MSNBC Mentions Hamilton 68 Over 100 Times
After MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan pointed out two (perhaps three) errors in the Twitter Files, a brief note:
I had a nasty interview with Mehdi Hasan on the Mehdi Hasan Show yesterday on MSNBC. He pointed out issues in the Twitter Files, two of which are definitely errors. A third, about the number 22 million in the final report of Stanford’s Election Integrity Partnership, will be the subject of a separate item.
In the meantime, here are over 100 instances of MSNBC talking about Russian bots in stories clearly sourced to the Hamilton 68 scam outed in the #TwitterFiles. These quotes are pulled from a larger video mashup involving multiple channels that our own Matt Orfalea is working on for an upcoming series. We removed quotes that could have come from other sources, or even from possibly the same people but not the same site (e.g. a Malcolm Nance quote about how “Russia...put thousands of Twitter bots out to elect Roy Moore,” which definitely came from Hamilton creators New Knowledge and was also wrong, but didn’t necessarily come from Hamilton 68). Links are included so you can check yourselves.
I understand some are having trouble opening links to Substack articles on Twitter . Please let me know in the comments section if this is the case.
Without further ado:
Morning Joe
“Have you seen—have you talked about Hamilton 68, the Russian dashboard, on this program? It’s an incredible thing, it’s a real-time dashboard of Russian influence on social media.”
-Richard Stengel, 2017-09-22
“Senator Diane Feinstein and Congressman Adam Schiff sent a letter to Jack Dorsey at Twitter in which they laid out this evidence, which shows that a think tank has reviewed the Twitter activity of Russian-linked bots, automatic accounts, fake accounts, and the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag was the top trending Twitter hashtag by those Russian-linked accounts.”
-Jeremy Bash, 2018-01-24
“[#ReleaseTheMemo] was used a hundred more times than any previous Russian-linked Twitter campaign.”
-Jeremy Bash, 2018-01-24
“So this [#ReleaseTheMemo] effort by members of the Hill and the Trump organization is being fuelled completely by the Russian Federation.”
-Jeremy Bash, 2018-01-24
“I predict Joe and Mika, that in the next 24 hours, you will see a trending hashtag used by Russian Twitter bots that says basically, ‘Where are those messages? Where are the deleted messages?,’ in the same way that #ReleaseTheMemo, the Nunes memo, was the top trending Twitter hashtag used by Russian-linked elements.”
-Jeremy Bash, 2018-01-24
“And this all happens on the day that they start a hashtag #releasethememo, in which Russian bots start going to push forward this hashtag that the Freedom Caucus is trying to undermine the reputation of the men and women of the FBI.”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-24
“The Freedom Caucus and their hashtag that they were promoting, #ReleaseTheMemo, was actually picked up and promoted by Russian Intel agencies.”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-24
“[Devin Nunes is] trying to release a memo that the Justice Department doesn’t want released, that the FBI doesn’t want released, that nobody wants released except — wait for it, wait for it, wait for it — the Russians! The Russians are actually with the Russian bots going hashtag #releasethememo.”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-25
“Devin Nunes is not listening to justice, he’s following the Russians and their bots.”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-25
“The letter states it would be extraordinarily reckless to release classified memos which has been urged by the president’s son, Donald Trump junior, as well as Russian bots, according to the German Marshall fund, a group that tracks their activity.”
-Mika Brzezinski, 2018-01-25
“So Don Jr. and Russian bots want — this means the Russian intelligence services, want us to release a highly classified memo.”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-25
“And by the way, Russian bots are promoting this [Anti-Mueller narrative].”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-25
“Devin Nunes trying to release memos that Russian bots want him to release, that Russian intelligence services obviously want him to release.”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-25
“Even this week, you had the Justice Department yesterday saying to the Republican head of the Intel committee in the house, do not release your memo. It will do damage to the United States of America. And you have the Russian intelligence agency obviously fanning the flames with the bots.”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-25
“Just this week also Senator Feinstein and Schiff noticed that Russian bots were pushing this ‘Release the Memo’ thing.”
-Phillip Gordon, 2018-01-25
“Hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo has been linked to Russian bots.”
-Willie Geist, 2018-01-26
"We talked about some of the Twitter activity around the release the memo thing and the pro-Russian forces in social media."
