The Justice Department’s Crackdown On Russian Media’s American Affiliates Is Frightening

Anyone who shares views on publicly financed Russian media that even remotely align with part of Trump’s platform could theoretically find themselves caught in this massive dragnet.

The New York Times (NYT) cited unnamed administration sources to report that the Justice Department has begun a “broad criminal investigation into Americans who have worked with Russia’s state television networks”. This follows the FBI’s raid of Scott Ritter’s house earlier this month and then Dimitri Simes’ Virginia estate shortly thereafter. Ritter is still in the US while Simes has been in Russia since October 2022. More of Russian media’s American affiliates might soon be raided according to the NYT’s report.

The legal pretext upon which Ritter was raided had to do with the Foreign Agents Registration Act while Simes is reportedly being investigated for violating American sanctions against Russia, among other supposed crimes, according to the NYT. To their credit though, they mentioned in their report that “By targeting Americans working with news organizations, even if they are state-run, the inquiry could also bump up against the First Amendment’s protection of rights to free speech.”

They also added that “Since 2017, the Department of Justice has required RT to register as a foreign agent, not as a news organization, reflecting the government’s control over its operations. There is no clear legal precedent that dictates whether journalists working for a news organization would fall under the requirements of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.” This shows that even these establishment bulldogs know that the US Government’s (USG) latest crackdown might be unconstitutional.  

The NYT referenced prior reports about Russian intelligence services allegedly meddling in the ongoing elections in support of Trump following the pattern that the USG claimed was in play during the past two elections. It therefore seems that anyone who shares views on publicly financed Russian media that even remotely align with part of Trump’s platform could theoretically find themselves caught in this massive dragnet amidst America’s new Russiagate hysteria, thus making it all the more frightening.

After all, they reported that “The government investigation is not targeting ordinary Americans who watch Russian state media or post about it online, but rather is focused on individuals intentionally spreading disinformation from Moscow, some of the officials said”, but they didn’t define these criteria. The USG regularly smears contrarian foreign policy views as “disinformation”, and it’s unlikely that proof will ever be procured of someone “intentionally” sharing what they truly believe to be “disinformation”.

This means that the crackdown’s motives are purely political and therefore amount to the USG waging lawfare against those of its citizens who share dissident views with publicly financed Russian media. They wouldn’t be doing this if Trump didn’t have a fighting chance of returning to the White House, however, which suggests that the earlier polls about Kamala’s lead don’t reflect reality. The purpose behind this is to intimidate Americans into self-censoring and cook up another Russiagate scandal in case Trump wins.

His actual lead might result in a victory that’s “too big to rig” if it stays on track, hence the need to preemptively manufacture a backup plan for once again pressuring him into abandoning some of his electoral promises, particularly those on the foreign policy front with regards to Russia and Ukraine. Destroying some dissidents’ lives through this latest witch hunt is a small price for his opponents to pay if it paves the way for them to obstruct Trump’s second term through another round of years-long lawfare.