‘BRAZEN’

Feds Say Russian Agent Cozied Up to Three U.S. Political Groups to ‘Sow Discord’

Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov is accused of turning the three U.S. political groups into “instruments of the Russian government.”

A Russian national infiltrated three U.S. political groups to spread misinformation, interfere with elections, and sow discord for more than seven years, the Department of Justice said Friday. Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, who works for the Kremlin, is accused of using an organization called the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR) to turn “U.S. political groups and U.S. citizens into instruments of the Russian government,” the feds say. After returning from a fully-paid trip to Russia in 2015, one leader of an unidentified Florida-based group said AGMR was clearly “an instrument of [the] Russian government” but that it didn’t “disturb us,” prosecutors allege. A week later, leaders admitted in emails that it was “more than likely” Russia was using AGMR “to sew [sic] division.” The group appears to be the African People’s Socialist Party, whose location in Florida and trip dates match up with the DOJ’s indictment. The group, which advocates for slavery reparations, has previously advertised events with AGMR. A second group groomed by AGMR appears to be Louis Marinelli’s movement to get California to secede.