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Justice Department Charges Russian Woman With Interference in Midterm Elections (washingtonpost.com)
The Justice Department on Friday charged a Russian woman for her role in a conspiracy to interfere with the 2018 U.S. election, marking the first criminal case prosecutors have brought against a foreign national for interfering in the upcoming midterms. From a report: Elena Khusyaynova, 44, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors said she managed the finances of "Project Lakhta," a foreign influence operation they said was designed "to sow discord in the U.S. political system" by pushing arguments and misinformation online about a whole host of divisive political issues, including immigration, the Confederate flag, gun control, and the NFL national anthem protests. The charges against Khusyaynova came just as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that it was concerned about "ongoing campaigns" by Russia, China and Iran to interfere with the upcoming Midterm elections and even the 2020 race -- an ominous warning that comes just weeks before voters head to the polls.
To me, it seems like adding argumentative content to the internet is about like pissing into the ocean.
There is no way I can possibly see how this content could be changing people's minds on iota, there is already plenty of REAL argumentation happening online 24/7. They are trying to sow discord in a field where the discord plants are already ten feet high if they are an inch - and it wasn't Russians that provided the copious fertilizer required.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
posting a fake profile on hotrussianchicksforyou.ru /s
One person charged? Talk about the tip of a iceberg.
Aside from cultivating Donald Trump to launder Russian money and repeatedly betray his country, Russia's use of uneducated racists to accomplish their political goals is their most brilliant scheme.
Just look at how eager uneducated racists are to betray America to help Moscow Donald. At this point Republicans are now polling as supportive of Russia's continuing attack on America.
We need to "Lock Him Up!" with all of his treasonous co-conspirators with his campaign manager Paul Manafort who is already in prison.
Will those ridiculously bitter and divisive political AC posts stop now?
More's the pity YOU can't be educated, Ken Doll.
It was the "two-for" special in the GP post. Both Racist and Russian Dismissal. The only problem is, he didn't go for the trifecta. Therefore he failed in his mission. But here, I'll help him, by simply assuming his gender. ;)
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
That's the point! Republicans betray their country and their supposed values to support their racist and evil ideology.
Throw in your thing veneer of claiming that people who notice your party's horrible racism and you've got a typical republican piece of shit right there...
It is an interesting precident. It means that all western NGOs and persons which act to "mislead" any foreign state electorate could be given the same treatment.
Americans messing around with foreign elections all the time.
Also if "being wrong" became illegal in the US, you guys are done.
Happy foot-shooting guys!
So when are they going after the rest of 4Chan?
Clearly there's a 1st Amendment issue here, but only fascists want free speech now, right?
An interesting issue, however from the article she was charged not for her speech but for managing money of an organization, which intent was to meddle with US elections.
Every story from there is about race, guns or abortion. Are they being "divisive"?
Fake news!
There are many organizations which manage money intended to influence political processes, most large companies spend a lot of money trying to manipulate the political process. This isn't really any different.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
What, too early?
Just use mail-in paper ballots like real states do, and register everyone everyday whenever they apply for any license of any type at a county or state office.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
the most recent example is of the lady in St Louis who tried to prevent an unknown tailgater who tried to pass through a secure apartment entry - if not recognized, he should have let the door close, then buzz himself in - while she did what she was supposed to in order to protect her neighbors, the guy used it as a racial issue; the media outlets loved the race angle on this story but in my opinion didn't stop to ask if she blocks other tailgaters of other colors - she lost her job in this rush to judgement that is currently entertaining the masses
triggered
Give the ID out for free to every single citizen at birth and by massive mailing otherwise, and then you might have a system that would allow for enfranchisement of voters and prevention of voter fraud.
How's the weather is Moscow today, tovarisch?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
fuck off ivan your divisive distraction bullshit is obvious
You're like the walking definition of that NPC Meme. Sad!
I'm sorry but I agree with this being a concern of free speech. There are many organizations (Political Action Councils?) that do just this. When was the last time you saw a mud slinging commercial about a candidate and how horrible they are for doing X Y or Z. Or how Prop ABC is wrong for your state because it will destroy everything you hold dear? Not that I like any of that content, but I will die defending the right of people to push it.
Free speech, so long as your not taking a knee for our national anthem, or burning a flag, eh?
Seriously, take your fake outrage and shove it up your orange, shit-gibbon supporting asshole.
trololo
managing money of an organization, which intent was to meddle with US elections
AIPAC?
