Opinion | BarbMcQuade: During the Cold War, communists used the term “useful idiot” to describe people who could be used to spread propaganda. Maybe the new term should be “Giuliani.” - MSNBCDaily
Their efforts promoted Trump and disparaged his political opponent, Hillary Clinton, the indictment said. Their posts sought to suppress Black voters from casting ballots and to encourage voting for third-party candidates. They also used false U.S. personas to communicate with unwitting Americans to spread disinformation and even to organize campaign rallies.
Because the United States has no extradition treaty with Russia, the Internet Research Agency has not appeared in court to face the charges, which remain pending. What these efforts had in common was their deceit. And it is deceit that prosecutors often focus on when charging various types of fraud. By spending money on advertising and campaign rallies without reporting it to the FEC, the indictment alleged, the defendants had conspired to defraud the United States by interfering with the work of that agency.