U.S. accuses Kremlin of election interference in a detailed affidavit

By Mayank Chhaya
In an extraordinary action the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and his “inner circle” of promoting “disinformation and state-sponsored narratives as part of a campaign to influence the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election.”
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said, “The Justice Department is seizing 32 internet domains that the Russian government and Russian government-sponsored actors have used to engage in a covert campaign to interfere in and influence the outcome of our country’s elections.”
As part of an affidavit, the DoJ named specific names, including Sergei Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, who it said directed Russian public relations companies “to promote disinformation and state-sponsored narratives” as part of a campaign to create an outcome in the presidential elections favorable to Moscow.
The objective, the DoJ said, was “to covertly spread Russian government propaganda with the aim of reducing international support for Ukraine, bolstering pro-Russian policies and interests, and influencing voters in U.S. and foreign elections, including the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election.”
“The Department’s seizure of 32 internet domains secretly deployed to spread foreign malign influence demonstrates once again that Russia remains a predominant foreign threat to our elections,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “At Putin’s direction, Russian companies SDA, Structura, and ANO Dialog used cybersquatting, fabricated influencers, and fake profiles to covertly promote AI-generated false narratives on social media. Those narratives targeted specific American demographics and regions in a calculated effort to subvert our election. Our republic depends on elections that are free from foreign interference, and we will not rest in our efforts to expose foreign malign influence operations and protect our democracy, without fear or favor,” she said.
“Today’s announcement exposes the scope of the Russian government’s influence operations and their reliance on cutting-edge AI to sow disinformation,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“Companies operating at the direction of the Russian government created websites to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda.  By seizing these websites, the FBI is making clear to the world what they are, Russian attempts to interfere in our elections and influence our society.  The FBI will continue to work with our partners to expose and shutdown these covert influence campaigns,” he said.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said, “Today’s announcement reveals Russia is willing to impersonate our free and open press in its egregious schemes. This is our third disruption of Russian foreign malign influence operations in two months, and the Justice Department remains relentless in protecting Americans from such unacceptable conduct. To Russia, and any other government seeking to stoke discord in our society: know that we will spare no effort and use every available tool to disrupt and expose this malign activity and defend our democratic institutions.”
This is the first of its kind concerted action by the U.S. government against what they believe is a clear campaign by Putin to sway the outcome of the election to his preference. Although the DoJ has not specifically said who Russia’s president would like to win, the implications point at former President Donald Trump.
It is a measure of how seriously the government is taking the interference that even after a detailed affidavit Garland said this was not the end of the investigation. “The investigation is ongoing,” he said.