FBI investigates Russian government media organizations accused of spreading propaganda in U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the headquarters of “Russia Today” television channel in Moscow in 2013. (Yuri Kochetkov / Pool Photo)

The following article by David S. Cloud, Tracy Wilkinson and Joseph Tanfani was posted on the Los Angeles Times website September 13, 2017:

The FBI is investigating two Russian government-funded media organizations that operate in the United States following accusations that they were part of a massive Kremlin operation to help swing last year’s presidential election to Donald Trump.

Russia Today, Moscow’s flagship English language television broadcaster, and Sputnik News, a radio and wire service funded by the Kremlin, claim to be legitimate news gathering organizations, no different from the BBC.

But the FBI is exploring whether the two Russian organizations should be required to register as foreign agents, invoking a U.S. law originally passed before World War II to prevent the spread of Nazi propaganda. Continue reading “FBI investigates Russian government media organizations accused of spreading propaganda in U.S.”