The Biden administration announced wide-ranging actions Wednesday in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York meant to call attention to Russian influence in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
The Departments of Justice, State, and Treasury are undertaking a joint effort to bring sanctions and criminal charges against what the Biden administration says are Russian government-sponsored attempts to manipulate U.S. public opinion ahead of the November election.
Attorney General Merrick Garland is seeking charges specifically against two employees of the Russian-backed media network RT who are accused of conspiring to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
"The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power is attempting to exploit our country's free exchange of ideas in order to send around its own propaganda," Garland said.
While the indictment redacted the names of political parties and candidates, it was clear through the documents that the Russians sought to help Donald Trump and to hurt Democratic efforts to re-elect Joe Biden and now elect Kamala Harris.
One criminal case accuses two employees of RT, which was forced by the Justice Department to register as a foreign agent, of posting nearly 2,000 videos containing Russian propaganda. The defendants, who remain at large, used fake identities to fund a Tennessee-based content creation company that was unaware it was being used by Russia.
In the other case, DOJ officials announced the seizure of 32 internet domains that were used by the Kremlin to spread Russian propaganda and weaken global support for Ukraine.