This seems very strange to me. Foreign powers have been "meddling" in US elections for forever. We do it as well. The Saudis for example tend to make significant donations to advocate for the candidates they want... Trolling is not a crime is it? Also the supreme court has ruled the money is speech so should as well be protected -though I am not one to think the constitution applies to non-citizens.
she failed to register with the DOJ as a foreign agent. she used foreign money to try and influence an election. those are both against federal law.
nothing to see here - move along
Lacking mod points I'll just post. This ^
without first registering...
nothing to see here - move along
she failed to register and then used foreign money. both are against the law.
nothing to see here - move along
Repubtards don't know about laws. Laws be damned. She was simply doing her duty as an American citizen...ohhhh wait.
Free speech is not an absolute right. Among the many forms of speech not protected by the first amendment: perjury, libel, slander, false advertising, inciting violence, copyright infringement, obscenity and threats. For the record, freedom of religion doesn't mean you can perform human sacrifices or polygamy and the right to bear arms doesn't include nuclear weapons. All rights have limits.
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
This isn't about free speech you fucking dope. She failed to register as a foreign agent with the DOJ.
And I'm copying and pasting this part:
"She failed to register with the DOJ as a foreign agent. she used foreign money to try and influence an election. those are both against federal law."
There are laws in the US that mandate that television ads provide disclaimers on who is funding political ads. Social media and the internet should be no different. I agree that this is a free speech issue but everyone should be well informed on who is paying to have their views expressed. That would make this all go away very quickly.
They wouldn't be able to sow discord if half of us weren't ratfuck crazy hateful scumbags.
We deserve this for not allowing General Sherman to finish the damn job.
She didn't fucking register.
You people legit only see what you want to see. Repubtards. Smh.
knucklehead, I was calling out recent divisive bs
This.
It's free speech only if it's speech I agree with. The repubtArd way.
What evidence and what charges? You can't because there is no evidence there is no proof. Just like your rape victims. No corroborative evidence. The Democrats are playing very childish games and its not going to win more elections.
The Saudis for example tend to make significant donations to advocate for the candidates they want/quote.
In the context of an election is highly illegal. Campaigns are not allowed to accept foreign money for the purposes of elections.
If it's Americans paying her, isn't it them who should register, not her?
America has way way way more bots, more election influence and interference than any other country. They attacked our abortion referendum in Ireland - the shadow government of America - the deep state.
overly dramatic
Is George registered with the DOJ? He is?
Is George using foreign money? He isn't?
Was she Registered? She wasn't? Was she using illegal foreign funds? She was?
Damn these two cases are nothing alike.
You are an idiot for even agreeing with him.
Will someone please inform this AC that it's the Trump Justice Department that brought these charges?
You are welcome on my lawn.
You're a treasonous unAmerican faggot, so I'll just post that.
There will be dire consequences for your life soon as you continue to push lies and your dishonest advocacy of traitors, KEN DOLL. You have crossed into danger by allying yourself with traitors and you will suffer for your lies.
but there are laws about how you disclose that speech. Especially for non-citizens and people who work with and interact with non-citizens.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Considering that Russian money bought BLM supporting Facebook ads in Chicago, I guess you are right that they are targeting ignorant, low information racists
Charged with "sowing discord"??! Should have tried sowing IRC instead
Is she in custody? Or even in a jurisdiction where she would have to face trial? It would be swell if the 1000 copy/paste news articles about this included that BASIC REPORTING.
thank you vlad for demonstrating how agitprop is used to undermine Western faith in Democracy
Use your head. If you publish specific facts, you can be proven wrong. Better to use as few facts as possible. More opinion and speculation fits that way.
The news isn't written to inform, but to influence.
under Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules they have to register if they are advocating a vote. either way, they failed to register.
nothing to see here - move along
We smell your fear. It's all you have.
Let the people vote. Not the Russians.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Organized targeted campaigns backed by financial resources are going to be tangibly effective at influencing people
Only if the people are in a neutral state. Who is in a neutral state now that would be paying attention to anyone political. Exactly no-one.
Yes we are doing quite a bit of that divide and conquer thing for partisan political reasons, but in the
WTF. Did you just copy this from somewhere and forget to grab all the text? Talk about a suspicious post all on its own!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Mr. Impersonator of me: Still buttsore from an ASS-KICKING I gave you here https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... & https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... + https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... on hosts files?
YES, obviously - lol, your "effete revenge" was DOWNMODS I ran you DRY of as always!
After you tried VAINLY to "downmod" HIDE all of that here & UNDENIABLE https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... LITERALLY (I just reposted to NULLIFY your 'wannabe weapon' NEUTRALIZING it & EXPOSING YOU LOSING to me, lol!).