-John Heilemann, 2018-01-30
"The Russian intelligence agencies and the Russia bots that they let loose on Twitter and social media, are all pushing the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-30
"Russian intelligence agencies and the Russian bots that they are sending out, they are saying ‘Release the Memo’."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-30
"It was Russian bots that were spitting out the hashtag #SchumerShutdown"
-Sen. Murphy, 2018-01-30
"You have one political party that is being aided by Russian intelligence agencies, whether it’s on a government shutdown by sending out bots, Putin sending out bots, that are calling it hashtag the #SchumerShutdown."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-30
"Russian intelligence agencies guiding their Twitter bots to start talking about releasing a memo."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-01-30
"By the way, yes, they interfered in the election. He actually interfered in this debate. #ReleaseTheMemo. The bots."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-02-05
"You’re the expert on the bots and release the memo. The Russian intelligence services, the Russian bots got energized and engaged in that debate that was meant to help interfere with an investigation against Russia."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-02-05
“the bot interference and the discussion about the memo”
-Kamala Harris, 2018-02-05
"Why does Twitter, why do these Big Tech giants, why are they still allowed to have Russian bots interfering with a debate that has to do with the investigation into Russian interference in our election?"
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-02-05
"Still ahead, Russian bots spread fake news in the 2016 election and according to new reports, those bots have struck again. This time in the aftermath of the deadly mass shooting in Parkland, Florida."
-Mika Brzezinski, 2018-02-16
"So in the hours after the deadly shooting in Parkland, Russian-linked Twitter accounts tried using the tragedy to stoke the nation’s political divides. Kremlin-linked accounts flooded Twitter using hashtags like “Parkland” and “Gun control now” to get into trending conversations, according to data selected by the non-partisan dashboard Hamilton 68. The trolls then added more incendiary hashtags and explosive imagery to drive their readers to more partisan conversations. Some of the tweets were adamantly in favor of gun control and others attacked liberals, the media, and lawmakers. Without identification by Twitter or the government, it’s impossible to know who is a troll and who is not."
-Mika Brzezinski, 2018-02-16
"The Russians, their Secret Service, their bots flooding with hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo to try to interfere in an American debate to try to derail a Russian investigation."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-02-16
“Then we saw again yesterday once again Russian bots obviously connected with Russian Intel agencies getting involved in a school shooting to try to stir up unrest and undermine our democracy."
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-02-16
“The Russians are continuing to attack our democracy…And we have a President who is compromised by Vladamir Putin. We don’t know why. We don’t know how. But we will someday. And he is willing to allow the Russians—he has now opened the front door and allowed the Russians to walk in and is now perfectly fine with them subverting democracy in these [#ReleaseTheMemo and #GunControl] debates…”
-Joe Scarborough, 2018-02-16
“One of the dashboards we use—Hamilton 68—seven of the top ten stories that were being pushed in terms of disinformation said that the UK had staged this [Douma] chemical attack.”
-Clint Watts, 2018-04-16
For the Record with Greta
“The Russians are still doing it. The top hashtags that Russian-linked accounts are pushing right now, this is today, from Syria to Maga to the Emmys, according to a Russian tracker from the Alliance for Securing Democracy.”
The Beat With Ari Melber
“Reports of alleged Russian efforts to interfere in U.S. campaigns but also at this hour in U.S. governing. This time they’re not backing a Republican, they’re attacking one. Here is a new chart that shows that content currently being pushed by accounts allegedly linked to bots and trolls that are linked to Russia.”
“Russia's meddling effort is continuing this week, including a propaganda campaign designed to infiltrate online debate here in the US. New data showing that Russia-linked bots are hyping terms like #SchumerShutdown and pushing a Republican campaign criticizing the Russia probe, lending fake support to this effort called hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo. Now that is big news.”
“Today, Russia-linked Twitter accounts currently working to help American Republican politicians demand the release of a classified report about alleged bias at the FBI and DOJ, helping this #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag rise.”
“Now we turn to a big political story involving sock puppets. So when you hear about Russian bots, they're sock puppets on steroids, not only wreaking havoc in 2016, but now investigative reporter Molly McKew writing they were an influential hidden part of this recent push to get that Nunez memo out.”
