Intel Chair Turner: ‘Absolutely true’ that Russia propaganda has infected US Congress

House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) on Sunday stressed the expansive reach of Russian propaganda and said it has even presented itself on the floor of the U.S. Congress.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, Turner said he agreed with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who singled out conservative news outlets and said, “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”

“Oh, it’s absolutely true,” Turner told Tapper about McCaul’s remarks. “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.”

“I mean, there are members of Congress today, who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO which of course it is not,” Turner said. “Vladimir Putin having made it very clear, both publicly and to his own population, that his view is that this is a conflict of a much broader claim of Russia, to Eastern Europe, and including claiming all of Ukraine territory as Russia’s.”

sepi,

Marjorie Taylor Cyclops

Ultragigagigantic,
@Ultragigagigantic@lemmy.world avatar

“The Russian oligarchs are taking over!” - US oligarchs probably

anticolonialist,

Joseph McCarthy wants his ‘Russians everywhere’ paranoia back.

mokus,

They decided to be the Russians they wanted to see in the world

phoneymouse,

The Republican Party is infected. Anyone trying to hinder aid to Ukraine is doing Putin’s bidding.

jballs,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

I don’t feel like this headline goes far enough. It’s not Congress in general. It’s one specific party in Congress. The article calls it out:

Turner said he agreed with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who singled out conservative news outlets and said, “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”

jaybone,

“conservative news outlets”? Isn’t CNN now pretty much a conservative news outlet?

aStonedSanta,

I believe the CEO taking them that direction has been replaced.

Soulg,

No

jaybone,

That is a chair turner.

But seriously, no shit.

antidote101,

“infection” politics is probably nota healthy paradigm, and may encourage a certain kind of puritanistic/cleansing fascism.

Better to say Russia has the ear of some congress members, or that their propaganda extends to some, or something more specific like that.

henfredemars,

They don’t need to hide it and they aren’t interested in trying. Russia owned the presidency and currently owns a good chunk of our representatives, with a really good shot at owning the presidency once again. I’m not sure how you can get further compromised if you tried. Whatever their objectives, I don’t see how you couldn’t achieve them from this position.

Cruxifux,

All this fear of Russian propaganda but nobody in the US government talks about the localized corporate propaganda that’s a far bigger threat to the US and the world at large.

Bernie and AOC used to, but Bernie seems to have given up, and AOC is looking out for her career now. Tulsi Gabbard used to too but I don’t even know what her deal is anymore.

Vorticity,

It’s nice to see a republican admitting this. It would be better if he would name names and admit that it goes beyond taking the propaganda bait. It would be nice if he would say “Congressman _____” regurgitates Russian propaganda and may be compromised.

eran_morad,

Easier to list the complement of that set.

Valmond,

So all the Maga madmen ?

carl_dungeon,

Yeah biggest duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh of 2024

Infynis,
@Infynis@midwest.social avatar

Surprising to see a Republican actually admit it though. He must be trying to pull a Mitt Romney, and hoping to get some moderate votes, hoping they’ve forgotten everything he’s done to damage the country

Sanctus,
@Sanctus@lemmy.world avatar

Pretty sure this goes back to Reagan.

Eldritch,

Plenty does. Though I’d argue this particularly goes back to the Wall Street putch at least. Fascists in and around the Republican party had their coup plot exposed. And received no punishment for it. Instead one of the implicated parties went on to run for Senate and win. With his son and grandson eventually achieving the presidency. And all but the vaguest of details surrounding the incident completely scrubbed from history.

Our fascists love the modern fascist government of Russia. And want to accomplish similar here. The only reason they disliked the USSR before is because they perceived it as a threat to them. Through a lot of the parties empty rubric of being about and for the people of Russia. And not just another authoritarian power structure like them. Borrowing the terminology of the left. With no real desire or will to carry it out.

JimboDHimbo,

…I have this odd feeling that I’m about to spend 2 hours down a rabbit hole looking for more information on what you’re talking about.

Eldritch,

It’s a very shallow hole unfortunately. As I stated, a lot of the details have been scrubbed from history. Wikipedia has the boilerplate here. The only names mentioned are the patsy, MacGuire. And a passing mention of J.P. Morgan. Everything outside of that quickly delves into hearsay, speculation, and conspiracy. Though not the lizard people or Jewish space lazer kind. But the plausible kind that wasn’t publicly exposed.

IF it was taught to you in school. The term fascism is never mentioned or connected to it in any way. Just a plot by business guys to take over the government. Textbook fascism, but totally not fascism. And not a big deal.

What’s interesting is the New York times reaction to the plot. Initially treating it as if it were a hoax. Later publishing an article about how serious and credible the accusation was. But the only evidence that was ever made public was Smedley Butler turning them in and MacGuire being his contact. We will never know what evidence they saw to convince them.

The best reasoning currently points to this being done as retaliation to FDR trying to pass the new deal. And implicates far more than MacGuire and JP Morgan. Including the likes of Prescott Bush. Who is believed to be their intended final leader. With Butler himself being a patsy and stepping stone to their final goal. It is also reasoned that there were no convictions or punishments made. Because those implicated in Congress were given a pass in return for voting for the New Deal.

Again though that is all reasoning and speculation. Because what the government investigated and what they found was never made public. But as stated the few who saw the evidence found it compelling and serious. Which makes it all the more odd that nothing ever came of it. More so than just a whitewashed footnote in history.

JimboDHimbo,

Holy shit. I actually watched a movie that had The Business Plot as a key part of the…plot. It’s called Amsterdam.

EmpathicVagrant,

Of the last ten years tbh

ChihuahuaOfDoom,

I’d like to hear what the AMD chair has to say before I jump to conclusions.

Cosmos7349,

No, silly, this isn’t about the company Intel, “Intel” is referring to the government position “House Intelligability Chair”. He translates what the Republican representatives are saying so that the rest of us can understand it.

xmunk,

Oh, so it’s not about Intel? Should we be demanding a reply from NVidia then?

(I think hope, everyone understands it’s about intelligence but… them jokes)

TurboDiesel,
@TurboDiesel@lemmy.world avatar

He’ll say it faster, for a lower salary, but with a high fever.

xmunk,

Should we submerge him in mineral oil when he gives his testimony?

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