# Washington Post: Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 25, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945 "2016-11-25T03:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/321 "2016-12-15T11:44:01Z")
Friend of known thief - friend of thief ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/322 "2016-12-15T11:50:29Z")
Amazing how the cons refuse to believe US Intelligence sources saying Putin helped their boy get elected, but they believe Pizzagate when told to them by an anonymous tweet made by some kid in Macedonia. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/323 "2016-12-15T11:57:16Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > And did the Russians hack Hillary’s email after that? Does it matter? They had already done it and he asked them to do it again, or at least to release more of what they already had. Whether or not they then did so has nothing to do with the impropriety of making the request. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/324 "2016-12-15T12:02:34Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Amazing how the cons refuse to believe US Intelligence sources saying Putin helped their boy get elected, but they believe Pizzagate when told to them by an anonymous tweet made by some kid in Macedonia. Actually, it’s more frightening then amazing. A large segment of our population believes that conspiracy and fake news sites are the real news while completely dismissing mainstream respectable media as fake. That’s a recipe for disaster, as we’ve just seen. (And now the usual suspects will chime in and tell me how wrong I am, underscoring my point.) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/325 "2016-12-15T12:13:24Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Named ex-British ambassador - liar > > Anonymous CIA leakers - Truth tellers In recent days, there’s been news stories about the FBI investigation, the investigation by the private security firm called in to help the DNC, and so on. It seems quite plausible to me that this is the real story. As for the ambassador’s story: if there was a DNC source for all this, motivated by his support for Bernie, on the surface I can see that being reasonable. But this source would have to have the ability to copy all DNC email traffic, he just happened to release it at the same time Russia was doing its thing (along lines of theory number one), he would have been stealing all these documents around the same time that he would have known a private cyber security company was in the building, and if he was so concerned about Bernie I wonder why he didn’t release the documents before the general time of the Democratic convention, after Bernie he been out of the race for quite some time, as opposed to leaking them while Bernie was still in the race. Well, whatever, I can ignore all that. But the Ambassador is claiming that this DNC insider also got all of John Podesta’s gmail email? At the same time the Russians were inside it? How the heck does that work? Podesta worked alongside, not for, the DNC. It isn’t like a DNC person would have routine access to someone else’s personal email address. And we are supposed to believe that Podesta was hacked by both a foreign intelligence service and a disgruntled Bernie bro? That to me is an extraordinary claim that needs some backing up that’s more thorough than “we met in a park near American University and he gave me all these emails - honest!” In my view, it’s such a thin claim on the Podesta emails that the DNC claims ought to be questioned, too. Even though I said I’m overlooking some very weird coincidences. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/326 "2016-12-15T12:31:59Z")
[http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/evan-mcmullin-gop-russia-hacking-232625?cmpid=sf](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/evan-mcmullin-gop-russia-hacking-232625?cmpid=sf) > [@](#): > > Congressional Republicans knew about Russian attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election as those efforts were ongoing and chose to do nothing about them for fear of hurting the electoral chances of President-elect Donald Trump, former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin said Wednesday. > > “Look, the truth is it’s been very obvious for leaders in Washington on the Republican side that the Russians have been undermining our democracy, or did undermine our democracy,” McMullin said at an event hosted by POLITICO Wednesday morning. “I know because I know for a fact that they know this. It was a topic of discussion during the election and they chose not to stand up.” > > McMullin ran for president as an independent, conservative alternative to Trump, who won the Republican presidential nomination despite lacking traditional conservative bona fides. Before jumping into the race last August, he was the chief policy director for Republicans in the House of Representatives and before that, was an operations officer in the CIA. > … > “They understood what was happening and they understood that that was probably only the tip of the iceberg,” McMullin said. “As a former intelligence officer, it’s hard to overstate how alarming this is and how alarming it should be.” ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/327 "2016-12-15T14:24:43Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Establishing a no fly zone via diplomacy. Physically destroying somebody’s ability to resist is not “diplomacy.” > [@Clinton](#): > > To have a no fly zone you have to take out all of the air defense, many of which are located in populated areas. So our missiles, even if they are standoff missiles so we’re not putting our pilots at risk—you’re going to kill a lot of Syrians. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/328 "2016-12-15T14:26:55Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Does it matter? They had already done it and he asked them to do it again, or at least to release more of what they already had. Whether or not they then did so has nothing to do with the impropriety of making the request. You would think this would be self evident. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/329 "2016-12-15T14:52:43Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > You would think this would be self evident. To anyone looking at things objectively, sure. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/330 "2016-12-15T16:32:27Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > [http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/evan-mcmullin-gop-russia-hacking-232625?cmpid=sf](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/evan-mcmullin-gop-russia-hacking-232625?cmpid=sf) Hahahaha. McMullin is a hoot. _“Look, the truth is it’s been very obvious for leaders in Washington on the Republican side that the Russians have been undermining our democracy, or did undermine our democracy,” McMullin said at an event hosted by POLITICO Wednesday morning. “I know because I know for a fact that they know this. It was a topic of discussion during the election and they chose not to stand up.”_ Jugears Obama is still President, isn’t he? If it’s so well known that the Putin is hacking email accounts and spreading misinformation during lame duck Obama’s administration, why hasn’t JugearS Obama put an end to it? Was JugearS afraid of the Putin? Is this another case of you-can’t-hold-Obama-responsible-for-his-own-failures? Is McMullin blaming the Republican side because he understands that the Democrat side can’t/won’t deal with this known Russian hacking, and misinformation? Or is he protecting the incompetence of the Obama administration. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/331 "2016-12-15T16:47:10Z")