APK
P.S.=> I love it - especially seeing u REDUCED to TRYING to LIE about me (or LIBEL me) as you IMPERSONATE me (proving you WISH you were me, but you're INFERIOR imitation (& just plain INFERIOR on ALL levels))... apk
Money is fungible. Foreigners contribute to the candidates 'global charity fund'. Abracadabra, legal influence peddling.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
"sow division"
NOT
"get trump elected".
Americans don't have to register to sow discord, we get to shout "freeze peach!" whenever anybody complains. As long as we do it in America.
If we go to Russia and make statements to sow discord, we should definitely be registered with the local authorities and be following their rules for foreign lobbying.
But still, regardless of who paid her, she would have to register because she is herself a foreigner. If she was an American and receiving foreign money for it, she would also have to register. So it is a double-failure-to-register; she needed to be registered to do it at all because of who she is, and she also would need to be registered to do it with the money she used because of who the money was from.
If she wants a freeze peach, she'll need to figure out how to get one of those in Russia. It seems unlikely though.
Let the people vote. Not the Russians.
Handing out ballots to everyone means everyone can vote, even people who shouldn't. The "Russian influence" has never been alleged Russian voting. Your proposed solution is not a solution to whatever problem there is with Russian influence.
I don't know what fear you smell. I'm not afraid to point out your mistake. Are you?
A number of my non-US friends, some living in the US, some not, have been posting political commentary and promoting particular candidates and parties on Facebook. Hint: Not Republicans.
Should I report them to the DoJ?
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
Your "Russian" distraction works for both sides, a little bit better for the DNC since they were caught actually discussing and practicing real fraud, and are now projecting. I don't care who leaked those emails, they performed a valuable public service. It was the public's reaction that went haywire. They had a chance to vote both republicans and democrats out.
The corruption is home grown. There's nothing to blame the Russians for, but I understand the purpose of doing so, and I have to admit, the campaign is working like a charm. No more of that silly talk about third parties anymore.
looks like you hate women - you need to be more respectful of people - the event ended when he entered his apartment - he should have buzzed himself in - people in NYC know how this works
If BLM ads scare people for whatever reason, and buying those ads to shove in the face of voters you want to vote against Democrats works, it's one fucked up world.
In other words, helping get one side's message out loudly, to all the voters, works against the speakers and in favor of their opponents.
Feel bad because manipulation gaming the system...when all you are really doing is letting people know what one political side wants to do. Does the BLM side of the democrats want to silence themselves lest voters actually hear them?
I am in favor of either side trumpeting the other side's own words to hurt them at the voting booth, but is this wrong in this case because Ivan pushed it?
Traitors hang, Ken Doll. Rope is coming into your life soon. Strong rope.
"Interference in elections" = participation in the public political discussion.
"Sowing discord" = Promoting non-consensual political opinions.
Remind me again how this is inappropriate? Illegal?
https://qmap.pub/ -- certainly worth investigation and consideration regardless of your conclusion...
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
It isn't just 'uneducated' types, it's also 'wilfully ignorant' types. They don't know any better, and they don't want to know any better, they're comfy in their small-and-narrow mindedness and have no intention to improve. It's just too scary to try to wrap their heads around things like 'different isn't always bad' and 'change can be good'. They would much rather drag us all back to about 1940 socio-politically speaking, and keep us there, forever, like it's Groundhog Day, except unlike the characters in that movie they never learn any important life lessons and never do anything different. Kind of like living in the first part of Pleasantville, where everything is literally black-and-white -- and things becoming colored is not what they want.
Big companies like microsoft and google spend a lot of money to influence elections, much of this money has been derived from foreign sources of income and many executives of large companies are foreigners.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Um, yeah... martyring them would produce no positive benefit.
Better to give them long lives so they can learn how wrong they have been
It's not the Trump Justice Department, damnit, it's The United States Department of Justice. Believe it or not, despite his best efforts to piss all over every part of the Federal government to make it smell like him, Trump has not managed to corrupt, subvert, and destroy every single part of our government, and in this case, our top-level law enforcement, Herr Sessions notwithstanding. At least at some level we still have the Rule of Law here, at least for the moment.
So she is doing the same thing CNN and NBC and all others news organizations are doing... spreading lies.
I thought the meddling had something to do with actually changing someone's vote? Granted, spreading of lies will affect Democrat voters since they will believe just about everything, Republicans are more likely to figure out when something is a lie.
but they register. she didn't.
nothing to see here - move along
And the companies are American (incorporated in the US), and Citizens United is still precedent. So that's legal.
Yes.
Yeah, the Justice Department that Trump despises. The one that's investigating his gang.
