ngaudiano@insider.com (Nicole Gaudiano,John Haltiwanger) - Yesterday
Russian President Vladimir Putin toasts during reception for military servicemen who took part in Syrian campaign on December 28, 2017 in Moscow, Russia.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
A right-wing film attacking Joe Biden and his son Hunter is getting attention on Kremlin TV.
Numerous programs have broadcast the promotional trailer in its entirety, The Daily Beast reported.
One host said she hopes the film will help in the US "to bring our beloved Trump back into power."
Russian state media propagandists are aggressively promoting "My Son Hunter," a film attacking President Joe Biden and his son that will be distributed by the far-right Breitbart when it premieres on September 7.
Numerous Russian state television programs have broadcast the promotional trailer in its entirety, The Daily Beast reported. The trailer hints at drug abuse and allegations of illegal activity by Hunter Biden and attempts to draw connections to the president.
There are also references to a laptop, allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden, that became the subject of a highly controversial New York Post story with several red flags that raised questions about its authenticity.
One Russian state media show host who is also a deputy of Russia's State Duma, Evgeny Popov, said Republicans produced the "scandalous" film because "they got tired of waiting for justice," The Daily Beast reported. He suggested the film is intended to help them during the midterm elections, and called the laptop former President Donald Trump's "main 'trump card.'"
Co-host Olga Skabeeva said, "We're waiting for the premiere and hoping for a big success in the United States, to bring our beloved Trump back into power."
Another seven-minute segment on the state TV show Vesti at 20:00 included the promo and clips of Fox host Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, accusing the FBI of "interfering in elections" by not investigating the laptop, The Daily Beast reported.
Republicans are itching to ramp up investigations of Hunter if they win control of Congress in November. They hope to find wrongdoing they can link to the president ahead of the 2024 election, in case he chooses to run again.
Breitbart says the film marks its expansion into film distribution. The trailer was released on Truth Social last week.
Hunter Biden has previously disclosed a federal investigation into his taxes. No evidence has suggested that his work influenced Joe Biden's policy decisions.
On Monday,Trump demanded reinstatement as president or "a new Election, immediately" after news that Facebook temporarily limited a controversial story about Hunter Biden's laptop in users' news feeds before the 2020 election.
With the war in Ukraine raging on and the Biden administration firmly backing Kyiv as both sides experience heavy losses, the Kremlin's propagandists have ramped up rhetorical support for Trump — particularly in the wake of an FBI raid on his Florida home. Russian state news has parroted talking points of the far right in the US, baselessly presenting Trump as the victim of a politically motivated investigation. Like prominent figures on the far right, the Kremlin's mouthpieces have suggested that the raid could spark civil war in the US.
In recent years, the national security community in the US has repeatedly warned that the Kremlin wants to sow divisions in the US.
"The Russians are trying to get us to tear ourselves apart," FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a cybersecurity conference in New York City last month, per the New York Times.
The US intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 and 2020 elections to boost Trump's chances of winning, though it's underscored that none of these efforts altered final results. With midterms on the horizon, US intelligence agencies and congressional lawmakers continue to express concerns about Russian election interference.
The Department of Homeland Security in June warned that Moscow will "probably" attempt to undermine the November elections as retribution for US support for Ukraine, according to a report obtained by CNN.
"We expect Russian interference in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, as Russia views this activity as an equitable response to perceived actions by Washington and an opportunity to both undermine US global standing and influence US decision-making," the report said.
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