# 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:** 8
**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 10, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/141 "2016-12-10T23:25:58Z")
I’ve heard the Russians have a tape of Trump condoning sexual assault… No, wait, they have footage of him saying the thing he and his daughter have in common is sex… Wait, that’s silly. I think what they really have is evidence that he broke the Cuban embargo… Man, anything like the above and he’ll be stopped by the principled leaders of the Moral Majority, that’s for sure! Guys and gals, if it was found that he coordinated all this with Putin via his Trump Tower server, the GOP _won’t care_. They care nothing regarding the moral, intellectual, and experiential capabilities of their candidates, and the treasonous activities of the man at the top of the ticket will be met with a collective silence, ignored in their desire to Will to Power. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/142 "2016-12-11T00:48:14Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > This is not true. > If your point is that Russia has dramatically upped its espionage game in the last few years, sure. One of the bright points about Democrats is their relative willingness to change their conclusions based on changing information. That’s a feature, not a bug. > > This is very similar to the handwaving done about climate change. Don’t bother with the facts–it’s all just liberal hysteria! If Hilary Clinton would have taken espionage and security safely she’d be president-elect. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/143 "2016-12-11T00:52:32Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > To the people that say “we meddle in foreign elections too, who cares?” > > We try to recruit assets in foreign countries. Does that mean that Aldrich Ames shouldn’t have been punished? That we shouldn’t have cared? I asked who cares and that was a mistake. I just can’t feel tremendous outrage when we do the same damn thing and we have the means to defend our assets but due to negligence, laziness, complacency, and ironically, paranoia we don’t to the extent we could. When the highest ranking politicians we have act as carelessly as they do what do you expect to happen in a hostile, competitive world? ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/144 "2016-12-11T01:22:18Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > You baldly assert “as have Podesta’s” > > I have not ever read in any proper media that these specific campaign Democratic party side had any such type of contact as the documented in the sources like the DW, the FT, Le Monde, etc. of the Trump side. > > This after making the excited demande for the evidence for what has been very heavily reported in the major leading global medias of quality, from the Americans Washington Post and The New York Times to the Britishes Financial Times, etc. > > Hypocritical rhetorical games. Wall Street Journal : **[John Podesta and the Russians When did Clinton’s top aide stop doing business with Moscow?](http://www.wsj.com/articles/john-podesta-and-the-russians-1477262565)** Huffington Post : **[Hillary Clinton Is Blaming Russia for WikiLeaks To Conceal John Podesta’s Russian Lobbying Ties](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-is-blaming-russia-for-wikileaks-to_us_580dbb26e4b099c4343198ff)** CounterPunch :**[A Wikileak is a Terrible Thing to Waste](http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/10/14/roaming-charges-a-wikileak-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste/)** _By the way, John Podesta owned 75,000 shares in Leonidio LLC, a firm linked to who? Yes, Vladimir Putin._ Do I blame him ? No this is probably as pure as Trump’s alleged connections. But you couldn’t even find out, before spouting off that I had made it up. And of course, HuffPo, CounterPunch and the WSJ are all Trump fanboys… ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/145 "2016-12-11T01:30:16Z")
_We wanted to know the current evidence both for and against Russian involvement. While investigations may reveal more later, we found that there isn’t conclusive proof of Russian involvement for some of these claims, and whether Putin truly prefers President Trump remains an open question._ _“There is likely some truth to some of these allegations, but there has also been a bit of Russia hysteria recently on the part of some pundits, politicians and media,” said Scott Radnitz, a professor at the University of Washington currently researching conspiracy theories in post-Soviet states._ _Before the election, Russian actors gained access to the voter registration system in Arizona and possibly other states. It is not clear if the perpetrators were directed by the Russian government or if they were private criminals. But regarding Election Day itself, President Barack Obama’s administration said in a statement that it believes “our elections were free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective.”_ Polifact : **[Russia and its influence on the presidential election](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/dec/01/russia-and-its-influence-presidential-election/)** I’m sure the unspeakable president-elect longs for his opponents to dash themselves on this wall for the next few years. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/146 "2016-12-11T01:40:56Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > If Hilary Clinton would have taken espionage and security safely she’d be president-elect. If that had happened–or if Republicans had treated all security breaches equally instead of having a double standard. Either would’ve worked! ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Ego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/49beb7/32.png) [@Omega\_Ego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Ego)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/147 "2016-12-11T01:49:47Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > And of course, HuffPo, CounterPunch and the WSJ are all Trump fanboys… What makes [you](http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/10/21/roaming-charges-trumps-naked-and-hillarys-dead/)[think](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-trump-should-peacefully-protest-clintons-victory_us_5809d9b7e4b0b1bd89fdb0bc)[that](http://topics.wsj.com/person/A/biography/5461)? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/148 "2016-12-11T02:47:26Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I asked who cares and that was a mistake. I just can’t feel tremendous outrage when we do the same damn thing and we have the means to defend our assets but due to negligence, laziness, complacency, and ironically, paranoia we don’t to the extent we could. > > When the highest ranking politicians we have act as carelessly as they do what do you expect to happen in a hostile, competitive world? I ask that we not elect people that encourage it at the minimum and are quite possibly complicit in it. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/149 "2016-12-11T03:20:24Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I asked who cares and that was a mistake. I just can’t feel tremendous outrage when we do the same damn thing and we have the means to defend our assets but due to negligence, laziness, complacency, and ironically, paranoia we don’t to the extent we could. > > When the highest ranking politicians we have act as carelessly as they do what do you expect to happen in a hostile, competitive world? Also, your attempts to blame Russian hacking, which also targeted the RNC, on the dems is transparent and pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/150 "2016-12-11T03:26:04Z")
If there is a heaven, and if Saint Ronnie is up there, he is absolutely ashamed of the party that claims to revere him. That Trump could be a useful idiot is unsurprising. That the rest of the GOP puts party before country is grotesque. Seeing these cowards find reasons to pretend that this doesn’t matter makes them complicit in everything that comes next. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/151 "2016-12-11T04:46:42Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > _We wanted to know the current evidence both for and against Russian involvement. While investigations may reveal more later, we found that there isn’t conclusive proof of Russian involvement for some of these claims, and whether Putin truly prefers President Trump remains an open question._ > _“There is likely some truth to some of these allegations, but there has also been a bit of Russia hysteria recently on the part of some pundits, politicians and media,” said Scott Radnitz, a professor at the University of Washington currently researching conspiracy theories in post-Soviet states._ > > _Before the election, Russian actors gained access to the voter registration system in Arizona and possibly other states. It is not clear if the perpetrators were directed by the Russian government or if they were private criminals. > But regarding Election Day itself, President Barack Obama’s administration said in a statement that it believes “our elections were free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective.”_ > Polifact : **[Russia and its influence on the presidential election](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/dec/01/russia-and-its-influence-presidential-election/)** > I’m sure the unspeakable president-elect longs for his opponents to dash themselves on this wall for the next few years. Got anything besides 9 day old papers? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/152 "2016-12-11T04:59:41Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I ask that we not elect people that encourage it at the minimum and are quite possibly complicit in it. Complicity I doubt very much, if for no other reason than KGB veterans are not known to have a trusting nature. Did they want Trump elected? Surely they did. Did they make some efforts in that direction. Surely they did. Were they successful? Who knows. Would they have told him about it? Never. There would be any number of risks, and no advantage. (I may once have known the Russian word for “shit-brained motormouth”, but its gone…) They probably investigated the possibility of real interference in the computer operations of the voting, but found, as is widely conceded, that it just ain’t gonna fly. Too many different systems to compromise without leaving any fingerprints. Did they get thier paws on some DNC stuff? Sure. Does releasing the stuff about dissing Bernie help their cause? Sure! Not a dead hooker and a live boy, but sling it out there, why not? All an elaborate scheme to control Trump? Shit, the Republican Party can’t control Trump, _Trump_ can’t control Trump! A loose cannon makes a piss-poor puppet. But then…why is Trump nominating the CEO of Exxon for Sec/State? That still gnaws at my reasonable argument. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/153 "2016-12-11T05:22:19Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It is a complete mystery to me how the same conservatives who just a few years ago would have been screaming bloody murder years about Russian influence even on a lesser scale than this are simply shrugging it off now. Trump and his worshipers really do remind me of Hitler’s sway over his followers. As is the case with almost all double standards, it boils down to self-interest and/or whether it helps someone’s cause. If Thing X supports a person’s cause, they will support it, if it supports someone else’s cause, chances are they’ll oppose it. And yeah, never thought I’d see the day the GOP would become the pro-Russia party. