They are still at it in 2026
Steven Lee Myers and Dustin Volz at NYT:
Steven Lee Myers and Dustin Volz at NYT:
Even as President Trump pursued a thawing of relations with the Kremlin this week, a covert Russian influence operation targeted the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas, James Talarico, by spreading a fabricated claim of misconduct.
Several groups of researchers who track Russian disinformation operations attributed the claim to Storm-1516, a covert group that in 2024 peddled a similarly unfounded accusation against Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.
The attack followed a flurry of Russian posts on social media in recent weeks and provided the latest indication that Moscow is once again targeting an American election with online influence operations. In recent weeks, Russia has ramped up those efforts, according to a U.S. official familiar with classified intelligence assessments on the matter.
Most of the Russian content so far, spread by bot networks around the world, has targeted Democratic candidates, especially in closely contested Senate races that could determine control of Congress in Mr. Trump’s remaining two years in office. Still, the intelligence assessments do not specify that Russia is explicitly seeking to harm one political party more than the other, the official said.
“I characterize it to people as kind of same old, same old,” Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Wednesday, referring broadly to Russian efforts so far this campaign. The Russians are “throwing everything out there to generate a sense of chaos and anarchy” in the voting process, he added.
Mr. Himes said Russia was focused “in a bipartisan way” on trying to harm American politicians who had been supportive of Ukraine.