[ad_1]
The bizarre story The Capitol Riot Riley June Williams is a closing moment for Russia as it seeks new ways to consolidate its own influence by fueling the destabilizing democratic ascendancy of a radical right-wing global network.
The big picture: Five years ago, Russia used a network of robots and strategic hack-and-flight operations to embolden an unwitting American far right. Today, at least one American extremist is accused of willingly offering potential material support to Moscow.
What is happening: Williams, according to court documents, helped lead the charge of rioters upstairs to the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where Williams herself stole a laptop.
- While an assistant to Pelosi say it the computer was “used only for presentations,” any electronic device belonging to one of the most powerful people in the US government is inherently sensitive, even if it does not contain any classified information.
The plot: At least on a superficial level, Williams got that too. According to a former Williams romantic partner cited in court documents, the 22-year-old “intended to send the computing device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, the service of Russian foreign intelligence ”.
Reality check: It was a cartoonish plot with a very low chance of success, even assuming the SVR would be interested in the laptop – or see Williams’ offer as credible.
- But what’s interesting about the coverage of Williams’ alleged play with for-profit espionage is what hasn’t been said: that someone on the American far-right would even consider betraying their country for Moscow.
Context: Under Vladimir Putin, Russia turned to a fragile ultranationalism which often presents Moscow as the last defender of “traditional” values against an erased and divided Europe.
- Russia has forged links with far-right political movements across Europe, notably in Italy and Austria; a Russian bank even loaned more than $ 12 million to French pro-Kremlin extremist Marine Le Pen to shore up his political party’s finances.
Long before the Trump era, White American nationalists began to view Russia as a natural ally, with prominent extremist Richard Spencer even calling Russia “the only white power in the world.”
- American far-right activists have traveled to Russia to meet with radical politicians. And Rinaldo Nazzaro, a former Pentagon entrepreneur who was the head of a violent neo-Nazi organization called “The Base,” now lives in Russia. He is now calling for the “reestablishment of secret paramilitary training across the United States”, in an effort to cultivate potential terrorist cells.
- Even Nazzaro’s own allies in the United States were suspicious of who supported him and “joked that he was part of the FSB … suspecting he was ordered to interfere with the American political landscape through the group. terrorist, ”writes Vice.
Russian propagandists – including those in Moscow’s intelligence services – have long understood the country’s appeal to European and American right-wing radicals and how to target these communities in its online disinformation campaigns, including, recently, on Gab and Parler .
- Russian government actors like the Internet Research Agency have also invested in online disinformation targeting left-wing news consumers.
The catch: It is important not to overestimate the extent to which malicious foreign interests can influence US domestic policy.
- The overwhelming majority of America’s right-wing radicals are entirely local in origin, and there is a long and shameful history of nationally-generated white supremacist violence that has driven this country out since its founding.
Yes, but: America’s adversaries would be foolish not to attempt to take advantage of these internal fractures. Russia has already internalized this lesson.
- In Europe, current and former Russian military intelligence officials have participated in the formation of extremist groups in Hungary and Slovakia.
The bottom line: U.S. law enforcement officials mapping the violent radical networks that helped storm the Capitol – and the infrastructure supporting those people – may soon be faced with the prospect that what begins as a criminal investigation can nonetheless infiltrate the more hazy world of counterintelligence.
[ad_2]
Source link