Name: How the far right made itself a Russian intel target
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How the far right made itself a Russian intel target

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Illustration: Aïda Amer/AxiosThe bizarre story of Capitol rioter is a full-circle moment for Russia as it looks for new ways to shore up its own influence by fueling the democracy-destabilizing ascendancy of a globally networked radical right.The big picture: Five years ago, Russia used a network of bots and strategic hack-and-leak operations to embolden an unwitting U.S. far right. Now, at least one American extremist stands accused of willingly offering would-be material support to Moscow.What's happening: Williams, according to court documents, helped lead the rioters’ charge upstairs toward House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, where Williams herself stole a laptop.The intrigue: At least at a superficial level, Williams understood this too. According to a of Williams’, the 22-year-old “intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service.”Reality check: This was a cartoonish plot with a very low chance of success, even assuming the SVR would be interested in the laptop — or would consider Williams’ offer credible.Background: Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has turned toward a brittle ultranationalism that often frames Moscow as the last defender of “traditional” values against an effete and divided Europe.Far predating the Trump era, American white nationalists began to view Russia as a natural ally, with prominent extremist Richard Spencer “the sole white power in the world.”Russian propagandists — including those from Moscow’s intelligence services — have long understood the country’s appeal to European and American right-wing radicals and how to target these communities in its online disinformation campaigns, including, recently, .The catch: It’s important not to overstate the degree to which malign foreign interests may be influencing American domestic politics.Yes, but: U.S. adversaries would be foolish not to try to take advantage of these domestic fractures. Russia has already internalized this lesson.The bottom line: U.S. law enforcement officials mapping the networks of violent radicals that helped storm the Capitol — and the infrastructure supporting these individuals — may soon be faced with the prospect that what begins as a criminal probe may nevertheless leak into the hazier world of counterintelligence.A woman accused of breaching the Capitol and planning to sell to Russia a laptop or hard drive she allegedly stole from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office faces fresh charges, according to a amended Tuesday.Driving the news: Riley June Williams, 22, who was arrested in Pennsylvania's Middle District Monday, is suspected of being the woman featured in a video saying, "dude, put on gloves," before a man's gloved hand reaches for the laptop, per the Department of Justice.Secretary of State nominee Tony Blinken said at a confirmation hearing on Tuesday that it was “extraordinary how frightened Vladimir Putin seems to be of one man” — Alexey Navalny.Why it matters: Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, Navalny, returned to Russia on Sunday and . He spent the previous five months recovering in Germany after being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. His detention poses an early foreign policy challenge for the Biden administration.The online far right is about to face a cold reality it long denied was a possibility: the post-Trump era.What's happening: Fringe-right internet users are broadly poised to enter the Biden era in one of three states: Denial, disenchantment or determination to use the moment to their advantage.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/AxiosThe bizarre story of Capitol rioter is a full-circle moment for Russia as it looks for new ways to shore up its own influence by fueling the democracy-destabilizing ascendancy of a globally networked radical right.The big picture: Five years ago, Russia used a network of bots and strategic hack-and-leak operations to embolden an unwitting U.S. far right. Now, at least one American extremist stands accused of willingly offering would-be material support to Moscow.What's happening: Williams, according to court documents, helped lead the rioters’ charge upstairs...

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Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute

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How the far right made itself a Russian intel target

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