Kompromat by Jeff Pegues

Author:Jeff Pegues
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633884304
Publisher: Prometheus Books

Russia, like its Soviet predecessor, has a history of conducting covert influence campaigns focused on US presidential elections that have used intelligence officers, agents, and press placements to disparage candidates perceived as hostile to the Kremlin. This was, of course, much different because technology had made it more potent. Cyberspace took Russian actions to another level. Some of the ads that kept popping up on social media took direct aim at Clinton. One ad touted a petition to remove Clinton from the presidential ballot. It said, “Disavow support for the Clinton political dynasty.” That ad was being pushed by a fake group called Donald Trump America. The Russians were behind that. Another ad from a Russian-controlled organization announced a rally in May 2016 to “Stop Islamization of Texas.” The Russians were behind that one as well. And there were tens of thousands of more toxic Russian-backed ads in the atmosphere. It is estimated that the posts by Russian-backed Facebook groups alone reached up to 126 million Americans. “I don't think you get it,” California Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein said when asked about the impact of the Russian operation on social media. “What we're talking about is a cataclysmic change. What we're talking about is the beginning of cyberwarfare. What we're talking about is a major foreign power with sophistication and ability to involve themselves in a presidential election and sow conflict and discontent all over this country.”11

But perhaps the most important target of the Russian influence campaign was the state and local electoral boards. US officials in the declassified report concluded that “Russian intelligence obtained and maintained access” to the electoral boards. “DHS assessed that the types of systems Russian actors targeted or compromised were not involved in vote tallying.”12 But could that be said with certainty? What were the Russians really up to when they were scanning and probing voter databases? Multiple sources told me that federal and congressional investigators were trying to determine if by scanning and probing the voter databases the Russians were trying to gather intelligence that could later be used to target ads on social media. One state election official told me it was a possibility that made sense given all of the information available in a voter database.

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