FBI Colluded With Russian-Infiltrated Agency To Censor Americans
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The FBI colluded with a Russian-infiltrated intelligence agency in Ukraine to censor American speech, according to a new document out Monday.
In an interim report published by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, House investigators exposed the FBI's cooperation with foreign agents to orchestrate online censorship.
"The Committee's analysis of these 'disinformation' registries revealed that the FBI, at the request of the [Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)], flagged for social media companies the authentic accounts of Americans, including a verified U.S. State Department account and those belonging to American journalists," the report reads. "At times, the FBI would even follow up with the relevant platform to ensure that 'these accounts were taken down.'"
The SBU was notoriously infiltrated by the Kremlin's Federal Security Service (FSB), whose agents were instrumental in President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. In March last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of the SBU's Crimean branch, who is accused of being a double agent. Ivan Bakanov, who ran the entire SBU, was let go in July last year over the service's status as a compromised agency.
The FBI, lawmakers added, "had no legal justification for facilitating the censorship of Americans' protected speech on social media."
House investigators compiled the report based on subpoenas to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet, which oversees Google and YouTube.
"The inclusion of American accounts on the SBU's lists indicates that the FBI either did not properly vet the SBU's requests or was aware of their domestic nature, and nonetheless carried them out," lawmakers concluded.
At the heart of the operation was FBI Agent Elvis Chan in the San Francisco field office, who served as the "primary liaison" between the FBI and Silicon Valley. Chan also coordinated meetings between the FBI and social media companies during both the 2020 and 2022 elections. House investigators reported the SBU wasn't purged of Russian agents until months after the Ukrainian security service began colluding with the FBI to censor U.S. citizens.
The FBI and SBU reportedly sent "massive spreadsheets" that contained "thousands of accounts" for censorship to Meta. The FBI also "facilitated" the SBU's requests for censorship on Alphabet platforms. Posts flagged for removal were often supportive of Ukraine and critical of Putin.
One episode of censorship on Instagram included the suspension of a verified account run by the State Department with the username "@usaporusski."
"Neither the FBI nor the SBU provides an explanation as to how the U.S. State Department account was 'involved in disinformation,'" lawmakers noted.
One censorship request also included an American journalist whose name has been redacted.
The government coordination with Silicon Valley ran so deep that Meta even proposed a "24/7 channel" with foreign agents to facilitate censorship. The operation continued at least into May, even after Twitter's Yoel Roth warned U.S. officials about the SBU's targeting of American accounts.
"The full extent of the FBI's collaboration with the SBU to censor American speech is unknown," investigators wrote, but added, "To be clear, the FBI's participation in the SBU's censorship enterprise was a willing and intentional choice by the FBI, involving no fewer than seven agents across the Bureau."
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Tomorrow Chris Wray will have to face the House Judiciary Committee.
I predict a tough day for the derelict director of the FBI.
I predict yet another day of republicans colluding with Russians to protect Trump.
Do you think that Russian protection is effective?
You do know the only campaign documented to collude with Russia to harm their political opponent was the Hillary campaign right?
Another? That implies it's been proven at least once already. Exactly when did that happen?
I think you are mistaking the Clinton campaign with with Trump campaign.
You need to get current.
That is old news and you have never been able to prove any of that crap.
Even the Great Mueller couldn't manage to prove it despite an investigation looking specifically into it.
Probably one of those who still believe that the Steele Dossier was relevant. And that pee tapes exist!
Probably not, based on posts.
I don't think the left-wing media has the balls to tell them the truth, so it is best if they just believe whatever they are told.
I'm not doubting that at all. My guess is they own stock in Reynolds Aluminum Foil.
It sure worked against Hillary.
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There are many TDS driven leftists still desperately looking for the pee tapes; and screaming that the Steele Dossier was never fully disproven.
It doesn't matter how many times it is pointed out that the Steele Dossier was a political hit piece paid for by the Clinton campaign; and when the FBI offered Steele a million dollars to corraborate the information in his report- he couldn't do it.
They think Durham was a failure for being unable to secure convictions against the man who put together the Steele Dossier; and the man who introduced the Dossier to the FBI for use against Trump. Forgetting that the trials took place in districts that voted 90% Biden- and had Obama appointed judges that restricted what evidence could be presented- and hand picked juries with ties to Democrat fund raising and campaigns.
It doesn't matter how much evidence is presented- they will never admit their party is the problem and has violated laws and the Constitution all in the effort to get one man; and protect those that aided Democrats in that effort.
Parts of this thread were removed for personal comments. Stop it. Only warning.
It just never ceases to amaze me at the hypocrisy of their position on this, their alleged evidence that trump colluded with Russia was obtained by their candidate actually colluding with Russia, you just can't make this stuff up.
Lemmings tend to follow the crowd--leftist media telling them lies, and they come back and asked for more!
They have pushed the Russia/Trump collusion theory for YEARS now, only to fail to document any such thing, of course.
Of course, that, along with common sense, reason, and logic, eludes their 'reality'.
Oh and we can't forget the very partisan "January 6 Committee" that withheld evidence and or altered evidence at every turn.
He’ll just say he has to leave early to take a private jet to go vacation when the questioning gets tough.
He still has the old standby: "I can't comment on matters currently under investigation."
So what? The author is breathlessly presenting this as some kind of big smoking gun, some Ahh-ha! or gotcha moment. I read the article but fail to see any real wrongdoing. Am I missing something? What exactly is the problem here?
Not one bit surprised by that bit of info.
Ukraine has been meddling in US politics and policymaking. If it's wrong for Russia to meddle then it's just as wrong for Ukraine to meddle.
Ukraine is an ally, Russia? Not so much.
Ukraine is our ally only so long as our money, weapons, military advise, and munitions hold out. If this proxy war with Russia we are using them for ever ends we may find out that like Afghanistan, and Iraq, they really don't love us as much as we pretend they do.
Our allies are not allowed to meddle with our government either.
They sure as hell don't appreciate it when we meddle with their politics.
Define the type of "meddling " that Ukraine has been doing. Normal intergovernmental communications is not meddling. If Ukraine asked the US to look at something or have a company look at something, I would think that it is the company that you should be complaining about. The article makes a lot of how they were sending spreadsheets of information. Makes me wonder what century the author thinks we are living in. What did he expect, pen and paper?
Why is the Ukrainian SBU portrayed as 'Russian-infiltrated'? The SBU is as much American infiltrated as Russian infiltrated. A more accurate description would be a politically divided SBU which reflects the political divisions within Ukraine.
And while it may serve some purpose to claim the FBI colluded with the SBU, the more significant piece of information is that Ukraine has been deliberately meddling in US politics and government policymaking. Keep in mind that the FBI did not seek out the SBU. Ukrainian influence in US policymaking and government decisions has been just as significant as Russian influence.
Just ask the Biden's. Seems that since Joey was the VP and now Prez, there's a lot of Ukraine "business" going on in our government.
'business'. Yeah, weapons. A fledgling democracy was attacked by an autocracy and America chose a side. You believe America chose the wrong side?
The more the GOP cries about Russia the more it appears they are the ones with more to hide. Trump's stunt at Helsinki was-------------questionable. Trump's later comment that, "I saved bin Sulman's ass," raises even more questions.