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/154 "2016-12-11T05:41:27Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Also, your attempts to blame Russian hacking, which also targeted the RNC, on the dems is transparent and pathetic. The dems lost in part because of their arrogance and carelessness. They are a victim but a stupid victim. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/155 "2016-12-11T05:49:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > … > > And yeah, never thought I’d see the day the GOP would become the pro-Russia party. Look, it’s just a matter of time before Trump builds that new hotel in Moscow, and he needs Putin’s help getting the paperwork done. What better way than offering Putin the keys to the White house. Trump’s only focus is the bottom line in the Trump accout. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/156 "2016-12-11T06:09:01Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Complicity I doubt very much, if for no other reason than KGB veterans are not known to have a trusting nature. Did they want Trump elected? Surely they did. Did they make some efforts in that direction. Surely they did. Were they successful? Who knows. Would they have told him about it? Never. There would be any number of risks, and no advantage. (I may once have known the Russian word for “shit-brained motormouth”, but its gone…) > > They probably investigated the possibility of real interference in the computer operations of the voting, but found, as is widely conceded, that it just ain’t gonna fly. Too many different systems to compromise without leaving any fingerprints. Did they get thier paws on some DNC stuff? Sure. Does releasing the stuff about dissing Bernie help their cause? Sure! Not a dead hooker and a live boy, but sling it out there, why not? > > All an elaborate scheme to control Trump? Shit, the Republican Party can’t control Trump, _Trump_ can’t control Trump! A loose cannon makes a piss-poor puppet. > > But then…why is Trump nominating the CEO of Exxon for Sec/State? That still gnaws at my reasonable argument. I’d dismiss the possibility of Trump being complicit if he didn’t repeatedly defend Russia/Putin and chance the Republican platform to benefit Russia. That might be a lucky coincidence, but it makes me wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/157 "2016-12-11T07:21:10Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave. …its very interesting that some of the loudest voices I’m hearing speaking up against the Trump Empire on this are some of the Tea-Partiers. Here is what Joe Walsh has been saying today: [QUOTE=Joe Walsh] There’s evidence Russia messed around with our election, but cuz our guy won, people on my side are ok with that? That’s so fucking wrong. [/QUOTE] > More tweets at the link. There is a backlash. Just a very quiet one: everybody is keeping their heads down lest the face the Wrath of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/158 "2016-12-11T10:32:01Z")
So opinion pieces of which the infamous Wall Street Journal and some other opinion pieces. Not the actual news articles. When you have the strong evidences by reputable sources then we can make comparisons > [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > But you couldn’t even find out, before spouting off that I had made it up. It is not up to another person to provide evidence for the bald assertions that you yourself made. My statement was simply it was ironically hypocritical to make that heated call for the citations for items well reported on and then turn around and make uncited assertions, which you did. No claim you made it up was made, that is your distorting straw man, we could all be sure you had read some agitprop somewhere. ---
**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 11, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/159 "2016-12-11T12:43:53Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > … > They probably investigated the possibility of real interference in the computer operations of the voting, but found, as is widely conceded, that it just ain’t gonna fly. Too many different systems to compromise without leaving any fingerprints. > … They would only have to compromise systems in a few key places but even so it would be difficult to compromise the voting machines remotely. But what about absentee ballots? We know that they attempted to hack voter registration databases in at least a few places. Maybe they succeeded in some places. WI, for example, allows you to request an absentee ballot online, and receive it by email. Suppose they were able to hack into Wisconsin’s darabase and create a bunch of fake registrations and then used them to vote absentee? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/160 "2016-12-11T13:23:18Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > As is the case with almost all double standards, it boils down to self-interest and/or whether it helps someone’s cause. If Thing X supports a person’s cause, they will support it, if it supports someone else’s cause, chances are they’ll oppose it. > > And yeah, never thought I’d see the day the GOP would become the pro-Russia party. I never thought the GOP would be so blatantly hypocritical so soon. Obama–who is still the president–was a secret communist Kenyan national for the last 8 years. Imagine the rioting in the streets if Obama had a fraction of the Russian links that Trump has. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=9)