Russian agents paid pro-Trump influencers

Anna von Stefanelli/watson.de

Shortly before the U.S. election, emotions were brewing. Several supporters of presidential candidate Donald Trump have declared they will not let their election victory be “stolen” a second time. They believe conspiracy theories that candidate Kamala Harris is involved in election fraud. Accordingly, the Democratic Party won the 2020 election.

While Trump himself is fanning the flames of this fake news, the Kremlin clearly plays a role as well. The director of the FBI, National Intelligence and Cybersecurity Agency said that Russia is currently the “most active threat.” As a result, disinformation about alleged election fraud is actively spreading. Shortly before the election, these security services reiterated their warnings against fake news and violence.

Now, a pro-Trump American influencer has admitted posting such videos in exchange for money. He was paid by a Russian agent. And: this shouldn't be the only time.

Man repeatedly claims to vote for Harris

The American social media influencer said he received $100 from Kremlin propagandists. $100 for a video that closely aligns with the Trump MAGA movement’s false claims about election interference.

The clip features two men claiming to be Haitian immigrants. They announced that they will vote for Kamala Harris in the US election. several times. “Yesterday we voted in Gwinnett County and today we voted in Fulton County,” said the man in the video posted on X. He produced several fake IDs.

The clip was posted on the X channel @AlphaFox78, which has posted many right-wing pro-Trump videos. The account has more than 650,000 followers. The people behind it wish to remain anonymous. But CNN spoke with him by phone and text message, according to media reports.

Fake news makes money: Russian agents pay influencers

He posted the payment video without checking the information. “I don’t know where it came from or anything else — I’m just the person who shared it,” he said. He is bankrolled by Russian propagandist and podcaster Simeon Boikov. Boikow is known online as “AussieCossack”.

In order to get paid, the influencer posted about ten more memes and videos.

This also includes content targeting Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. The couple allegedly informed controversial musician Sean “Diddy” Combs about the DHS raid. U.S. intelligence has now determined that this claim was due to Russian influence.

A person confirmed to CNN that Boykov had sent several payments to the Massachusetts man. Further documents also revealed Boykov was registered as a Russian foreign agent in Australia. There he worked for Russian state media and wrote and posted online in English and Russian.

Research shows Boykov is said to have recently obtained Russian citizenship and applied for asylum at the Russian consulate in Sydney. He has also spread pro-Kremlin disinformation in the past. A previous CNN investigation found Boykov played a role in Russia's disinformation campaign – including those targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

However, what his exact role is and where he fits in the hierarchy of the disinformation network is unclear. What is clear: this process is not uncommon.

2024 US election: Worries about Russian influence

U.S. and European intelligence sources have previously told CNN that Russian disinformation networks are producing stage propaganda videos. They are often spread by American social media influencers.

@AlphaFox has since deleted the post, which has been viewed more than 2.6 million times. But different versions of the video are still circulating on social media. The influencer also continues to post posts containing false information on his channel, although he says he regrets spreading the video.