Is the DOJ’s Recent Russian Meddling Report a ‘Hoax’?

On Thursday, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment that accused Russia of trying to interfere in the upcoming U.S. election by covertly funding American right-wing influencers, drawing media perspectives on the weight of the claims.

For Context: The DOJ alleged that two employees of the Kremlin-funded RT (Lean Right bias) funneled $10 million to influencers like Tim Pool (Lean Right bias) and Benny Johnson, who were unaware that they were part of a Russian scheme.

‘Russia Collusion Hoax 3.0’: John Daniel Davidson of The Federalist (Right bias) argued that “the timing of the indictment itself represents an egregious form of election meddling by our own Justice Department.” Davidson accuses the Democratic Party and intelligence community of recycling an old “playbook,” citing previous media narratives like Russian meddling in the 2016 election and Steele dossier as “outlandish claims” that they’ve aimed to use for political leverage. Davidson concluded that by announcing the indictment now, “Biden’s DOJ is meddling in the election in a far more serious way than… anyone in Moscow could ever hope to do.”

MAGA Spawns Russian Propaganda: Matt Gertz of Media Matters (Left bias), writing for MSNBC (Left bias), claimed the DOJ’s indictment proves that “Russian election interference” is not a “hoax” and that the “Trumpist right” is at fault for building a media ecosystem that is “honeycombed with Russian propaganda.” Gertz pointed at Tucker Carlson (Right bias) for being the top spreader of “pro-Russia talking points” and claimed the “right-wing information space will remain a rich breeding ground for Russian propaganda as Moscow tries to return Trump to the White House.”