Foreigners aren't supposed to participate in our elections.
Any of them vote? No? Then they didn't participate.
Look, the problem is not the propaganda or where it comes from, it's your choice to believe... You all are merely trying to cover up your own failures and blame others for your own bad choices. It's quite normal and natural, but now it's time to grow up.
Your shtick about 'fraud' is simple regurgitation. Weed is illegal too, since when does the law deserve any respect?
Sorry, Ivan...bla bla bla
LOL! This is why you people will get no respect either, and will continue to lose
I don't think most people understand the First Amendment; it doesn't protect you from legal consequences of speech, like inciting riots, libel, obscenity, or revealing state secrets. Nor does it exempt you from laws regulating the manner and circumstances of speech; you can't shout through a bullhorn at your neighbor at 3am, even if you're shouting political slogans. And it certainly doesn't exempt you from laws regulating the behavior of foreign agents on US soil, for example by laundering foreign money to obscure its source.
The First Amendment does not preclude government regulation of speech; instead it sets a very high bar, particularly for prior restraint. There has to be a significant public interest (like national security) involved, the regulation must be narrowly tailored (i.e. it must address just the interest at stake without affecting any other speech), and it has to be administered in an even-handed manner. Falsehood is largely protected, because of the difficulty of people agreeing on the truth, but false speech made with actual malice and fraudulent intent can be legally punished.
So yes, this woman can be prosecuted for spreading discord in this particular way. If the government of Russia wants to sow discord in the US, it and its citizens are free to do so, and American citizens are free to assist them, as long as they do so transparently.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Atleast these 'uneducated racists' aren't hell bent upon invading another middles-east country for no good reason and cause a few thousand deaths,and greatly increase the chances of WW3.
These 'uneducated racists' are really making the rest of the world safer and as much as you may deny it,America's economy is in the best shape in decades.
The difference is that she works for our adversary and she got caught for breaking the law. Just because CIA got away with shit doesn't make what they did right or legal. Some of what CIA did was for national security, some were just outright criminal.
What is it you want me to learn from that website?
It looks like a Russian propaganda command and control center to mobilize American rubes against their country's rule of law and values.
nice try ivan but we know it's you.
What you really did was try to get us at each other's throats. Same as you continue to do. And the way you run antifa.
Fixed that for you.
In reality, the Russians target people of any political persuasion. They are trying to cause partisan divides. Now, they have been most successful with the "uneducated racist" camp, but they've been about half to one fifth as successful with a bunch of liberal groups.
And it's a pretty Amercia-centric point of view. They successfully invaded Crimea. They got Britain to start the dissolution of the EU.. They're propping up fascist states in Eastern Europe. And it's unclear how far reaching their expansion of influence into the Middle East will be.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
No, it didn't, she continued to berate him after he entered his apartment and never apologized. I would have supported him if he shot her dead. She still deserves it, as do all nazi faggots like yourself.
But in this case isn't it the firm that has to register.
Because it doesn't seem to make sense to ask the employees to register.
ASAP, someone needs to take this cowardly un-American traitor Horny SwampWuss behind the shed the faggot lives in and END HIS TREASONOUS FAGGOT LIFE.
Find his family. Kill em all, traitors deserve worse.
"But still, regardless of who paid her, she would have to register because she is herself a foreigner."
Do you mean that because she's an employee of a foreign company that sells political ad campaigns to Americans she has to register herself, whether her employer already has or hasn't, if she doesn't want to get arrested when she travels to the US on other business.
she got charged with essentially the same thing as manafort - failing to register as a foreign agent. kinda like capone and taxes. as for the FEC that would be an organization with American money who has to register. she did not get charged with that. and the supreme court essentially made orgs individuals and allowed them to contribute. but yes, it would be the org not the person.
nothing to see here - move along
TRAITORS HANG.
http://orange-is-the-new-black...
I can see that if the ones paying for the ads aren't American. But I find that's a stretch.
And that particular accusation coming from the US, who has an ongoing history of bloody foreign political manipulation, is ironic.
For the billionth time, if you conduct business in the US, you are conducting business in the US. It is really that simple.
Yes, if you are a foreigner and spend money in the US to influence American politics or to represent a foreign entity, then you have to be registered. No, there isn't an international quota of one registration, so no, you can't just say, "Golly, somebody else might have been registered, why me?"
Nobody cares if you're working on behalf of a foreign company. If it isn't registered in the US, you certainly can't hide behind it. You're responsible for your own actions when you do business in a foreign country, you can't just point at a piece of paper in your home country and expect it to somehow shield you.
