Pro-Trump influencer bribed to push Kamala-Diddy link claims, fake voter fraud disinformation: Russian interference?

A pro-Donald Trump American social media influencer appears to have admitted that he was bribed to post disinformation regarding Haitian immigrants claiming to vote in the November 5 US election. Asserting that it wasn’t the first time he was paid to promote the voter fraud agenda, user @AlphaFox78 on X said a pro-Kremlin propagandist transferred money to him multiple times.

Trump-supporting influencer admits to being paid on several occasions to post disinformation

According to CNN, the American influencer lives in Massachusetts but otherwise asked for his anonymity to be maintained in light of the emerging sensitive situation. The MAGA supporter’s X platform is brimming to the top with ring-wing memes, pushing former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and other issues. In that trail of social media content, the Massachusetts influencer also pushed a video capturing a Haitian immigrant saying he would vote at least twice for Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia. The person behind the microblogging platform page has now confessed to posting the video without checking the credibility of the claims. “I don’t have any idea where it came from or anything - I’m just the guy who shared it,” he told the media outlet about the video for which a Russian man paid him $100.

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Coming forward with more insight into the matter, the social media user said that the person bribing him is Simeon Boikov, a Russian podcaster, renowned for his digital footprint as “AussiCossack” online. A source also confirmed to CNN that multiple payments were made from the propagandist to the American influencer.

Russian agent seeking asylum in Sydney behind it all

Moreover, the outlet reviewed documents that seemed to have confirmed Boikov’s identity as a registered foreign agent for Russia in Australia. He works for Russian state media, posting content online in English and Russian. This troubling development emerges at a time when speculations of Russian interference in the US presidential election are already blowing out of the water. The pro-Kremlin agent is believed to have recently received Russian citizenship and is not new to disinformation dissemination. However, the campaign’s nexus has yet to be unravelled and Boikov’s seniority in it remains unclear. AlphaFox78 reportedly had no knowledge of the podcaster’s position in Russian state media.

Started with memes, blew up into disinformation about Kamala Harris-Diddy connection

Interestingly, AlphaFox established that the man had told him to specifically speak to CNN before blocking him on Telegram. He also ascertained that the $100 payments from Boikov reached him on nearly 10 other occasions, as he was encouraged to post memes and videos on his account. Although the scene has since blown out of control, the influencer attempted to justify his actions, saying, “It started with memes, and it seemed innocent.” However, these requests soon led the Massachusetts man to post election-related content, including the Georgia voter fraud claims.

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In a since-deleted post, the X user delved into the depths of all that had transpired between him and Boikov over these posts. Emphasising that he “never wanted to misinform anyone, the influencer divulged that he was also paid to post incendiary content linking Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, to now-disgraced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, suggesting that they alerted him about the Homeland Security raids at his homes beforehand. However, US intelligence has argued that they know this accusation was a result of Russian intervention.

The now-debunked video and reported Russian influence production was even addressed by the Georgia Secretary of State, who said that the clip was heavily doctored, showing fake ID cards and planted actors.

Once you head over the AlphaFox’s X page, it seems like nothing ever troubled him on such a massive scale as he continues to post content. He has since deleted the Georgia video as well, but as is known nothing ever gets erased from the Internet. Fellow social media users have reposted the deleted content in some form or another.

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