CHYRON: "Russian Bots Behind 'Release The Memo'"
-"The Beat With Ari Melber”, 2018-01-31
"Russia-linked accounts and bots Interfering with our politics right now...including selling something you may have heard of called hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo"
-Ari Melber, 2018-01-31
"Russia-linked actors were pushing a propaganda campaign for yes, #releasethememo."
-Ari Melber, 2018-01-31
“Now we turn to a big political story involving sock puppets. So when you hear about Russian bots, they're sock puppets on steroids, not only wreaking havoc in 2016, but now investigative reporter Molly McKew writing they were an influential hidden part of this recent push to get that Nunez memo out.”
“Now, conservatives seized on the phrase you probably have heard by now, quote, ‘Release the Memo’. But it turns out that many of these Russian bots or sock puppets, they actually got the whole thing started.”
“Then the [#ReleaseTheMemo] term was spreading with boosts from those bots shared over half a million times. All the facts I just reported are courtesy of Molly McKew, who first reported them in a very important story in Politico. She is the information warfare expert for the New Media Frontier.”
“The accounts that were initially working on this [#ReleaseTheMemo] campaign, there were real people that were very rapid Trump supporters. There were Russian bots, and there were sort of other amplified architecture. But it was the fusion of those things that made it very powerful.”
“The bots seem to be influential in sort of picking up this [#ReleaseTheMemo] hashtag from a relatively nobody account and pushing it to other people. But it is this—the fusion of the architecture on social media, where the Russian information architecture is sort of right underneath far right and far left information structures...”
“And in this [#ReleaseTheMemo] case, it was just sort of ‘the right’ and the Russian working together...a very effective influence in terms of amplifying what's happening, organizing it and targeting it in very specific ways.”
Andrea Mitchell Reports
“And one other quick point here is that [Devin Nunes] had an unwitting ally, the Russian bots, pushing the Release the Memo meme. So the Russians are still at it."
-Andrea Mitchell, 2018-02-05
"The other thing that has just been noted by a Politico investigation last week was that The #releasethememo which was promoting the Devin Nunes memo, was also being promoted by Russians. So they’re at it beyond midterms. They’re at it on an everyday basis."
-Andrea Mitchell, 2018-02-07
"We’ve seen what the bots have been doing according to the Hamilton project…”
-Andrea Mitchell, 2018-02-16
“You [Ken Dilanian] were writing on that yesterday where they were trying to exploit divisions over gun laws in the aftermath of this horrific tragedy in Florida. What these bots have been doing is exploiting schisms, trying to undermine our democracy and create more divisions."
-Andrea Mitchell, 2018-02-16
"We see every day, the Hamilton 68 is a website that tracks 600 Russia-linked accounts and they tell us every day which hashtags are trending by this Russian propaganda operation."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-16
"And over recent days the Florida Shooting because they’re trying to sow division and discord and tweeting on both sides of the gun debate with an aim of essentially destabilizing American politics."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-16
"Russian bots flood Twitter on both sides of the gun control issue."
-Andrea Mitchell, 2018-02-16
“How do you feel when you see one of these kids being treated this way online and perhaps manipulated by Russian bots or others?"
-Andrea Mitchell, 2018-02-22
“It’s going on every single day. You continue to see Russia engaged in some of the social media disinformation. In some of the big fights that are happening. Including the gun debate happening. There’s been really credible reports that some of the Russian bots are sewing discontent. That’s happening every single day.”
-Jim Messina, 2018-03-20
MSNBC “Deadline Whitehouse”
"ReleaseTheMemo is the top hashtag among Russian bots and trolls according to Hamilton 68, the German Marshall fund website that tracks these things."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-01-19
“So you have House Republicans, and Donald Trump Jr. by the way, tweeting on the side of these Russian bots and trolls.”
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-01-19
"{New York Times] has a front-page story about Russian bots and trolls already attacking these [Parkland] kids."
-Nicolle Wallace, 2018-02-02
"New hashtags trending, monitored by Hamilton 68, these are all Russia accounts. FISA gate. There is now the capability and Politico has a piece on this today, to track sort of the viral success of the Russian Bots."
-Nicolle Wallace, 2018-02-07
“There are Russian bots active after the Florida shooting. This is what they do. And they’re gonna keep doing it until someone punches them in the nose.”
