Category Archives: Media corruption

Have you Met John Mark Dougan, a Former Florida Deputy Sheriff?

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I continue to see friends on Facebook and a few other social media sites claiming that Ukraine’s President Zelensky and his wife are using millions if not billions of U.S. aid money to buy fancy cars and mansions….ehhh….c’mon people do that work please and stop getting punked by a former Marine and sheriff deputy from Florida that too fled to Russia….yes…fled and he is loving his deep fake life there and you are helping him win the bot/disinformation/propaganda war…and many members of Congress have bought into all this….but save yourself the humiliation and read on…

***

It is not just here in the United States by the way…Europe is getting pummeled too:

The article looks real enough, though petrolheads may note the misspelling of Tourbillon. It even cites as evidence a video recorded by a dealership employee describing the supposed sale, and a picture of a Bugatti invoice for €4.5 million made out to Mrs. Olena Zelenska. If you were under any doubt, the site’s name should lay your fears to rest: Verite Cachee or, in English, hidden truth.

In fact, the video is a deepfake, the invoice is falsified, and the entire site is part of a Kremlin-linked influence operation, using AI-generated content to deliver a payload of Russian talking points. The false attack on Zelenska was designed, it seems, to hint at corruption.

Veritecachee.fr is one of two sites set up less than two weeks after French president Emmanuel Macron announced a surprise election, the other called France en Colere (Angry France). The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and the Tow Center have connected both to a network of websites linked to John Dougan, an American former police officer now living in Moscow and known for spreading Kremlin-backed disinformation. This network was first identified by researchers at Clemson University in December last year.

Even as this Dougan-affiliated network has targeted the French election, another Russia-linked disinformation operation, unmasked by French authorities earlier this year, has ramped up its activity in Europe. In June, the “Portal Kombat” network launched ten new sites, mostly aimed at Europe. Another five targeting Eastern Europe were set up in April and May. Read it all here for further context. Zelensky just bought a brand new $4.5 Million Dollar Bugatti for his ...

*** In part below:

It starts with a NewsGuard analyst happening upon what appeared to be a fledgling Washington D.C.-based news site promoting Russian propaganda. Unbeknownst to her, this was six months after her boss and his family had been threatened in a YouTube video that included an aerial shot of his home and calls to his unlisted phone number by a Russian disinformation operative working from a studio in Moscow. It turns out that this D.C. website, those threats to NewsGuard’s co-CEO, and what NewsGuard discovered were dozens of similar hostile information operations — including a “documentary” that the Russians used as an excuse to invade Ukraine — were all orchestrated by the same man — John Mark Dougan, a former Florida deputy sheriff who fled to Moscow after being investigated for computer hacking and extortion.

As of this writing, NewsGuard has discovered 167 Russian disinformation websites that appear to be part of Dougan’s network of websites masquerading as independent local news publishers in the U.S. and 15 films on Dougan’s since-removed YouTube channel. Ranging from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky siphoning off money meant to aid the war against Russia so he could buy an estate in England owned by King Charles, to a non-existent U.S. bioweapons lab in Ukraine being the reason the Russians had to invade that country, these concocted stories have been amplified on social media accounts to reach a broad global audience of more than 37 million views—including 1,300,000 views of just the narrative about Zelensky buying the king’s estate.

As a journalist based in Washington who scrutinizes the credibility of news outlets as a profession, I was familiar with the landscape of trusted local publications in the area. DCWeekly did not appear to be one of them.

I first noticed the site when it published an article reporting that the Ukrainian Azov Battalion was recruiting in France. It carried the byline “Jessica Devlin,” who was described as a “distinguished and highly acclaimed journalist.” Another scoop: The U.S. had bought a mansion for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Vero Beach, Florida.

Everything about the website and these articles was a red flag: The site presented itself as a credible new local news source yet was propagating fabricated narratives that smelled of Russian influence.

It turned out that “DCWeekly” is not actually based in the nation’s capital. Nor is “Jessica Delvin” a real person. As uncovered by researchers at Clemson University, the site operates from Moscow, hosted on an IP address belonging to John Mark Dougan.

His is a name I would come to know well over the coming months.

