I can also argue with an Internet rando for leveling baseless belief. Propublica may be legit, but they’re not showing the receipts on this one that connects the dots. Propublica is the platform, these 4 reporters don’t earn any credibility with this kind of reporting. Propublica should demand better.

Not saying reveal the 3 individuals, yes, they’d surely have the regime’s sights set on them, but contracts, receipts, accounting leaks can be shown, shit gets hacked and dumped all the time. Deniability as to where it came from, but when they have it, they can validate it with additional sources, company documents, other experts, etc. All we get here is, ‘trust us’. Produce some documentation.

There’s plenty of out in the open corruption to light this administration up for. Surely there are other more obscure stories of corruption with better sourcing than this. They show photos of the couple watching fireworks reportedly funded by the guy, but not a receipt to support that claim?

…“according to records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews with three people familiar with the event”…

Show the records, at the very least. Provide the evidence for your audience, if you respect their intellect and ability to draw the same conclusion. Otherwise, just more nonsense posted by ProPublica with sourcing to “people familiar with the matter”. Laughable. The article is pure speculation made out to be something more.

Until then, Hitchens’ razor applies. What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

In the US, that’s what the 2 major parties are for. Each blames foreign influence for the extremes of the opposition (within or out of the actual party). Articles just parroting some in-power government agency’s assertion are clearly just carrying water for the power structure they thrive in and support. No questioning, no demanding those claims be backed up by any evidence. By the time actual journalists dig into whatever was used to support the claim (if it exists at all), it ends up being the most benign nonsense that could hardly be called a coordinated campaign by external actors. By then, enough people just see the headlines and believe it on the surface because it aligns with the us vs them narrative. It serves the powerful in my country to claim there’s some external enemy rather than give the masses any room to realize that power structure serves big business interests and the disagreements are largely for show.

You and belluck have a point, they want to keep people with similar interests divided rather than work on solutions. It’s just far more likely that coordinated divide and conquer campaign is coming from inside the country than outside.

Right… The only reason citizens in any country are upset is because of influence by an external entity.

Sure. Can’t be any other explanation. No valid concerns. Got it.

The power structure works to protect the power structure. No way this warning is the disinformation?