-Nicholas Confessore, 2018-02-21
"They’re sitting back while Russian bots come out after the Parkland shooting, telling us that it’s all about mental health, they’re going to take your guns away.'"
-Frank Figluizzi, 2018-02-22
MSNBC “The Rachel Maddow Show”
“Today, former acting CIA director and Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee Mike Rogers reminded us those Russian attacks continue today…'this month, Kremlin-linked accounts used these accounts to discredit the FBI’…”
-Joy Reid, 2017-12-26
“Kremlin efforts would be echoed by an American political party, let alone by the party for decades wrapped itself in the notion of respect for law enforcement.”
-Joy Reid, 2017-12-26
“Those Kremlin attacks are being echoed in an escalating drumbeat of attacks on the FBI and Robert Mueller investigation by conservative news outlets, Republicans in Congress, and the President himself.”
-Joy Reid, 2017-12-26
"We can see they’re [Russian agents] still active online targeting us. And we can see it in part through tools like [Hamilton 68] this Russian influence tracker on Twitter."
-Rachel Maddow, 2018-01-02
“The most recent snapshot they took about what Kremlin-oriented Twitter accounts online before the Roy Moore Senate election, 14% of the time the accounts were posting on the issue of sexual misconduct, which is a very big topic of discussion in American politics. The Russian leaked Twitter accounts, half the tweets on sexual misconduct defended Roy Moore on this subject and the other half attacked Democrats.”
-Rachel Maddow, 2018-01-02
"The most prominent theme from the Kremlin [according to Hamilton 68] was the FBI trying to discredit the FBI."
-Rachel Maddow, 2018-01-02
"The second most prominent topic discussed by the accounts was Mike Flynn pleading guilty. The Kremlin-linked accounts had a specific take on the Flynn guilty plea. They attacked media organizations for erroneously reporting information about Flynn’s guilty plea. They focused on a conspiracy theory that blamed the Obama Administration and a theory that appears to be totally made up but Russian-linked accounts promoted that last month.”
-Rachel Maddow, 2018-01-02
"And again, there was the focus on the FBI. Nearly half the Kremlin-linked accounts tweeting about the Flynn plea were voted to discredit the FBI for their role in the Russia investigation and Flynn’s plea."
-Rachel Maddow, 2018-01-02
"So again, if you feel weird and unsettled by American politics, there is a reason for that. We’re used to having debates and fights among ourselves. Occasionally insane or extreme fights but we’re used to having debates and fights specifically among ourselves, among Americans, but now in our generation and our lifetimes, this year in our politics, there is another type of player, a foreign influence that is impersonating Americans...and their presence is unnerving but it is also sometimes poorly disguised. We can sometimes see what they're doing. What their influence campaign is trying to do now [according to Hamilton 68] is discredit the FBI."
-Rachel Maddow, 2018-01-02
"The FBI is under attack from...the ongoing Russian influence that is still around since the election."
-Rachel Maddow, 2018-01-02
"[The Russians] are every day playing on social media. There's a website called Hamilton 68 that measures some of it."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-07-27
MSNBC “Live with Velshi and Ruhle”
"The question is, like this hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo being pushed by Russian bots, is it being pushed by Russian bots? Are Republicans pushing it? It becomes complex…The forces that are trying to push it are trying to create noise and spin around it so that it seems there's more, you know, even more people supporting it…and it becomes hard for anyone to know what the truth is, and that is actually the point of the Russian attacks..."
-Kara Swisher, 2018-01-26
"Russian social media bots and trolls seized on the Florida shooting."
-Ali Velshi, 2018-02-16
“Russia’s efforts to divide the country may include Florida’s shooting, with Russian trolls tweeting about Parkland hours after the tragedy, using hashtags like #Parkland, #GunControlNow and #Florida."
-Ali Velshi, 2018-02-16
"Now, we have seen in the past that these Russian bots sometimes do hue to an alt-right agenda. They’ve been attacking the Robert Mueller investigation recently. In this case, they are tweeting on both sides of the gun control debate. The goal, experts tell me, is to sow division and exploit, you know, a controversial issue in American politics. Also to inject some Russian propaganda along the way."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-16
"Now, this data comes from Hamilton 68, a web dashboard that any of our viewers can look at. It tracks 600 Russia-linked accounts. It doesn’t provide the names of the accounts, but if it did, Russia could change them."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-16
MSNBC “Live with Craig Melvin”
"I mean what else can you say about this memo? Republicans have been hyping it in alarmist terms now for over a week. There’s the hashtag out there #ReleaseTheMemo which is reported has been fueled by Russian bots."
