Russian trolls are targeting American veterans, and Trump's government isn't helping, group says

Source: Washington Post

Military
Russian trolls are targeting American veterans, and Trump’s government isn’t helping, group says

By Alex Horton
Jan. 7, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EST

The Trump administration has for nearly two years ignored mounting evidence that Russian operatives and other foreign actors were deliberately targeting U.S. troops and veterans with online disinformation amplified on a massive scale, a leading veterans group said.

American veterans and service members enjoy a high degree of social respect, and ongoing manipulation campaigns aimed at them could be weaponized to sow social discord in their communities, Vietnam Veterans of America warned officials at the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments in March 2018, among other agencies.

But those agencies have brushed off VVA since they were presented with evidence that eventually became a detailed report and congressional testimony, said Kristofer Goldsmith, the veteran service organization’s chief investigator. (1), (2)

And their plea to President Trump for help has similarly been ignored, Goldsmith said — suggesting the problem may be perceived as too complex or politically fraught for U.S. officials concerned to cross Trump, who has downplayed Russia’s role in election interference. (3)

“It’s easy to say ‘let’s send Javelins to Ukraine.’ People get that,” Goldsmith told The Washington Post. “It’s much more difficult for the secretary of VA to say ‘this is our plan to educate 9 million veterans who use our health care on how to spot a deep fake or falsified news.’”

The group asked Trump to intervene in a Dec. 18 letter because no federal agency responded to their evidence of foreign “fraudulent activities ranging from identity theft to election interference,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Post. It was emailed to Jennifer Korn, Trump’s liaison to veterans groups, according to an obtained email message.

VVA has not received a response. It is not clear if any of those agencies have taken the lead or are focused on the exploitation of veterans in foreign disinformation campaigns, Goldsmith said, and none of them has asked for more information on the subject after he has become the veteran community’s most prominent cybersleuth. (4)

White House officials received the letter but declined to describe what, if anything, they did with it and would not comment on the report.
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Alex Horton
Alex Horton is a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post. He previously covered the military and national security for Stars and Stripes, and served in Iraq as an Army infantryman. Follow https://twitter.com/AlexHortonTX

(1) https://vva.org/trollreport/

(2) https://docs.house.gov/meetings/VR/VR00/20191113/110183/HHRG-116-VR00-Wstate-GoldsmithK-20191113.pdf

(3) https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-told-russian-officials-in-2017-he-wasnt-concerned-about-moscows-interference-in-us-election/2019/09/27/b20a8bc8-e159-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html

(4) https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/kristofer-goldsmith-veteran-disinformation

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/01/07/russian-trolls-are-targeting-american-veterans-trumps-government-isnt-helping-group-says/

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Kevin M. Kruse Retweeted

https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse

Russian trolls are targeting American veterans. Veterans' group emailed Trump WH directly "because no federal agency responded to their evidence of foreign 'fraudulent activities ranging from identity theft to election interference.'" Neither did WH.

Link to tweet