting Orthodox Christians, calling it “a war on Christianity.” It was a strange thing for her to say. First of all, it isn’t true. Secondly, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is closely linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, which plays a major role in Russia’s influence operations and acts as an arm of the state security services. I discuss this in my Foreign Influence Operations course, if you want to know more, including in Class 7.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has been trying to clean up corruption in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and break it off from Moscow’s influence. It is long and complicated, but basically there is now the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow and the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine. And Ukraine is not throwing priests into prison, while Russia, in fact, is throwing Ukrainian priests into prison.
But what was most striking about MTG’s rant was that she made the point at all.
Since Ukraine made moves to split its Orthodox Church from Moscow, Russia has pushed lies about how Ukraine is persecuting Orthodox Christians. It is absolutely, one hundred percent, a Kremlin talking point. It is also an issue far away and not related to the United States.
How did MTG come to know about this issue? She doesn’t come across as a super curious researcher who delved deep into religious rifts in the Orthodox Church. Nor does it seem likely she randomly heard this information somewhere or stumbled upon it by accident.
Is it possible someone told her to say it? Or maybe even paid her to say it?
It would fit the pattern we have seen elsewhere of Russia paying politicians (in obscure, hidden ways) to pass the Kremlin’s message using a friendly, local face.
Infiltrated By Russian Propaganda
Recently, three Republican congressmen alluded to Russia’s influence on their colleagues. “I think Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base,” Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said to Puck’s Julia Ioffe.
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Mike Turner agreed and told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.”
Rep. Ken Buck pointed the finger directly at MTG, calling her “Moscow Marjorie” and saying she is “getting her talking points from the Kremlin.”
I have heard nuggets of information that some of this might be occurring through open lobbying in Congress. This wouldn’t be illegal, if the lobbyist is registered, but it would still be dangerous.
Again, For The Folks In The Back: We may not think we are at war with Russia, but Russia thinks it is at war with us.
The influence operations, whether conducted covertly with intelligence operatives or overtly with lobbyists, pose a threat to our national security. We don’t need pro-Russia politicians in Congress. Russia is attacking us, as I Ranted about last week.
This week, FBI Director Christopher Wray added to the list of the many ways Russia has been attacking us. He said:
The Russian government continues to invest heavily in their cyber operations, in part because they see cyber as an asymmetric weapon to keep up with us. Russia continues to target critical infrastructure, including underwater cables and industrial control systems both in the United States and around the world. Since its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we've seen Russia conducting reconnaissance on the US energy sector. Adding to that concern is that the Russians, like our other adversaries, don't care if their cyber campaigns affect civilians.
We’ve seen similar attacks against our allies. Just this week, Czech officials revealed Russian cyber attacks on civilian trains across Europe, including on ticketing systems and signaling systems, which could cause major accidents. Russian hackers have also attempted to jam and spoof the GPS systems of airlines flying around the Baltics.
Why is any US politician still pro-Russia or pushing Russian talking points? If you’ve followed me long enough, you already know the answer…
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of stories you should be reading
RUSSIA
Wirecard fugitive helped run Russian spy operations across Europe (FT)
USA
The Washington press corps doesn’t have a freaking clue (Press Watchers)
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?
Colonel Stok: If you won't help me, I'll go to the Americans.
Harry Palmer: Why don't you go to the Americans? They have more money.
Colonel Stok: Ah! Who wants to live in America? They are just Russians in pressed trousers. Revolutionaries gone decadent.
-Funeral In Berlin
And that was the thinking in the 1960s..
That last paragraph might deserve a Rant of its own. Why are Russian talking points *inherently* bad? And what do we do when we find ourselves agreeing with them? My sincere apologies if your reaction is “have you read *anything* that I’ve written?”, but it’s easy for me to agree with the idea now because I disagree with Comrade Marge there. But if tomorrow MTG and the банда started pushing “puppies are cute” and “adopt don’t shop,” should we all run out and buy purebred cats?