This is Part One of a two-part series by WTOP’s National Security Correspondent J.J. Green, following the disinformation spread in American politics. Read Part Two.
On Saturday, April 20, the phone lines lit up in the offices of U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia. Over that weekend, more than 1,000 calls came in, many from people angry that Congress had just passed controversial legislation to send $61 billion to Ukraine for its war against Russia.
Recordings of two calls that WTOP was given access to stood out because of their vitriol and an odd connection. They will be monikered going forward as “Caller One” and “Caller Two.”
“Mr. Connelly,” said Caller One, a female with a noticeable Southern drawl. “We do not border with Ukraine. Any village idiot knows Ukraine is not going to win this war. Why don’t you politicians just dig a big hole and put a trillion dollars in there and watch it rot?”
She grew more and more angry as the message progressed.
“And you Democrats, and the stupid Republicans, the spineless Republicans are doing absolutely nothing, just throwing the money away,” she said.
The caller’s fury was reinforced moments later by Caller Two, a male with no discernable regional dialect.
“How does this (expletive) not know the difference between America’s border and the border between Ukraine and Russia?” he asked.
WTOP examined the metadata of both calls and discovered multiple similarities.
They shared some of the same talking points; and they may actually know each other.
WTOP discovered when you dial the number of Caller Two, you hear the voice of Caller One on the recording for the voicemail box.
Neither was a constituent of Rep. Connolly. They are believed to be residents of North Carolina and Kentucky, respectively.
They are also believed to be victims of a sophisticated Russian operation to funnel disinformation to Americans of all socioeconomic and educational backgrounds, including high-ranking elected officials.
It appears they succeeded.
Congress sounds alarm on ‘Russian misinformation’
Connolly told WTOP that two “very senior members of the Republican Caucus, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner of Ohio and the chairman of my committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mike McCaul from Texas,” sounded the alarm.
It happened, he said, “when they went on Sunday talk shows and explicitly said that they were troubled by the fact that Russian disinformation, Russian bots, had infiltrated many members of their own Republican Caucus, and that we’re hearing Russian propaganda on the floor of the House as a result.”
WTOP reached out to both Mike Turner, who appeared on CNN’s State of the Union, and Mike McCaul, who spoke with Puck in early April, for comment about their appearances. Turner’s office declined. McCaul’s office didn’t respond.
This infiltration, according to Connolly, was facilitated by “Russian sources, Russian misinformation and Russian agents.”
Visit WTOP’s Election 2024 page for our comprehensive coverage.
In early September, the Department of Justice unsealed indictments revealing an FBI-led investigation that accused more than a dozen Kremlin-linked operatives and organizations of engaging in a clever disinformation operation, known as “Doppelganger,” supported by artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber tactics.
The goal of this operation was to widely disseminate Russian propaganda aimed at influencing the upcoming presidential election.
The exposure of the “Doppelganger Campaign” underscores the shifting tactics in disinformation warfare.
As AI and social media continue to shape public discourse, U.S. officials warn that foreign actors like Russia will increasingly exploit these technologies to influence future elections.
“This was a deliberate and highly organized attempt by the Russian government to manipulate U.S. public opinion,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the press earlier this month. “We will not tolerate such interference.”
With the 2024 election quickly approaching, U.S. officials are bracing for further attempts at foreign interference.
Hear JJ Green’s conversations with the experts and stories below:
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