{"id":52863,"date":"2023-04-18T18:59:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T01:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52863"},"modified":"2023-04-18T18:59:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T01:59:11","slug":"u-s-citizens-and-russian-spies-charged-with-using-americans-as-russian-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52863","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Citizens and Russian Spies Charged with Using Americans as Russian Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Defendants Sought to Sow Discord, Spread Pro-Russia Propaganda and Interfere in Elections Within the United States<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"A federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, returned a superseding indictment charging four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals to working on behalf of the Russian government and in conjunction with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to conduct a multi-year foreign malign influence campaign in the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among other conduct, the superseding indictment alleges that the Russian defendants recruited, funded, and directed U.S. political groups to act as unregistered illegal agents of the Russian government and sow discord and spread pro-Russian propaganda.<\/span><\/p>\n

The indicted intelligence officers, in particular, participated in covertly funding and directing candidates for local office within the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Additionally, in a separate case out of the District of Columbia, a criminal complaint was unsealed charging Russian national Natalia Burlinova with conspiring with an FSB officer to act as an illegal agent of Russia in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRussia\u2019s foreign intelligence service allegedly weaponized our First Amendment rights \u2013 freedoms Russia denies its own citizens \u2013 to divide Americans and interfere in elections in the United States,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department\u2019s National Security Division. \u201cThe department will not hesitate to expose and prosecute those who sow discord and corrupt U.S. elections in service of hostile foreign interests, regardless of whether the culprits are U.S. citizens or foreign individuals abroad.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hacker,<\/a>\u201cEfforts by the Russian government to secretly influence U.S. elections will not be tolerated,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department\u2019s Criminal Division. \u201cAs today\u2019s announcement demonstrates, the Criminal Division is committed to eradicating foreign malign influence from the U.S. political system and helping ensure the integrity of our elections.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s announcement paints a harrowing picture of Russian government actions and the lengths to which the FSB will go to interfere with our elections, sow discord in our nation and ultimately recruit U.S citizens to their efforts,\u201d said Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBI\u2019s Counterintelligence Division. \u201cAll Americans should be deeply concerned by the tactics employed by the FSB and remain vigilant to any attempt to undermine our democracy.”<\/span><\/p>\n

United States v. Ionov, et al.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"According to the superseding indictment returned in the Middle District of Florida, Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, a resident of Moscow, was the founder and president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), an organization headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and funded by the Russian government. Ionov allegedly utilized AGMR to carry out Russia\u2019s malign influence campaign. Ionov\u2019s influence efforts were allegedly directed and supervised by Moscow-based FSB officers, including indicted defendants Aleksey Borisovich Sukhodolov and Yegor Sergeyevich Popov.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe prosecution of this criminal conduct is essential to protecting the American public when foreign governments seek to inject themselves into the American political process,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. \u201cWe thank our partners at the FBI for their tireless investigation of these events and their commitment to ensure justice is done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Among other illegal activities, the superseding indictment alleges that Ionov, Sukhodolov and Popov conspired to directly and substantially influence democratic elections in the United States by clandestinely funding and directing the political campaign of a particular candidate for local office in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2019. For instance, the superseding indictment alleges that Popov expressly referred to this effort on behalf of the FSB as \u201cour election campaign,\u201d and Ionov referring to the candidate as the \u201ccandidate whom we supervise.\u201d Ionov and Popov allegedly intended that this election interference plot would extend beyond the 2019 local election cycle in St. Petersburg, and subsequently discussed that the \u201cUSA Presidential election\u201d was the FSB\u2019s \u201cmain topic of the year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Moreover, from at least November 2014 until July 2022, Ionov allegedly engaged in a years-long foreign malign influence campaign targeting the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a part of the campaign, Ionov allegedly recruited members of political groups within the United States, including the African People\u2019s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement (collectively, the APSP) in Florida, Black Hammer in Georgia and a political group in California (referred to in the superseding indictment as U.S. Political Group 3), to participate in the influence campaign and act as agents of Russia in the United States, including the following indicted defendants:<\/span><\/p>\n