With the US Presidential election dates just around the corner, there are allegations of foreign powers meddling in the election process by creating false narratives to undermine the 2024 US Presidential elections.
A name that has prominently been thrown into the limelight is a former Florida sheriff, John Mark Dougan, who is alleged to be masterminding a campaign against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris with a number of fake news websites and viral deepfake videos, first reported by The Washington Post.
According to European Intelligence records, John Mark Dougan, who now resides in Russia, is a propagandist supported by the Kremlin.
As per assessments of European Intelligence, John Mark Dougan has worked with Russia’s nationalist leaders and also operated fake news websites that were bankrolled by the Russian military intelligence organization GRU.
Deep Ties With GRU and Disinformation Websites
The cyberwarfare and political meddling in Western countries are primarily the domain of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, which helped Dougan create websites such as DC Weekly, Chicago Chronicle, and Atlanta Observer.
All the above websites have been known to create false and misleading narratives, camouflaging them as local news sources.
John Mark Dougan created and operated such websites between March 2021 and August 2023.
European security experts unearthed evidence of ties between Yury Khoroshevsky, an officer in the GRU’s Unit 29155 tasked with cyber warfare and sabotage, and Dougan starting in April 2022.
Dougan’s activities were funded by Khoroshevsky’s team, and payments were sent to his bank account.
Ties With Russian Nationalist Figures
John Mark Dougan is also reported to have close links with Russian nationalist figures including far-right nationalist Alexander Dugin.
He has worked with the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, an organization created by Dugin. Khoroshevsky, Dugin, and Dougan worked closely with Valery Korovin, the head of the institute, and the three often met there.
John Mark Dougan has, however, denied all the allegations and said he had no links with Khoroshevsky and Korovin. He stated that he was an IT consultant for an American business and also rejected responsibility for the websites.
Dougan stated,
“If they were my sites, I am merely fighting fire with fire because the West is lying about everything.”
Many security experts contend that Dougan’s network was the source of a recent viral fake video smearing Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz.
What is disturbing was that the video received nearly 5 million views on X in less than 24 hours.
Contents created by Dougan and some of his Russian associates have managed to get 64 million views according to McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher at NewsGuard, a company that tracks disinformation online.
Career In Police Marked By Controversies
John Mark Dougan’s stint at the Sheriff’s office was also marred by controversies, and during his tenure from 2005 to 2008, he faced 11 internal investigations.
He was also fined $275,000 after he pepper-sprayed and arrested a fellow Palm Beach sheriff’s deputy without reason.
John Mark Dougan, however, claimed that the internal affairs investigation was fallout for his blowing the whistle on the sergeant’s alleged assaults.
After Dougan resigned from his post, he moved to Maine and was soon dismissed from the police department over allegations of sexual harassment.
Earlier, Dougan had served in the Marine Corps from May 1996 to July 1998, although most Marines serve at least four years. While leaving the service, he had the rank of Lance Corporal, which is a low rank that most marines attain after a few months of service.
Dougan moved to Florida from Maine and created PBSOTalk, a site where other deputies could air their grievances against the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
However, it was soon mired in controversies and allegations of smear campaigns against his former superiors.
In 2016, he posted sensitive data about thousands of police officers, federal agents, and judges on PBSOTalk.
His house was searched by the FBI and local police units, and later that year he was charged with 21 counts of extortion and wiretapping. However, before he could be apprehended, he fled to Russia.