In further briefings, I learned that Dougan, a former marine, had been an officer in the Sheriff’s Department in Palm Beach County, Florida, until 2016, when he fled to Russia and was granted asylum after being targeted in a computer hacking scheme. Since then, I was told, he had become well known to the FBI and, as they put it, “our sister security agencies” as a Russian operative who specialized in producing some of the Russians’ most elaborate disinformation campaigns and narrating them as if he were an independent American journalist. 

Relatedly, it appeared that the aerial video of my home in Dougan’s video was not a simple Google satellite shot. Instead, it had probably been taken by a drone that someone had hired. [Dougan denies this; see below.] I was also told that those same sister agencies reported that Dougan was still in Russia. “So he poses no imminent threat to you,” the lead agent on the case said.

But he knows where I live and the Russians must have people all over the United States, I said. And he must have followers here on his YouTube channel that could act on their own. The FBI agents agreed. This was more serious than a few random crank emails. In a meeting a few days later with three agents and my wife sitting at our dining room table, we agreed on a multifaceted security plan to be implemented by a private security company.

I now live in a home surrounded by twelve motion-detecting security cameras, monitored remotely by the security service, and filled with dead-bolt window and door locks and other reminders of Dougan’s video—which produced multiple new death threats.

***

Related reading from the BBC 

RUSSIA’S BOT FARM OPERATES ON X, US AND ITS ALLIES WARN

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In full disclosure, years ago I did a radio interview with Pierluigi…due to his long validated resume….I continue to trust his work…as a result this is fair warning to validate information at with at least 3 unique sources.

(Officially shut down –> you be the judge)

Russia has officially made one dystopian prediction about artificial intelligence (AI) come true: it used AI to lie better, faster, and more believably. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice, along with counterparts in Canada and the Netherlands, disrupted a Russian bot farm that was spreading pro-Russian propaganda. The FBI director and deputy attorney general in a press release highlighted the use of AI to create the bot farm as a disturbing new development. What they did not say, however, is that the West is unprepared to defend itself against this new threat.

This capability enables quick reactions on a huge scale to highly divisive world events. For example, the Russian operation could choose to spread divisive messages about the assassination attempt on former president Trump. In the past, this would have been a labor-intensive task of crafting a variety of credible messages designed to outrage both ends of the political spectrum, then iterating until a divisive note hit a nerve. Now, AI can craft the message, alter it for different audiences, and distribute it rapidly. Russia could enter the chat almost immediately.

***Yandex's Russian AI Bot Shows Promise in Rivalry with US-Based ChatGPT .... Additional reading here

The US and its allies disrupted an AI-powered Russia-linked bot farm on the social media platform X relying on the Meliorator AI software.

The U.S. FBI and Cyber National Mission Force, along with Dutch and Canadian intelligence and security agencies, warned social media companies about Russian state-sponsored actors using covert AI software, Meliorator, in disinformation campaigns. Affiliates of Russia’s media organization RT used Meliorator to create fake online personas to spread disinformation on X. The campaigns targeted various countries, including the U.S., Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, and Israel.

“Although the tool was only identified on X, the authoring organizations’ analysis of Meliorator indicated the developers intended to expand its functionality to other social media platforms.” reads the report. “The authoring organizations’ analysis also indicated the tool is capable of the following:

  • Creating authentic appearing social media personas en masse;
  • Deploying content similar to typical social media users;
  • Mirroring disinformation of other bot personas;
  • Perpetuating the use of pre-existing false narratives to amplify malign foreign influence; and
  • Formulating messages, to include the topic and framing, based on the specific archetype of the bot.”

As early as 2022, RT had access to the AI-powered bot farm generation and management software Meliorator. By June 2024, it was operational only on X (formerly Twitter), with plans to expand to other platforms. The software includes an admin panel called “Brigadir” and a seeding tool named “Taras,” and is accessed via a virtual network computing (VNC) connection. Developers managed Meliorator using Redmine software, hosted at dtxt.mlrtr[.]com.

The identities (also called “souls”) of these bots are determined by selecting specific parameters or archetypes. The experts said that any unselected fields are auto-generated. Bot archetypes group ideologically aligned bots through an algorithm that constructs each bot’s persona, including location, political ideologies, and biographical data. Taras creates these identities and the AI software registers them on social media platforms. The identities are stored in a MongoDB, enabling ad hoc queries, indexing, load-balancing, aggregation, and server-side JavaScript execution.

