Russian Oligarch Funded 'Troll Farm' To Interfere In 2018 Midterm Elections: Feds

WASHINGTON ― A 44-year-old Russian national working for a Russian oligarch helped run a social media campaign to spread distrust about the American political system ahead of the 2018 elections, federal prosecutors charged in a criminal complaint unsealed Friday.

Prosecutors say Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova of St. Petersburg, Russia, worked as the chief accountant of “Project Lakhta,” the type of operation that has previously been described as a “troll farm.” The project was allegedly funded by oligarch Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and two of his companies. Prigozhin was one of 13 Russians indicted in the special counsel’s investigation in February on charges of interfering in the 2016 election.

“The strategic goal of this alleged conspiracy, which continues to this day, is to sow discord in the U.S. political system and to undermine faith in our democratic institutions,” G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement.

Federal prosecutors, who said they received “exceptional cooperation” from Facebook and Twitter, said the campaign focused on “a wide variety of topics, including immigration, gun control and the Second Amendment, the Confederate flag, race relations, LGBT issues, the Women’s March, and the NFL national anthem debate.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/midterms-russian-interference_us_5bca231be4b0d38b5877e5f3