If you engage in illegal conduct in the United States, even if you do it remotely, you can expect to be arrested when you travel to any modern country, not just the US.
"Well, there's this Elena Pussynova, total Fake News, I don't know her but Vlad tells me she is a Very Fine Person. And he was powerful and persuasive, Very Fine!
The Failing New York Times and my Not Justice Department says she hacked our election. Disgusting! Something something Kavanaugh, something Clinton, something Colin Kaepernick. Stormy Daniels! Blah blah blah, Omarosa!
I grabbed myself some Pussynova, she's a great chick, I can tell, The Best!
No Collusion folks, Believe Me! No Collusion!"
In other news, the special prosecutor Rob Mueller inches closer towards proving Trump's collusion with Kremlin by indicting a Russian pancake. The pancake was not available for comment. News at 11', Tonight!
Thanks, I hadn't realized she was actually running campaigns while she was here, still it's ironic considering what the US does to other countries.
And who's paying for this ...
In reading the article it seems the people here posted a bunch of random stuff (true or not) on Facebook etc. They may have violated some policy of those companies but how is this speech 'illegal'? Just because it comes from a non-US citizen e.g. 'foreign national'? Shit I'm a Canadian in the US, I hope my speech is protected, especially if I bash Trump in a Tweet.
And how is 'conspiracy' here illegal, just because people get together to say bad things doesn't make that illegal.
Long story short, it seems the US is trying to criminalize speech & I find that just bizarre. Of course the fact that their Russian & will never show up for a trial means that the US can charge them with any random thing they want & it won't ever go to trial to be dismissed.
No I get the intent of the 1st amendment, I just think it's a stretch to say the acts here are illegal. If a US Citizen was paying to do this would that be illegal? If not, then a foreign national doing it can't make that speech illegal. Or at least I hope not, since as a Canadian living legally in the US I sure hope that if I start randomly tweeting bizarre shit about Trump or Hilary that I won't be tried with a 'speech crime'. Anonymous speech is also protected, so paying someone else to speak on my behalf while not giving up my identity doesn't make it criminal.
The point is there are limits to 'free speech' (fraud, defamation of character etc.) I don't see how this rises to any level of 'illegal' like this though.
The big deal is I didn't see anything in the article that Americans haven't been saying themselves, especially politicians & the Media, are we now going to lock them up for 'sowing discord'? Seriously?
Hate the Russians all you want but at least charge them with real crimes.
This seems very strange to me.
Defending the institutions of democracy seems strange to you?
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
So did the Podesta group. Everyone but Manafort got to register after the fact...
I disagree, I think that ship has sailed and they need consequences for a lifetime spent sowing discord and lying to accomplish it. They are traitors, the difference being they aren't good enough at it to warrant Rubles in the mail.
They are still traitors who deserve to hang on the merits. America needs to get back to basics - nazis and their propagandists need to die hanging from a rope.
She was not in the USA, dope. Is the US going to go after every foreign national that posts online comments about the US or stuff happening in the US because such comments may influence somebody in the US?
https://qmap.pub/ -- in case you want to know what's really going on...
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
So every person in Europe that comments on Facebook or Slashdot about how the USA sucks because we still mostly honor the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution should be charged with election fraud? Somebody, somewhere paid for their internet connection so money was spent to "promote" that message. Such comments are extremely political in nature. Such comments can be expected to influence an election just as much as comments about supposed Klansmen.
Did she personally do anything on US soil?
He has the authority to fire them all.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Excellent comrade. Sew that discord and keep the GOP in power this wonderful winter season. We are all counting on you.
Uhh The Justice Department is part of the Executive Branch. He is in charge of it. It's not a 4th branch of government. He has every Constitutional authority to direct these Departments/Agencies.
those are both against federal law.
So is weed... WTF?!
What, you can't buy ad time anymore? Fuck you people! Learn how to ignore propaganda!
This is a precursor to Democrats in government criminally charging citizens for arguing with them online. That is a direct path to massive political assassinations if and when it occurs.
You're assuming it's some kind of speech regulation law she's been charged under. She hasn't; she's been charged with fraud.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Except you left out that he stole her bicycle the week before and she recognized him.
Americans never seem to understand that their laws mean nothing to anyone but them.
It's a mental issue they have thinking they are the centre of the universe.
as you are both black as coal. Actually they probably have the higher moral ground as aren't straight up funding coups like the CIA did.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
This seems very strange to me.
I agree and think this is not a good direction for the USA. Political speech is very subjective. Talk radio and other news outlets are spending a great deal of money influencing the election. Why is it ok for these organizations to spend money on political issues, but I am limited with my own money unless I am rich enough to buy my own radio or tv station?
