- The White House says "not to be surprised" by the words of the Russian oligarch founder of the Wagner group.
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| Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. |
A Russian oligarch close to Putin claims to have "carefully and precisely interfered" in the US elections: "We will continue to do so"
Yevgeni Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch close to the country's president, Vladimir Putin, and founder of the Wagner Group, acknowledged this Monday that he had "interfered" in the past in democratic processes in the United States and has warned that he will continue to do so in the future.
Questioned about possible interference in the mid-term elections in the United States, scheduled for Tuesday, Prigozhin has admitted having interfered in the past, at the same time that he has defended continuing to do so in the present and in the future: "We have interfered in the elections, we are interfering and will continue to interfere.
In this way, and in view of his close relationship with the Russian president, who has been called 'Putin's chef', Prigozhin has dropped that, indeed, Moscow has intervened in previous elections in the United States. , according to CNN.
Although it is not possible to confirm the veracity of what Prigozhin points out, nor to ensure if he was serious, the Russian oligarch has stressed that this interference in democratic processes is done "carefully, precisely and surgically".
US authorities have previously sanctioned Prigozhin for funding the Internet Research Agency, a notorious Russian 'troll farm' accused of meddling in several recent US elections.
Last September, Prigozhin also admitted to founding the Wagner Group, a private group of mercenaries accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria, and Ukraine.
The White House says "don't be surprised"
The White House has stated that it is "not surprised" by Prigozhin's recent statements: "These comments do not tell us anything new or surprising, as we all know. It is well known and well documented at the public level that entities associated with Yevgeni Prigozhin have tried to influence elections around the world, including the United States," said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre at her daily press conference.
Thus, he stressed that "the United States has worked to expose and confront Russia's malign influence efforts and we have discovered them." "Yevgeni is a well-known bad actor who has been sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union (EU)," he recalled, before stressing that "part of the Russian efforts include promoting narratives aimed at undermining democracy and fueling the division and discord".
"It is not surprising that Russia highlights its attempts and creates a story about its success on the eve of an election," he argued, referring to the 'midterms' that are being held this Tuesday in the North American country while making He emphasized that the authorities are working to "protect the security and resilience" of the voting process.
In this sense, Jean-Pierre has pointed out that "measures have been adopted to deal with these types of malign influence, including sanctions, travel bans, delivery of information, supervision of foreign investment, operations against the money laundering and expulsions". "We have also worked with allied democracies to confront and expose this malign influence abroad," he concluded.
According to information collected by the American television network NBC, the FBI has established a command post on electoral security at its headquarters in Washington, as well as command centers in its 56 offices in the country. The central post relies heavily on the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, which is dedicated to tackling disinformation, though it includes officers from the Criminal Investigations Division, the Cyber Division, and the Counterterrorism Division.
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