-Katy Tur, 2018-02-02
"Russian bots are still over social media. Fake news is being pushed out there. You have them fueling this hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo. They are still trying to sow division. That was a big part of what people are complaining about and worried about. I don’t see any change in that for 2018."
-Katy Tur, 2018-02-02
"We’re seeing even now with the “Release the memo” campaign that Russian propaganda candidates are working to influence opinion already."
Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-08
“Yeah, literally Russian bots on social media distributing that [#ReleaseTheMemo] hashtag like wildfire”
-Peter Alexander, 2018-02-08
"Twitter bots—Russian Twitter bots-helped make #ReleaseTheMemo go viral."
-Peter Alexander, 2018-02-12
“The Republican memo pushed by California Congressman Devin Nunes was pushed by Russian bots online in the leadup to its release."
-Peter Alexander, 2018-02-12
"Russian-backed Twitter accounts are attempting to manipulate the conversation in American politics. This hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo seemed to organically go viral on Twitter amid a major debate earlier this month. But in reality, researchers are now telling us they’re finding that trending hashtag was pushed in part by Russian-backed accounts designed to stoke anger and breed conspiracy theories."
-Jo Ling Kent, 2018-02-12
“The [#ReleaseTheMemo] hashtag suddenly started trending appearing hundreds of times on Twitter often from manufactured accounts.”
-Jo Ling Kent, 2018-02-12
"What we saw with #ReleaseTheMemo, it went from zero to 100 in a really condensed period of time. So over 24 hours we saw it promoted heavily by accounts we’ve seen historically associated with Russian disinformation campaigns."
-Jonathon Morgan, 2018-02-12
"[Jonathon Morgan’s] team saw that #ReleaseTheMemo picked up so much momentum...in part because of bots or automated accounts."
-Jo Ling Kent, 2018-02-12
“I’d go so far as to say #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag was more important than the memo itself, in creating this heir of suspicion around the Mueller Investigation, and I think that’s ultimately the goal of this type of attack…”
-Jonathon Morgan, 2018-02-12
"Now with the memo, our news researchers say Russian-backed accounts are on the prowl, searching for the next hashtag to manipulate. and there are two main targets. First President Trump and the White House. They hope through social media to influence the conversation and guide Trump toward a Russia-backed agenda."
-Jo Ling Kent, 2018-02-12
"Ultimately, the president is trying to speak to his base. If he believes his base is interested in this ridiculous memo controversy, then he’s going to amplify it. But I think it does mean that they are being manipulated by this sort of manufactured conversation that happens on social media."
-Jonathon Morgan, 2018-02-12
"Those Russian-backed accounts are searching for new targets with their crosshairs squarely focused on the mid-term elections."
-Jo Ling Kent, 2018-02-12
"We’ve been following what’s happening in Florida, the role of bots and trolls in the aftermath of the shooting there. There’s a whole ecosystem here."
-David Gura, 2018-02-16
"[Jo Ling Kent] she’s been looking into the role of Russian bots, Russian trolls as well. Specifically focused on what we’ve seen in the aftermath of the shooting in Florida.”
-David Gura, 2018-02-16
"A top NSA official said publicly that we have not had the political will to put a stop to what the Russians are doing in cyberspace. They’re on social media and as Clint knows—he tracks this stuff—with bots and trolls manipulating on gun rights and racial issues of politics and every intelligence official will tell you they expect him to be back in the midterm elections."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-07-13
MSNBC “Live with Stephanie Ruhle”
“It’s not just what happened in 2016. It’s ongoing now. We’ve got a 2018 midterm election coming and here we are with the Russians doing things like manipulating hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo.”
-Fmr. Rep. Bob Inglis, 2018-02-08
“Attack of the bots: A striking new report reveals Russian-backed social media accounts ramping up the propaganda, trying to influence Americans, lawmakers, and media organizations in the weeks leading up to the controversial Nunes memo.”
