Biden administration expected to unveil new evidence of RT’s key role in Russian intelligence operations globally
Source: CNN
According to a senior administration official and three other sources familiar with the matter, the Biden administration is expected on Friday to announce a major effort to blunt RT’s global influence and expose what it says is the Russian state media network’s key role in the Kremlin’s global intelligence and influence operations.
The official said the State Department will reveal declassified US intelligence findings that suggest RT is fully integrated into Russia’s intelligence operations around the world and begin a diplomatic campaign to inform countries about the risks associated with RT activities.
One of the familiar sources said a key finding from the new US intelligence is that, for more than a year, the Russian government has quietly embedded an intelligence-gathering unit within RT that is focused on influence operations globally. That activity has been part of what US officials have described as a significant expansion of RT’s role as an arm and mouthpiece of the Kremlin abroad. The source said that the activity goes beyond propaganda, covert influence operations, and even military procurement.
The goal of the US is to ensure that countries know that RT and Russian intelligence agencies are working together to sow division and harm democratic processes while simultaneously making it much more difficult for RT to operate globally, the official said. Asked for comment by CNN, RT responded with a mocking email that read in part: “We’ve been broadcasting straight out of the KGB headquarters all this time.” The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