It has been all the rage to support campaign finance reform (get money out of politics!), but it has always been a bad idea because adding complex laws just makes things more complex and unfair. We should repeal McCain - Feingold because did it really make politics better?
Doesn't change a damned thing I said. The POTUS is still accountable to the Constitution and to the Citizens of the United States. POTUS is not King, nor Dictator.
I didn't see anything in the article saying she was in the US. This is typical American thought that their laws apply worldwide.
You could say you expect any American who drinks to be arrested if they travel to any modern country, for breaking Saudi laws.
Americans don't have a firm grasp of reality, it's funny though.
30 seconds is more than enough time to conclude that it's complete horseshit, you mean?
keep on spewing bullshit ivan nobody cares and everybody sees that putin is satan
...I greatly prefer uneducated racists, to the large number of educated racists occupying the Democrats at the moment.
At least someone uneducated, can be educated... instead of thinking they already know what is best.
I'll just sit in my little independent safe zone, until people get Woken and not Woke.
So Super-ken-dull has finally gone from libertarian.bullshit artist to just a little nazi.
If someone can be classified as a foreign agent their words and actions get judged under a different set of rules. And in today's world just having innocuous conversations or being tangentially associated with a foreigner can be viewed as a nefarious act. Being Russian means the bar is set so low in determining whether or not a person is operating as a foreign agent is easy. And it works in reverse. If an American talks to a Russian that is proof enough the American is a traitor. The US-Russian relationship is so toxic that no one in the US government is going to talk to a Russian about anything. When Trump met with Putin his detractors all but declared him a traitor. Same thing happened when Trump met with the NK leader. One minute he was being castigated for threatening NK with a military strike coupled with no diplomacy and the next minute he was being castigated trying to use diplomacy to solve the problem. If you cannot talk to your enemies than how do you solve any of the problems? It's obvious 60+ years of NK diplomacy never produced a single positive result. And the US has spent the Obama years not engaging in any meaningful diplomacy with Russia. This resulted in Russia invading the Ukraine and annexing Crimea while financing a war targeting the Ukraine government. Obama said nothing when Russia supplied missiles shot down a commercial airliner. Obama knew about the Russian interference in the last election and did nothing. All of Russia's misdeeds happened on his watch not Trump's. Obama, like the rest of the world, knew Clinton was going to win the election and didn't want to rock the boat. If Clinton had won the election there would have been no investigations into Russia's interference in the election. Facebook would not have been hauled before Congress for allowing Russian ads and misinformation being posted on it's platform.
90+ year old faggots who run this planet still lie and push the fake news russian psy op narrative
these old faggots, and their subservient faggots who serve them (people like utah sentaors) can't die fast enough.
in another 20 years when the old guard finally fucking dies, you won't hear about scary russia anymore.
Fn traitorz.
If only Elon has registered!
It's called free speech. I get that they don't like when its funded by a foreign government that is an "enemy" to certain people... but that doesn't excuse those in power from violating everybody's right to expression regardless of what that expression entails.
Morons, the lot of them: The American people are so willing to vilify socialism, gun control, celebrity-driven speech and each other, there's no need to pay a foreigner to do it. Even better, an American person can spread fake news and "misinformation online", legally.
she failed to register and then used foreign money. both are against the law.
False.
Only agents of foreign governments have to register. Whatever "project lachta" was, it has not been proved that it's a front for a government. Nor was she charged with not registering. So your assertion that this is the crime at hand is unfounded.
Spending foreign money on advocating issues (rather than advocating for any candidate) is legal. This was decided by Bluman vs FEC. Specifically, the FEC website says
In a decision that was later affirmed by the Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the foreign national ban “does not restrain foreign nationals from speaking out about issues or spending money to advocate their views about issues. It restrains them only from a certain form of expressive activity closely tied to the voting process—providing money for a candidate or political party or spending money in order to expressly advocate for or against the election of a candidate.” Bluman v. FEC, 800 F. Supp. 2d 281, 290 (D.D.C. 2011), aff’d 132 S. Ct. 1087 (2012).
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
Free speech is an institution of democracy. Without it, you can the same vote tallies as you do in North Korea.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
You only have to register if you act as an agent of a foreign state. If you manage money of a private organization, which is not doing anything illegal (and spreading false political narrative is not illegal), you don't have to register.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
That's probably bad reporting. The statute which she was charged with is conspiracy to X,Y, or Z. The X is "fraud". But all these charges are usually Y, Z or something down the list (which is not fraud, but something like do something illegal). Some of the (alleged) Russian agents who were previously charged were charged with identify theft (which falls under fraud), but, in this case, she is not alleged to have conducted any fraudulent transactions, so fraud is probably not the part of the conspiracy statute that's being used.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
Sheâ(TM)s been âoesowing discordâ for 3 years straight by now.