-Stephanie Ruhle, 2018-02-12
“RUSSIAN TROLLS MANIPULATED SOCIAL MEDIA TO PUSH MEMO FIGHT”
-“Live with Stephanie Ruhle” chyron, 2018-02-12
“All right, they are back, Russian bots working overtime to influence Americans and lawmakers on social media.”
-Stephanie Ruhle, 2018-02-12
“We are now back with disturbing new research that shows Russians again interfering in our politics.
-Stephanie Ruhle, 2018-02-12
“The research shows this time it was Russian bots and trolls fueling #ReleaseTheMemo campaign ahead of that Controversial Republican memo…”
-Stephanie Ruhle, 2018-02-12
“It’s going on and it’s going strong. What we see is it’s happening again. These Russian-backed accounts, these bots, if you will, are trying to influence the conversation. You may remember about a week or two ago, the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag seemed to go viral organically but new research is showing it was Russian-backed accounts that tried to drive that conversation and now this new data is showing us that these accounts and this content is — the idea of it is to stoke anger and breed conspiracy.”
-Jo Ling Kent, 2018-02-12
Plays Kent’s same NBC segment played in “Live with Craig Melvin”
“‘Release the memo’ was pumped out by the bots.”
-Stephanie Ruhle, 2018-02-12
“And [the Russian bots are] getting away with it.”
-Robert Torricelli, 2018-02-12
"These young articulate extraordinarily strong young people who are now having their characters attacked by the far right, by Russian bots."
-Stephanie Ruhle, 2018-02-20
“They’re trying to fan the flames of political discord in our country, which is not that difficult to do on the issue of gun control. You know, in the first hour after this tragic shooting, these Russia-linked accounts, which are tracked by private researchers, they began tweeting on both sides of the gun control debate and they adopted hashtags like #GunControlNow and #ParklandShooting. And this is getting a lot of attention right now."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-20
"But really it’s par for the course for these Russian-linked accounts. A website called Hamilton 68 has been tracking this for months."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-20
"They do tend to tweet about various controversial issues including NFL protests."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-20
"They’ve also really been attacking the Mueller Investigation and they had an amazing success with that #ReleaseTheMemo campaign on that Devin Nunes memo attacking the FBI. That hashtag blew up overnight while most Americans were sleeping. Researchers have traced it to Russian-linked accounts with the alt-right."
-Ken Dilanian, 2018-02-20
MSNBC “Live with Alex Witt”
“Russia...put thousands of Twitter bots out to elect Roy Moore. We know it.”
-Malcolm Nance, 2018-01-07
MSNBC “Live with Ali Velshi”
"Senate Diane Feinstein and Adam Schiff urging Facebook and Twitter to investigate reports that Russian-linked Twitter accounts have increased the use of the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo by about 300,000 percent in recent days."
-Chris Jansing, 2018-01-24
"So #ReleaseTheMemo isn’t the only hashtag. Over the weekend #SchumerShutdown was a top trending hashtag promoted by the bots."
-Chris Jansing, 2018-01-24
"Top Democratic lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence Committee are accusing the social media giant of dodging questions over the role that Russian bots played in the #ReleaseTheMemo campaign."
-Ali Velshi, 2018-02-01
“the Republican memo that we know was being pushed by Russian bots using the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo”
-Ali Velshi, 2018-02-09
“Now Russian influence Twitter accounts are reportedly test-running hashtags relating to the so-called Deep State—basically an underground group working within the government working to undermine its leaders—that’s not really a thing, it’s just an accusation.”
-Ali Velshi, 2018-02-09
MSNBC “Live with Hallie Jackson”
“The #ReleaseTheMemo has been trending. Ok but who is pushing it? Experts tracking Russian influence campaigns blame Russian bots and trolls on Twitter and other platforms.”
-Hallie Jackson, 2018-01-24
“And that now has two top Democrats making a big-time appeal to Facebook and Twitter to investigate what they say are these new efforts by the Russian government to create chaos, to interfere in our government. In a letter to Facebook and Twitter, they say, “This latest Russian interference is in keeping with Moscow’s concerted, covert, and continuing campaign — to manipulate and erode trust in our law enforcement and intelligence institutions.”
-Hallie Jackson, 2018-01-24
“So, we talked about on the show how Russian bots drum up support on social media for the release of this Nunes memo, so, now, a closer look how it was pulled off and what it means for the future.”
