The Justice Department has again accused Russia of trying to interfere in the U.S. election.
“This Russiagate thing is not going to go away,” investigative journalist Matt Taibbi said on “The Story” Thursday.
“This story just won't go away. It reminds me of the 'Friday the 13th' movies. No matter how many times Jason gets killed, he keeps popping out of Crystal Lake in every sequel. And this is the same thing.”
Republicans 'skeptical' of Justice Department efforts to stop Russian election interference
The Biden administration on Wednesday accused Russia of trying to influence the 2024 US presidential election by targeting American voters through state-run media and other online platforms as part of a campaign it called “Doppelganger.”
“This is a criminal case. It remains to be seen how much truth there is in the actual events,” Taibbi said.
“What Merrick Garland said at the press conference is not the same as what all of the commentators you introduced said. He said that what this content supports is consistent with Russian interests in spreading division within the United States. That's not the same as saying they were trying to promote Donald Trump. And when you get to the heart of this story, it's very confusing as to what actually happened and who was supporting who.”
Department of Justice Russian Federal Police announced on Wednesday that they were seizing 32 websites they said were linked to the Russian government and used to spread disinformation. The Justice, State and Treasury departments also indicted two employees of the Russian state-run media outlet RT.
According to the indictment, RT engaged in a $10 million scheme, through a company believed to be Tennessee-based Tenet Media, to trick US-based influencers into sharing content “perceived as favorable to the Russian government.”
The Department of Justice accused RT of “conspiring to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
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“We've seen the same themes repeated time and time again, and each time they turn out to be less true than they seem or to be fabricated, like the Twitter files or the Hamilton 68 site that I discovered in the Steele dossier,” Taibbi said, referring to allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
When asked about the allegations, RT previously told Fox News Digital, “Of course there have been reactions. In fact there have been several, but we couldn't decide on one (we even considered holding an internal vote), so here they are.”
“2016 is here and the clichés are back,” said one commenter, while others added, “Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT interference in our elections,” “We've got to earn the Kremlin's pay somehow,” and “Somewhere Secretary Clinton is sad that it's not her doing it.”
When asked by Fox News' David Spunt how Garland plans to assure the American people of the seriousness of the situation, the attorney general responded: ” [RT’s response] It was much more interesting in the original Russian version, but for us it's not funny.”
“This is an extremely serious issue and we will address it accordingly,” Garland said.
Spunt asked Wray what he would say to other U.S. adversaries who try to interfere in U.S. elections.
“Stop it,” Wray said. “As long as our adversaries continue to try to influence and interfere with our society and our democratic process, they will continue to run into the FBI.”
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Given the similarities to the 2016 election, many Republicans are skeptical of the Justice Department's efforts to thwart Russian interference.
“The use of this narrative as a propaganda tool is entirely directed at Donald Trump,” Talibi said, echoing concerns from leading lawmakers and experts.
“This story would not have been news. All the networks would not have covered it. Joe Scarborough would not have ranted about it. Without Donald Trump's perspective. And this has been true ever since this story first came out in 2016.”
Fox News' Morgan Phillips, Greg Norman, Bradford Betts and David Spunt contributed to this report.
