https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2018/12/17/464235/following-the-money/
Law enforcement, congressional, and media investigations over the last two years have revealed that Kremlin-linked actors paid considerable sums of money to support Trump and curry his favor. A Russian organization allegedly controlled by an oligarch close to Putin spent more than $1 million a month just on social media campaigns favoring Trump, according to the special counsel.6 A Russian American energy tycoon—who boasted to a Kremlin official in July 2016 of being “actively involved in Trump’s election campaign”—donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump Victory fund.7 And a company affiliated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch paid $1 million to Michael Cohen, then Trump’s personal lawyer, for unspecified services after the election.8 These and other transactions examined throughout the report establish that, during the campaign and presidential transition, Trump had several compromising financial entanglements with actors representing a hostile foreign power.
Moreover, while Trump vehemently denied business links to Russia during his campaign, the Kremlin knew otherwise.9 Recent filings by the special counsel allege that Trump hoped to make “hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources” for a project in Moscow that was advancing “at a time of sustained efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the U.S. presidential election.”10 In his plea agreement, Cohen admits to suggesting that Trump could travel to Russia “once he becomes the nominee after the convention” to drum up support for the project.11
Trump’s prospect of a lucrative deal in Moscow, one that ostensibly hinged on support from the Kremlin, may help explain his peculiar pro-Russia foreign policy platform during the campaign.12 But this may be just part of the picture. The channels forged through business dealings, including the establishment of direct relationships with Russian government officials, could have been instrumental to providing any material support to Trump’s campaign.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-17/russia-waged-vast-pro-trump-social-media-plan-senate-panel-toldRussia’s plot to wield social media sites to divide Americans and aid Donald Trump in the 2016 election was even more massive and sophisticated than previously understood, and efforts to disseminate disruptive messages continue.
Those are the findings of two independent groups of researchers tasked by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee. The reports, released Monday, concluded that posts from fake Russian accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube led to more than 300 million engagements between 2015 and 2017.
Among the groups most heavily targeted by the Russians: African-Americans. The researchers found a cross-platform effort to target black Americans, often with memes about police brutality, and later feeding them voter suppression messages. Among the narratives shared with black audiences was a meme "I WON’T VOTE, WILL YOU?" Another said "Everybody SUCKS, We’re Screwed 2016." Others urged votes for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate.
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