Half-baked conspiracy theories combined with a little salt of actual fact here and there.
This is the hall-mark of most troll websites today. The verifiable fact for every 10 conjectures with no facts makes it plausible, right?? Right??
If you are:
a. intentionally misleading people
b. spending non-american money in america to influence opinion on an election
c. doing this through a person who is not registered as a foreign agent
Then yes, and don't fly to america or you would be arrested.
The difference between a citizen and an organisation is the difference between a crime and a conspiracy, and in this case the 'crime' you're talking about doesn't exist.
Saying 'Trump sucks!" and you're German, well, more power to you.
Paying American Sally in Kansas to tweet "Trump Sucks", and you're German, is definitely illegal if Sally has not registered as a foreign agent and declared the intention with the federal government.
That's what I saw this week as a reaction to this story - lots of fake youtube news reports by "foxnews" and "time" where the narrator was computer generated and the knuckleheads kept posting that she needs to be killed - you dumb fucks lost your mind!
though I am not one to think the constitution applies to non-citizens.
Do you really believe it is OK to torture green card holders, throw them in jail with no due process, search their homes without a warrant, deny them speech etc?
If you read the Constitution, there is a lot of talk about people, persons and such and little about citizens and what there is, is mostly about political stuff like having to be a natural citizen to be President.
Even for voting, it doesn't say anything about citizenship and denying the vote to tax paying permanent residents goes against one of the founding principles of America, namely "no taxation without representation"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
Yes
*Youâ(TM)re
He thinks your raciss for not allowing the outright invasion of America by foreign criminals. Who need to be fed and clothed and housed and educated, but he ain't paying right
Deflect is you're mo. When they cross the border without authorization they are criminals. What's so hard to understand? Sky be green for you?
agreed; Ivan2 and Putin suck, sometimes at the same time;
-Ivan1
Russia lost over 24 million people in WW2, nearly a quarter of their population. Since then they take their security quite seriously.
If you thought they were just going to roll over as you executed a coup in the Ukraine and tried to cut off their access to the Black Sea you were sorely mistaken.
The CIA has used the divide and conquer tactic to destroy opposing governments all around the world for at least 100 years. Now it is being used against the US quite spectacularly.
Enjoy the fruits of what your government sowed.
Using your right of free speech to subvert democracy is roughly equivalent to using your right to own a knife to kill somebody with it.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Wait, wait - has the DNC registered as a foreign agent now? 'Cuz Democrats sure do love those big suitcases full of cash from the Chinese government.
are you a pimple-faced 13yo who's just venting his frustration or a genuine idiot? it's hard to tell, maybe you're both
"Freeze Peach!"
Why do you hate Freedom? Why don't you move somewhere without free speech? Some of them are quite nice places - just don't say anything against the party line.
There are millions of immigrants who would be happy to take your place, to enjoy & defend the freedom of speech that you hold in such low regard.
"she failed to register with the DOJ as a foreign agent. she used foreign money to try and influence an election. those are both against federal law."
It never stopped Abe Foxman and the ADL, why should she be the exception and not the rule?
You really have not been keeping up with how insecure those fucking machines are. This is getting tiring... shed some light on things... russians... bad thing happens... russians... hacking happens... only russians can do it... fuck...
posting word: "blankets", how appropriate.
We need to "Lock Him Up!" with all of his treasonous co-conspirators with his campaign manager Paul Manafort who is already in prison.
An attack on the democratic system itself isn't something you put people in prison for.
When voter suppression happens it is a larger threat to the country than events like the 9/11 attacks.
If capital punishment isn't used for that we might just as well get rid of it.
Go back to your free speech zone buddy.
Hillary lost. Get over it.
If i recall Odumbo took millions through foreign nationals but nothing was done...
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/obama-campaign-raises-illegal-cash-overseas/
Go ahead. Google it. All using various shady but valid loopholes. Goooo team Dimwits. Party of hypocrisy
She's charged under a section of USC called "Conspiracy to Commit Fraud against the United States", which SCOTUS has defined to include interfering with government functions.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
The first amendment protects citizens and does provide some protections to non citizens , but an agent of hostile power isn't going to be protected if they aren't genuine political actors. If an American citizen bangs on about being a fan of ISIS , well he won't be popular and the feds would be looking hard at him, but it's protected speech. But if a visitor or non citizen starts engaging in organised behavior to support ISIS, they are gonna get Gitmo'd. Obviously the lines a fine one and it's going to involve 200+ years of case law and a lot of lawyers yelling at each other but there is a distinction and it exists for good reasons
Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
Sad really, how am I supposed to have faith in the system now?