-Hallie Jackson, 2018-02-05
“‘Politico’ says it seems to belong to a real person, but then several accounts retweeted that first tweet, pushing the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo, it says early promoters of the hashtag meet criteria for bots and trolls.”
-Hallie Jackson, 2018-02-05
"I think the — you’re right about both things. The interesting thing about the campaign, all week, there’s been this discussion, was it Russian bots, authentic, organic grassroots campaigns? Twitter said one thing, and other analysts said the other. The truth is at the both."
-Molly McKew, 2018-02-05
MSNBC “Live with Katy Tur”
“Talk to me about how pervasive this bot thing is. I mean it’s already, at least in part, amplifying the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag.”
-Katy Tur, 2018-01-30
“Russia and other governments have used these bots, swarms of them, to advance their propaganda, to advance fake news stories, to advance certain hashtags, like #ReleaseTheMemo.”
-Nicholas Confessore, 2018-01-30
MSNBC “Live with David Gura”
“The thing that was successful was the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo, heavily pushed, as Sen. Angus King made clear, heavily pushed by Russian bots. That’s a matter of public record.”
-Virginia Heffernan, 2018-02-03
"The President says they are all corrupt. You know who says that? Russian state-sponsored propaganda, bots, and trolls that we tracked over the last five years."
-Clint Watts, 2019-11-03
MSNBC “First Look”
“Hamilton 68…has determined that Russia was indeed, or sites alleged to be connected with Russia, were interfering in the Alabama election.”
-Dan Hoffman, 2017-12-14
MSNBC “Hardball with Chris Matthews”
"Those are Russian bots. It turns out a large number of Russian accounts on Twitter have been using the hashtags #IStandWithLauraIngraham angle and #FoxNews."
-Dana Milbank, 2018-04-02
MSNBC “Kasie DC”
"You’ve got Clint Watts there. Be sure and ask him about the Russians and #ReleaseTheMemo. The leading troll hashtag from the Russian troll farm this week is #ReleaseTheMemo."
-Senator Angus King, 2018-01-28
MSNBC/NBC “Meet the Press”
“#ReleaseTheMemo is a home run for the Russians. They don’t need to make a false narrative, Americans are making false narratives against each other. They [the Russians bots] just repeat them.”
-Clint Watts, 2018-02-11
"Coming up...the latest way Russian Twitter bots are sowing division in our country" [shows tweets covering Parkland]
-Chuck Todd, 2018-02-25
“Russian bots”
"Part of the reason [#ReleaseTheMemo] was so hyped: Kremlin-linked bots seeking to discredit the Mueller investigation"
-Chuck Todd, 2018-02-25
"The automated accounts designed to amplify political divisions sprang into action on social media calling for that memo's release"
-Chuck Todd, 2018-02-25
"And of course, they've also got involved in this [Parkland] gun debate as well, whether trying to create fake news or amplify fake news."
-Chuck Todd, 2018-02-25
MSNBC “The 11th Hour”
“Unbelievably, Russia played a role [in Parkland discourse]. Here’s a headline, ‘After Parkland school shooting, Russian bots pounced.’ They were already sending out messages, a lot of them apparently about gun control.”
-Brian Williams, 2018-02-20
“Right.”
-Clint Watts, 2018-02-20
MSNBC “Megyn Kelly”
“[Russian] bots that spread false information on Twitter…spreading misinformation when it comes to Black Lives Matter, when it comes the shooting we just had in Florida…”
-Megyn Kelly, 2018-03-11
MSNBC “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell”
"[Devin Nunes] even gave his reality show a new name, #releasethememo and...he got it trending on Twitter with a little help from Russian bots."
-Joy Reid, 2018-02-02
Update 4/8/23: Eight additional quotes were added from “The Beat with Ari Melber”
Mehdi completely ignored the substance of the material that Matt has reported on the sprawling censorship regime of the US security state and instead turned the interview into an ad hominem attack. Now morons like AOC are claiming that because Mehdi's ambush squad found two tiny errors involving an acronym and a date in Matt's reporting, the entire body of reportage on the Twitter Files exposing state/corporate collusion is discredited. Give me a break, man. Such a fking joke.
I think Matt makes the mistake that a lot moral and ethical people make: assuming others have high standards as well. Hasan is one of those creeps who turns every discussion into combat to see who "wins" according to his own puny measure.