HOW AN ALT-RIGHT BOT NETWORK TOOK DOWN AL FRANKEN

[Cattledog]

White nationalist provocateurs, a pair of fake news sites, an army of Twitter bots and other cyber tricks helped derail Democratic Senator Al Franken last year, new research shows.

While everyone has been focused on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election to support Donald Trump, the Franken takedown originated in—and was propelled by—a strategic online campaign with digital tentacles reaching to, of all places, Japan. Analysts have now mapped out how Hooters pinup girl and lad-mag model Leeann Tweeden's initial accusation against Franken became effective propaganda after right-wing black ops master Roger Stone first hinted at the allegation.

A pair of Japan-based websites, created the day before Tweeden came forward, and a swarm of related Twitter bots made the Tweeden story go viral and then weaponized a liberal writer's criticism of Franken. The bot army—in tandem with prominent real, live members of the far right who have Twitter followers in the millions, such as Mike Cernovich—spewed thousands of posts, helping the #FrankenFondles hashtag and the "Franken is a groper" meme effectively silence the testimonies of eight former female staffers who defended the Minnesota Democrat before he resigned last year.

The operation commenced on November 15, when Stone—who is now banned from Twitter for racism and profanity—tweeted from one of his accounts “Roger Stone says it’s Al Franken’s ‘time in the barrel.’ Franken next in long list of Democrats accused of ‘grabby’ behavior.”

On the same day, a developer named Atsufumi Otsuka registered a web domain in Japan called RealUSA.site, and a fake-news website soon emerged at that web address, according to research shared with the voting rights outfit Unhack the Vote.

Tweeden’s account of Franken groping her was first amplified by a network of right-wing media, including KABC in Los Angeles, where Tweeden has a radio show, The Hill, Infowars and Breitbart, which mobilized within hours of Stone's tweet and the release of a picture of a Tweeden and Franken at a USO performance before he was a senator.

By November 17, the trending of “Al Franken” was officially also a Russian intelligence operation, according to the Alliance for Securing Democracy, an organization tracking Russian social media accounts, based on a sample taken that day of 600 of the fake accounts.

Entire article at:

http://www.newsweek.com/alt-right-trump-franken-mueller-twitter-810355

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. K&Fuckin'R nt

[LonePirate]

2. Speaking of Roger Stone, how has he evaded Mueller thus far?

[Mr.Bill]

8. We don't know that he has. n/t

[ProudLib72]

3. Well, I'm sure he will be restored to the Senate by tomorrow

RIGHT?!!!

Gillibrand me

[BigmanPigman]

10. GGGRRRRRRRRR!

Don't get me started!!!!!!

[spanone]

4. K&R...

[demmiblue]

5. If you are curious as to what has already been discussed:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10256586

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210255507

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. Maybe Franken will go indy.

He has a lot of loyal followers.

[democratisphere]

7. Not only did Al Franken get taken down by his fellow Senators, but this too!

Our Democracy is under siege and we damn well better fo something about it.

[Fred Sanders]

30. You got it. Democracy under siege by well paid foreign agents weaponizing the creations of

social media platforms.

We live in dangerous times. We all need to step back and take a breath and not let Zuckerberg insist opinion and speculation be considered facts, and instantly.

[lunamagica]

9. K&R.

[betsuni]

11. K&R

[Hekate]

12. KnR

[ananda]

13. I & Fucking R !!!

Angry

[George II]

19. So angry you hit the I key instead of the K key.....

[jalan48]

14. It did seem like there was a real swarm happening during that time.

[Motownman78]

15. Yeah, this doesnt surprise me

Anyone else think it strange that there were no more accusers once he resigned. Gillibrand is such a tool.

[jalan48]

16. She's a clever one for sure.

[Motownman78]

17. Clever like the Dumpster Fire

Aka Trump.

[azureblue]

29. we need to hold her feet to the fire for this

as in " This is 100% your fault, so you have to fix it. Now. No excuses, because you went after Al with no trial, no facts, nothing but crap fed to you by Russians. You knew teh case against him was shaky from the start, you knew that the GOP wanted hi out because he was so effective against their BS, but you ran with it. This is your mistake. Again You fix it. Or resign. You are not fit to lead."

[uponit7771]

31. +1

[dlk]

18. It Was Obvious Something Was Seriously Off From the Beginning of this Debacle

Senate Dems should have known better.

[Pepsidog]

20. Shame on Franken for stepping down and shame on all those who pressured him to resign!!

I’m so sick of cowardly Dems not fighting back. Franken was a great senator and should have stuck it out. Bullshit about the moral high ground. Just think, David Vitter admitted to cheating on his wife with a prostitute, wearing diapers while cheating and he stayed in office and I believe was re-elected. So enormously pissed at Dems throwing in the towel at the slightest hint of scandal. The new normal is you can do anything and remain in office. Plus the entire incident looks like a huge set up.

[Honeycombe8]

21. I thought he should wait a while, but given that the leader of the party in the Senate asked him to,

he had no choice.

The Senate operates in groups/teams. No Senator can do work in the Senate without being on a committee, having a good working relationship with his co-Senators, and working on bills and issues together. Schumer could have (and would have, IMO) removed him from all committees, and many other Senators would not have wanted to work w/Franken. He would've been a pariah.

It's one thing to fight against the opposition. It's another to fight your own team. He wouldn't have been able to represent his constituents or the country without the help and support of his party, particularly Schumer.

He didn't resign so much as he was forced out.

[Pepsidog]

23. Great point and while Republicans protect their own we eat our own, and to what end?

[Honeycombe8]

22. Sadly, I believe this is what happened. I thought so, before he resigned.

I didn't think this at first, but then it became clear to cynical me (just like I was suspicious of the Trump victory on election night).

Sometimes a person's gut tells him something's wrong in the state of Denmark.

All the politicians who wanted Franken to leave, who fell for this manipulation....I'm glad they're not my reps, so I don't have to vote for them.

If one of them is up for Prez in 2020, I'll vote for another Democratic contender. I don't think anyone who ousted Franken will end up winning the primary, so I don't think I have to worry about that. That's a long time away. We'll see.

[Pepsidog]

24. Very true. My rep is Tom MacArthur the creep who revised the Obamacare repeal after it was voted

down by McCain. Here is a guy worth 33 million. Gonna work hard to e him out

[Cha]

25. With the help of the Dems and one Indi

Senator

[Guilded Lilly]

32. Yup. Still pissed about it, too.

[mn9driver]

26. The GOP was desperate to take down Franken. He was putting way too much sunlight on them

It’s a shame that some of the Senate Democrats got stampeded into essentially demanding he resign immediately.

It’s funny how that sort of thing seems to happen to really effective progressives. I wonder if we will be feeling like the high road was worth it next November when it seems very likely a Republican could take that seat?

[scarletwoman]

27. K&R - I'm still too damned pissed off to say anything more. (nt)

[mountain grammy]

28. Just sent this link to

comrade Tina Dupuy..

[panader0]

33. Can't Al run again?

I would love to have him back in Congress.