Fuck you, America. Just... fuck you.
You influence the elections of nearly half the fucking world already. You set up nearly every dictator in South America. You assassinated the leader of Iran and caused a civil war. All of this is available in declassified documents that your politicians gloat about. The worst part is that you don't even fucking hide it anymore, you put your foreign meddling right up on TV programs that are shown in other countries. Just look at this fine example of John Oliver influencing the Canadian elections that reached 11 million views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V5ckcTSYu8
And now you're afraid of fucking MEMES on the INTERNET influencing your elections, as if your own domestic institutions such as corporations and universities aren't doing that already. Well look at that, you provide an example for the world to live up to and then you get mad when they follow it.
You made this bed, now you're getting fucked in it!
Soros is funding violent riots and the only thing you're worried about is whether or not the funds are foreign?!
I think you just might be legally retarded.
The fact that this is pile of trash post is modded +3, Insightful is proof that meddling is happening.
Just not Russian meddling. This smells Democratic.
"I didn't see anything in the article saying she was in the US."
Right. I was confusing her with Maria Butina:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/w...
Found the ultra-right-wing conservative white nationalist facist. Please kill yourself, you're holding back the evolution of our species, you throwback.
fuck off you ignorant cunt
For the billion and 1st time, if the business you do is in the US, you did business in the US.
When you order a pizza over the telephone, you're doing business wherever you're calling from, you're also doing business wherever the pizza place is located. Very very simple.
If you're paying somebody who is in the US, for them to do activities in the US, and those activities are also illegal in the US, then you broke the law in the US.
There is nothing hard about this.
So if I got this right, if American's bought the ads, they broke the law, the ad agency broke the law, it's employees broke the law, and everyone in the US who participated in the ads broke the law, and they're all acting as foreign agents.
> though I am not one to think the constitution applies to non-citizens
What a stupid thing to say. It applies to anyone in US territory, or did you think tourists visiting from other countries have no constitutional rights?
Also: the Constitution of the USA is based on the idea that ALL people have these rights. The fact that we can't enforce the constitution in other countries should not abrogate those rights.
political action committees have to register, and give donator lists. fake news orgs don't. welcome to america.
nothing to see here - move along
read the indictment.
nothing to see here - move along
I remember an article linking to some of the ads that were apparently on Facebook. I think I recall seeing maybe 2-3 of them. But what kind of surprised and shocked me - the amount of truth in the supposed Russian ads and memes as compared to typical political ads. I kept going, well...that's true. Ya, America did do that. Yup, that's mostly true to. Okay, so basically the issue is they created memes that were based on facts, and that further divided Americans. Heck, Americans are so divided, but most of the American memes on both the left and right are half truths and taken out of context. I started to actually feel that maybe we need more Russian news and input into our society.
Apparently, the only one in America that actually gives a crap about the midterm elections.
Remember when Republicans used to be the party of Law & Order? Now, we all know they only got hard-core on enforcement against black people, and brown people, and women, and the poor.
Now however, even that "eternal value" has gone by the wayside. A Russian and (presumed) white person breaks the law and Republicans are all, "what's the big deal, it's just opinion, and everyone does it!"
Funny how self-interest and hypocrisy changes those unchanging values. Too bad for them that I have a long memory and a low tolerance for nonsense.
If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Notice the "commit any offense... OR to defraud..."? This means that committing any coordination between a few people (which has, as its goal, committing a crime) qualifies. Because any coordination to commit a crime is legally a "conspiracy". As long as what the people plotted to do is itself illegal, the fact that they did it together is what qualifies them to be charged under this statute. It need not be fraud. The reporters don't read beyond the sensationalist heading of the statute. But even the simplest parse of the 1st paragraph shows that fraud need not be a part of it.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
read the indictment.
This type of statement is white noise every single time. I gave you an exact quote from the Federal Election Commission. You have nothing. Otherwise, post the link and the relevant statute, regulation, or judicial opinion. You have nothing.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
No, if Americans bought the ads, they broke the law. If the ad agency broke the law or not depends on what they knew. Same as anybody else you sweep in with "participated."
If you're acting on behalf of a foreign entity, you might be a foreign agent. Seems kinda obvious just from the words "foreign" and "agent."
No, lying is not the same thing as knifing someone. In fact, that's why you need free speech. So that political disagreements could be hashed out with words rather than violence.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.