Sean Hannity Is Now a Favorite Weapon of Russian Trolls Attacking America

Sean Hannity Is Now a Favorite Weapon of Russian Trolls Attacking America
Kremlin propagandists are piling on the Fox News war against the Mueller investigation.
DENISE CLIFTON JAN. 24, 2018 6:00 AM

Soon after Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller on Dec. 1, Kremlin-linked trolls began ramping up their social-media attacks on the Russia investigation. They tweeted out dozens of articles from Fox News and far-right outlets aimed at undermining the credibility of the FBI, Department of Justice, and the so-called “deep state.” And Putin’s trolls would soon have a new vein of material to exploit.

As Christmas approached, a drumbeat against the FBI grew louder in certain quarters of Congress: GOP Rep. Jim Jordan led the attack, claiming on Fox News that the FBI had conspired against Trump’s 2016 campaign. President Trump himself launched broadsides against FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and “leakin’ James Comey.” And on Dec. 20, Fox News star Sean Hannity tweeted “CONSPIRACY: GOP Lawmakers Says FEDERAL CONSPIRACY to Prevent Trump Presidency.”

That day, Hannity’s website ranked among the top 10 shared by the network of Twitter accounts linked to Russian influence campaigns and tracked by the nonpartisan Alliance for Securing Democracy on its national-security project, the Hamilton 68 dashboard. Hannity content had not registered much previously—but since Dec. 20, links from Hannity’s site have appeared frequently on the dashboard, often ranking among the top 10. “It’s now up there with other top most-shared domains,” says Bret Schafer, an analyst who monitors the dashboard for the Alliance.

Former senior CIA official John Sipher says the smear campaign by Hannity and Trump’s allies in the House plays directly into Kremlin hands. “A weak FBI is in the Russian interest.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/sean-hannity-is-now-a-top-weapon-for-russian-trolls-attacking-america/