Investigations of Russian trolls confirm blogger's Dakota Access, Sanders concerns

This interested party tried to expose Senator Bernie Sanders as a planted spoiler as soon as he entered the presidential race as a Democrat.

A new report from the Republican majority staff on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology claims trolls from Russia exploited the #NoDAPL movement in order to undermine America's energy sector. According to the report, one of the Russian trolls attempted to capitalize on the wide reach of @People4Bernie, an independent group that supported Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont during the run-up to the presidential election in 2016. On its website, People for Bernie said "#NoDAPL" was one of its main causes and Sanders himself was an outspoken opponent of the pipeline. "@People4Bernie: If we can halt the pipeline at @SacredStoneCamp, we can halt it in Iowa too!" one of of the "Russian Tweets" read, according to the committee. The Sacred Stone Camp was the original #NoDAPL encampment -- others also cropped up as thousands flocked to North Dakota in 2016 to oppose the project.

Read the rest here.

And from Vermont Public Radio:

The defendants "engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump."

Read or listen here.

As a warmer winter settles on ND remember that Putin's Russia is the single biggest beneficiary of the #NoDAPL movement. #NDPol #ecocide

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) October 24, 2016

Again, the biggest beneficiary of stopping #DAPL besides the investors is Putin's Russia. #ndpol #NoDAPL #ecocide

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) December 16, 2016

Adding pipelines is a direct threat to Putin's Russia. #sdleg #ndpol #NoKXL #NoDAPL https://t.co/LOadIkOuNP

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) February 1, 2017

Dakota Excess Pipeline drives down the price of oil: a commodity Putin's Russia needs to pay trolls. #NoDAPL #sdleg #ndpol https://t.co/78mAsYOlxY

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) October 24, 2017

So, @DWStweets was right: @SenSanders irreparably damaged @TheDemocrats brand.

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) February 25, 2017

Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat. Why the DNC would have made concessions for him remains a mystery.

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) November 2, 2017

When I asked why Bernie Sanders was telling a story that he didn't verify and turned out not to be true, Sanders spokesperson told me he's "not a great fan of reporters who try to provoke controversy where none exists" https://t.co/YezgA32UjX

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) February 24, 2018

After learning that Russia tried to help his campaign, Bernie Sanders has 1) said Hillary Clinton could have done more to stop Russia, 2) promoted a false story, 3) attempted to blame the media for his mistake through a staffer & 4) have a staffer finally admit he “misspoke”

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 25, 2018

Today's Headlines: How The Russian Social Media Effort Boosted Bernie - https://t.co/MLC7zTmVfG

— Vermont Public Radio (@vprnet) March 2, 2018