administration taking a series of actions to target what they allege are attempts by Russian-backed

actors to manipulate public opinion here in the US ahead of the presidential election,

according to two senior U.S. officials.

Joining us now as NBC's Candelanian, Ken, what more have we learned?

Jose, this is being described by our sources as a whole of government action designed to target Russian

propaganda and disinformation aimed at interfering in the 2024 election.

It is said to include sanctions by the Treasury Department, law enforcement action by the Justice Department, and one of the focuses on RT, formerly known as Russia today, that network of Russian governmentfunded English language websites and television

platforms that was flagged all the way back in 2017 by the US intelligence

community as a vehicle for Russian disinformation and election interference and at that time the

Justice Department required RT to register as a foreign agent.

It remains to be seen exactly what actions the US will take against RT today, but this does appear to represent an

escalation in the efforts to try to purge the system of Russian propaganda and

disinformation.

What's interesting is that, look, the US has been saying all along that not only Russia,

but Iran and China, but particularly Russia, has been consistently trying to manipulate

American public opinion with disinformation on social media platforms, use of fake accounts,

and through RT, through its state-sponsored platforms, as they did in 2016.

The difference now is that there are mechanisms in place,

particularly on the social media platforms,

to try to stop and flag fake accounts

before the influence operations spread too widely.

So it remains to be seen what impact this Russian disinformation is having.

...