Meliorator manages automated scenarios or actions for a soul or group of souls through the “thoughts” tab. The software can instruct personas to like, share, repost, and comment on others’ posts, including videos or links. It also allows for maintenance tasks, creating new registrations, and logging into existing profiles.

“The creators of the Meliorator tool considered a number of barriers to detection and attempted to mitigate those barriers by coding within the tool the ability to obfuscate their IP, bypass dual factor authentication, and change the user agent string.” continues the joint advisory. “Operators avoid detection by using a backend code designed to auto-assign a proxy IP address to the AI generated persona based on their assumed location.”

The report also provides the infrastructure associated with the bot farm and mitigations.

 

Will the Biden Family Split $200 Million?

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As a result of the devastating debate performance of Joe Biden, calls are being made by donors, some Democrat lawmakers and especially donors for Joe to drop out of the race….but c’mon Conservatives…we need him to stay on the ticket and in the race…why you ask? He is the easiest to beat now and there is the matter of $200 million…but I will get to that shortly…so follow along.

Kevin Morris has been Hunter’s sugar-daddy for quite some time as he has paid IRS debts for Hunter along with legal bills. He has even shown up in public and in hearings with Hunter and his lawyer Abbe Lowell. But allegedly, Kevin has stopped the gravy train. It is also a fact that Joe Biden took out a loan by re-financing their Delaware home (35 times per Yahoo News) . So, it is apparent the family needs some money now and certainly in the future.

Just consider that Jill and Hunter and the rest of the world for that matter including White House staffers and the media that Joe has no physical or mental stamina for the job now or for four more years…but the plots begins here…

U.S. President Joe Biden is accompanied by his son, Hunter Biden, and ...

Hunter was with the whole family at Camp David over the weekend plotting and finding blame for his awful job at the debate…furthermore, Hunter is at the White House on a full time basis leading the charge…but what charge? I say…he is so good at creating shell companies that he likely has created several more recently and they are on paper only providing services to the re-election campaign but in reality they are paying themselves through the shell companies from the $200 million in the campaign war chest.

You see, campaign finance law says that money CANNOT be transferred to another candidate…but only to Kamala if she stays on the ticket and only if Kamala becomes the nominee. That is a bug but as no one is calling for her to step up and replace Joe….so that $200 million stays with Joe…and this family could be purposely throwing his re-election for the sake of the money. Sure it is now said that Jill and Hunter are running the operation and in some cases even the White House…but running the presidency or the scheme is the question.

The whole family needs money and lots of it…and could need even more based on continuing investigations by the House into the crime operations…

The Democrat Party is in a real mess and it could get worse when the donors completely bail out from now to the convention, after all it is quite expensive to pay for a convention in Chicago and outside money is required for that in addition to DNC money.

Do we really want the Biden crime family to ride into the sunset splitting $200 million or even $100 million after learning what he have so far about them and then living through hell for the last 3.5 years?

The legal issues for Hunter are not over yet by a long shot and for that matter neither is the investigation into the whole Biden crime family…now including with the Securities and Exchange Commission given the cunning tactics of secret shell companies already, it stands to reason to do it again. The big question here is what state would they register these companies and in what names and who would be the agent of record?

Maybe a deeper dive into that pesky laptop with offer some new things to search for and some new clues…maybe someone can reach out to the James Comer and given him a heads up on something new to look for. The media likely wont do it but given how angry they are perhaps some will….

But dear readers…you all are very good at research…jump in with comments and even trails following that money.

 

 

What the Deep State Really is, Shadow Operatives

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Former President Trump has said often, it is not just me they are after, they are really after you and I am in the way. It is quite true, but add intrepid investigative journalists as well and it all began under the Obama administration.

Anyone remember when the Obama Department of Justice went after several Associated Press reporters? Or how about all the way to the Biden administration as noted here:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Saturday that it no longer will secretly obtain reporters’ records during leak investigations, a policy shift that abandons a practice decried by news organizations and press freedom groups.

The reversal follows a pledge last month by President Joe Biden, who said it was “simply, simply wrong” to seize journalists’ records and that he would not permit the Justice Department to continue the practice. Though Biden’s comments in an interview were not immediately accompanied by any change in policy, a pair of statements from the White House and Justice Department on Saturday signaled an official turnabout from an investigative tactic that has persisted for years.