What would you do about the Russian hacking, **doorhinge**? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/332 "2016-12-15T17:19:34Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > What would you do about the Russian hacking, **doorhinge**? If I have a flat tire, I change the tire when it goes flat. If my PC is under attack from outside sources, I shut down my internet connection, and then begin running programs to find, and then repair, any damage. If I discover Russian hackers, I would notify the FBI, both of my U.S. Senators, my Congressman, and JugearS Obama. _Yo, Guys! I’m up to my ass in Putin people. One of youse guys should dealing with this problem, and dealing with it NOW._ I would then put my feet up on a table and wait for JugearS to get actually get around to actually assigning some actual resources to the problem. Or wait for Hillary to lose an election, and then blame Trump. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/333 "2016-12-15T17:41:54Z")
What kind of secret code shit is “JugearS Obama” supposed to be? Is it just grade school taunting? I don’t get it. But anyway, according to the new reports (NPR I think), Obama resisted publicly calling out Russia on the hacking and election interference because, ironically, he didn’t want to be accused of interfering with the ongoing election. Which he most certainly would have been. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/334 "2016-12-15T18:06:35Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Clinton was openly stating her support for driving Russia from Syria’s skies, a plan which she admitted (to Goldman-Sachs, not to the American people) would involve bombing Syrian cities and killing Syrian civilians to destroy Syria’s air defense systems. … The Syrian civilians had a close call, didn’t they? They must be so grateful that Clinton didn’t win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania–so that now they are _safe_: > [@](#): > > Report: In less than a year, Russia has killed more civilians than ISIS > A new report from a United Nations-sanctioned human rights group finds that Russian airstrikes have killed more Syrian civilians than ISIS. > > Over a span of 305 days, beginning September 30, 2015 and lasting until July 31, 2016, Russia’s campaign in Syria “has killed no less than 2,704 civilians including 746 children and 514 women.” … > **[Report: In less than a year, Russia has killed more civilians than ISIS](https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-isis-civilian-deaths-united-nations-syria-2016-8)** > > "Russian forces have violated the rules of the international human rights law that protect the right to life." > [@](#): > > Russia Killed More Syrian Civilians than Assad or ISIS in January: Report > …“SNHR alleges that Assad-loyal forces and the Russian military have “violated the principles of the human rights international laws which protect the rights to life.” All evidence and eyewitness testimonies prove that more than 90 percent of the wide and individual attacks targeted civilians and civil points,” the report alleges. > **[Syria: Russia Has Killed More Civilians than Assad](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-has-killed-more-syrian-civilians-assad-or-isis-last-month-report-426775)** > > The Syrian Network for Human Rights has published new statistics on civilian deaths. Thank heavens the pro-Russia Trump got in! That will keep the Syrian civilians out of harm’s way, as we’ve seen already! ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/335 "2016-12-15T18:41:00Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > What kind of secret code shit is “JugearS Obama” supposed to be? Is it just grade school taunting? I don’t get it. I think it’s just a response to the “TinyHands” and “Orange \_\_\_\_\_” comments that I’ve been reading on this board. Frankly, I wish both sides would knock it off. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/336 "2016-12-15T19:20:19Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > If I have a flat tire, I change the tire when it goes flat. If my PC is under attack from outside sources, I shut down my internet connection, and then begin running programs to find, and then repair, any damage. > > If I discover Russian hackers, I would notify the FBI, both of my U.S. Senators, my Congressman, and JugearS Obama. _Yo, Guys! I’m up to my ass in Putin people. One of youse guys should dealing with this problem, and dealing with it NOW._ > > I would then put my feet up on a table and wait for JugearS to get actually get around to actually assigning some actual resources to the problem. Or wait for Hillary to lose an election, and then blame Trump. :rolleyes: I should have been more clear with my question. I meant, if you were President, what would you do to respond to Russian cyber attacks? (I don’t really care what authorities you would inform if you found your personal email was hacked.) ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/337 "2016-12-15T19:22:59Z")
Send Putin a phishing email too? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/338 "2016-12-15T19:27:40Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Physically destroying somebody’s ability to resist is not “diplomacy.” Yes, diplomacy with _Russia_. I’m sorry you weren’t able to understand that. Need further clarification? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/339 "2016-12-15T19:30:20Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think it’s just a response to the “TinyHands” and “Orange \_\_\_\_\_” comments that I’ve been reading on this board. Frankly, I wish both sides would knock it off. The difference would be that Obama has conducted himself with dignity and decorum, and Trump is a burbling halfwit. I understand why people want to mock Trump, he’s a buffoon, but worse, an arrogant buffoon. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/340 "2016-12-15T20:00:54Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > The difference would be that Obama has conducted himself with dignity and decorum, and Trump is a burbling halfwit. > > I understand why people want to mock Trump, he’s a buffoon, but worse, an arrogant buffoon. You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, and I’m not trying to tell you that you can’t call Trump names (IDGAF what you call him), but I hope you realize that typing things like “Orange Hitler” and “TinyHands” around here will motivate other people to type “Jugears”. It ends up dragging the whole board a ways down the scale of respectability, but carry on if you wish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=18)