The Russia watchRussia’s traveling ‘proxies’; back channel to Russia; Russia’s propaganda getting smarter, and more
· Justice Dept lawyer says Manafort may have served as ‘back channel’ to Russia: report
· Can Trump pardon his way out of the Mueller probe? This law professor says no.
· Why do Trump’s defenders assume he’s guilty?
· Russia accidentally sabotages its internet
· Russia, Syria trying to ‘sanitize’ chemical attack site: U.S. State Department
· Meet the Russian-owned firm creating an army of traveling ‘proxies’
· Russian propaganda evades YouTube’s flagging system with BuzzFeed-style knockoffs
· Russian propaganda getting smarter, evading flagging, targeting youth
· Powerful cross-party group formed to defend Britain from Russian cyber attacks
Justice Dept lawyer says Manafort may have served as ‘back channel’ to Russia: report (Avery Anapol, The Hill)
A Justice Department lawyer said Thursday that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is being investigated as a possible “back channel” to Russia. At a hearing, federal prosecutors defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, arguing that Mueller did not exceed his authority by indicting Manafort on charges related to his pre-campaign work.
Can Trump pardon his way out of the Mueller probe? This law professor says no.(Sean Illing, Vox)
This forgotten line in the Constitution might prevent Trump from abusing his pardon power.
Why do Trump’s defenders assume he’s guilty?(David A. Graham, The Atlantic)
With friends like these, the president should probably reconsider his messaging strategy.
Russia accidentally sabotages its internet(Kimberly Zenz, Daily Beast)
It’s the latest Kremlin attempt to clamp down on Russians’ online activity. And it blocked almost 16 million IP addresses belonging to Amazon and Google.
Russia, Syria trying to ‘sanitize’ chemical attack site: U.S. State Department(Lesley Wroughton, Reuters)
The United States has credible information that Russia and Syria are trying to “sanitize” the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria while denying access to the area by international inspectors, the State Department said on Thursday.
Meet the Russian-owned firm creating an army of traveling ‘proxies’(Sharon Weinberger, Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Jana Winter, Foreign Policy)
A former senior Russian intelligence official has created an American tech firm that pays people to go places and film things.
Russian propaganda evades YouTube’s flagging system with BuzzFeed-style knockoffs (Ben Collins, NBC News)
It looks and sounds like the kind of online news millennials love — with a heavy dose of talking points pushed by Russia.
Russian propaganda getting smarter, evading flagging, targeting youth (UNIAN)
It starts looking and sounding like the kind of online news millennials love — with a heavy dose of talking points pushed by Russia.
Powerful cross-party group formed to defend Britain from Russian cyber attacks(Harry Cole, The Sun)
Heads of six influential House of Commons select committees will coordinate to ‘counter malign Russian influence’