Democratic and Republican administrations alike have used subpoenas and court orders to obtain journalists’ records in an effort to identify sources who have revealed classified information. But the practice had received renewed scrutiny over the past month as Justice Department officials alerted reporters at three news organizations — The Washington Post, CNN and The New York Times — that their phone records had been obtained in the final year of the Trump administration.

The latest revelation came Friday night when the Times reported the existence of a gag order that had barred the newspaper from revealing a secret court fight over efforts to obtain the email records of four reporters. That tussle had begun during the Trump administration but had persisted under the Biden Justice Department, which ultimately moved to withdraw the gag order.

Let’s go back to the days of Fast and Furious or Benghazi shall we? Just in the last week, former CBS investigative correspondent of 21 years Sharyl Attkisson gave an detailed update to her case against the Department of Justice and the FBI as initially explained in her book titled Stonewalled.

In full disclosure, I read that book back and the chill still runs through my veins. After listening to her most recent podcast explanation, the takeaway is how all of government is still being used to stonewall the case not only with her but now too Catherine Herridge, just recently fired from CBS for refusing to reveal her sources for a story. so much for a free press. So, please take the time to hear the Attkisson podcast to fully grasp the government dragnet and then understand how it all flows down to we the people…..including we the people.

Now consider just what these deep state ghost operatives have been plotting and planning going forward. Use your imagination as Miss Sharyl has provided the mission template and tactics.

We are now living in a Stasi environment an additional form of terror…the war on information and truth.

8 ISIS-K Arrested in 3 Cities After Crossing the Southern Border

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In part from USA Today, hardly tells the whole story about this case.

WASHINGTON ― U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in recent days arrested eight foreign nationals in the U.S. suspected to have ties with the terrorist group ISIS, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation confirmed.

The eight individuals were detained on immigration charges from New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Each is from Tajikistan and entered the U.S. at the southern Mexico border, the official said. They remain in U.S. custody.

The official said no derogatory information was detected about the individuals during their initial screening at the border but the U.S. later learned information that tied them to ISIS. They don’t currently face any terrorism charges. More here. 

A deeper dive:

The FBI had been tracking these operatives for several weeks, long before the most recent fake Biden Executive Order on the southern border. Obviously the White House ignored not only the case and intelligence but continues to ignore the warnings put forward by FBI Director Christopher Wray in several congressional hearings.

Bill Melugin
@BillMelugin_
BREAKING: Per federal source familiar, ICE, in conjunction w/ the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, arrested 8 Tajikistan nationals w/ suspected ISIS ties in NYC, LA, and Philly in recent days. I’m told all 8 crossed the southern border illegally, received “full vetting”, and had no initial derogatory information that flagged. I’m told derogatory info/potential national security concerns flagged later on – apparently after release into the US. Source was unable to say when and where they crossed illegally into the US. All are now in ICE custody pending removal proceedings and an active federal investigation. This was initially scooped by

@JennieSTaer

& New York Post, who report at least one of the individuals was caught on a FBI wiretap talking about bombs. FBI/DHS joint statement to

@FoxNews

“Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities. The actions were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The individuals arrested are detained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. As the FBI and DHS have recently described in public and partner bulletins, the U.S. has been in a heightened threat environment. The FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security. ”

***
In part from CBS:The official noted that it is very difficult for the U.S. to deport migrants to Tajikistan due to both operational and diplomatic reasons. In fiscal year 2023, ICE deported only 4 migrants to that Central Asian country, according to agency data.

The arrests were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, adding that the individuals who were arrested are in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

“As the FBI and DHS have recently described in public and partner bulletins, the U.S. has been in a heightened threat environment,” the statement went on to say. “The FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security.”

*** Per UPI:

“Now increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia Concert Hall,” Wray testified in April.

“As the FBI and DHS have recently described in public and partner bulletins, the United States has been in a heightened threat environment,” according to Tuesday’s statement on the arrests.

“The FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate and disrupt potential threats to national security.”

According to the National Counterterrorism Center, IS-K is among the deadliest branches of ISIS, conducting attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as in Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan while seeking to conduct similar operations in the United States and Europe.

It was sanctioned by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization in 2016.