Russia

[There is still a huge] information hole [about what was said at the Helsinki summit]...I do see it as in the purview of Congress to ask the administration to be much more clear about what took place.

The main takeaway from Facebook's announcement is not just that Russia-style meddling is exportable, but that it's inevitable. If Moscow authored the playbook, Tehran read it word for word, and they won't be the only country to do so. Spreading disinformation on Facebook is so easy and effective that we need to assume every foreign adversary will now do it.

[When it comes to Russian influence operations], there often is kind of a proxy lead actor, who is usually an oligarch close to the regime, that is given a project and he outsources portions of that project...I almost think of it as project management.

Pushing to amplify divisive issues, especially around race in the U.S., has been standard operating procedure for the Kremlin since the Soviet days...The surprising part is how little Russian linked groups are spending — which was also the case the IRA [Internet Research Agency] and how much better they’re getting at hiding their tracks...Whereas we are still stuck in 2016, the Russians have clearly moved on and developed new tools to obfuscate their activities.