Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says

Duped? How? By getting paid?

How does one dupe the willing?

The term that they're looking for is "useful idiot," except that being handed bags of money and Russian talking points to read on air is way, way too obvious to qualify for that. "Traitorous sleazebag," maybe. "Willfully blind co-conspirator" if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

God i hate popular media - always trying to change the narrative with these misleading headlines.

Being a paid russian asset isn’t being duped. I hope those things rot in prison.

Duped! Completely fooled! Hoodwinked! Who could have seen that coming??

The coordinated messaging all emphasizing how this was accidental and these longtime trolls didn't know (or bother to ask) where the money coming from is... something.

Third straight election, you say? I wonder if there is any other factor shared by the last three elections? Like maybe one of the candidates has been the same person?

Being bought is different than being duped.

I don't think most of them were duped. It's been exceptionally obvious for years. I mean I guess some of them are dumb enough not to realize, but most are just taking advantage of the money and power.

“Duped” is doing some heavy lifting in that sentence.

Aw crap they tricked us with money again

Duped? Complicit

i'm always getting duped to say obvious pro russian talking points after taking a bunch of money and signing a contract to say obvious pro russian talking points. hate when it happens, honestly.

Pool, a journalist-turned-YouTuber who first gained public attention for livestreaming the Occupy Wall Street protests, hosted Trump on his podcast earlier this year.

Johnson is an outspoken Trump supporter and internet personality who was fired from BuzzFeed after the company found evidence he’d plagiarized other works.

So these two were formally "journalists", and should know at least something about confirming sources and information before publishing, or in this case I guess making a video/podcast, about the topic given them by this company that wanted to just give them hundreds of thousands of dollars. And maybe look into why a company would pay you that kind of money out of nowhere if they were supplying all the talking points, and they just want you to say them into a camera? Maybe?

I think anyone with any background in media should see right through something like this, and has no leg to stand on when crying "we had no idea!". They saw a check and all morals/questions went out the window.

So their excuse is: “we are too dumb to go to prison”

Guilty by reason of Gullible? I’m going to use this, should they ever find myself in court.

They weren't duped. They gleefully and knowingly pushed anti-American propaganda in support of the Project 2025 Handmaid's Tale christofascist theocratic dictatorship. They knew where the money was coming from but didn't care.

I think in the indictment Lauren Chen and her husband referred to the company/investors as "the Russians" so those two at least were 100% not duped, they are just traitors.

Lauren has been fired from a news org she write for.

Idk if those two and the other useful idiots broke any laws though, the indictment is just for foreign agent registration stuff.

They never expressed any curiosity about where the money was coming from?

Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

"Duped"

DUH.

Tim Fool

"Duped". Is a bit of a stretch

They knew

Society "How could you, [insert conservative influencer]? I'd never lend my name to Russian talking points."

Conservative influencer "Oh! They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house. I'm not made of stone!"

What a surprise! Not.

Johnson is an outspoken Trump supporter and internet personality who was fired from BuzzFeed after the company found evidence he’d plagiarized other works.

This is interesting. I never liked the guy. Could never put my finger on exactly why, but he always seemed fishy to me.

"Duped" doing more lifting than a pallet jack here.

MR covering it live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_HWnfMozwo

Edit: Tim Pool's Dad called in, and is live on that link discussing it now.

Because conservatives are fundamentally uncurious weirdos who prove the worthlessness of an unexamined life for the rest of us.

The communists here are doing it for free.

Interesting how all these paid actors are right wingers, to believe Lemmy Russian bot hawks, the bot accounts are all fake leftists and tankies

Total media blitz today on this . Every outlet pushing the same shite.