Over the past few days, journalists and Democratic politicians have pushed the idea that Russian bots and trolls influenced #ReleaseTheMemo, the viral social media campaign aimed at forcing the release of a four-page report put together by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee alleging abuses related to the Steele dossier and secret surveillance warrants.
But that claim — which culminated in a letter that two Democratic lawmakers sent to Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday — appears to be off base.
The Daily Beast reports Twitter’s internal analytics show that #ReleaseTheMemo was largely pushed not by Russian troll farms but instead by red-blooded Americans.
According to The Beast:
A knowledgeable source says that Twitter’s internal analysis has thus far found that authentic American accounts, and not Russian imposters or automated bots, are driving #ReleaseTheMemo. There are no preliminary indications that the Twitter activity either driving the hashtag or engaging with it is either predominantly Russian.
In short, according to this source, who would not speak to The Daily Beast for attribution, the retweets are coming from inside the country.
The hashtag began trending on Friday after Republicans on the House Intel Committee voted to provide all of Congress with a copy of a memo accusing the FBI and DOJ mishandling of the Steele dossier that had been put together by California Rep. Devin Nunes and other Republicans on the panel.
Users of the hashtag sought to force the public release of the document.
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