‘Open puppetering’: Russian X account tweeting policy suggestions at Musk is causing a full-on freakout
A Russian X account run by a man previously named in congressional investigations about Russian interference in U.S. politics is stoking concerns about foreign influence in President-elect Donald Trump's White House.
Artem Klyushin, who publishes a bot-like volume of daily posts on X, has offered recommendations for "restructuring" various governmental departments under Trump and a list of suggestions as to who should serve in Trump's cabinet.
The apparent recommendation list, posted Nov. 9, includes a number that have since come to fruition, including Marco Rubio for Secretary of State; Mike Waltz for National Security Adviser; Elise Stefanik for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Tom Homan as the "border czar;" Susie Wiles as chief of staff; RFK Jr. as Health Secretary; and more.
The list did not include job titles, just names, and the majority on the 36-person list has not been selected for a role in the new administration.
A number of picks from Trump are also not on Klyushin's list, such as Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, Sean Duffy for Transportation Secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, and several more.
Nonetheless, that list—coupled with posts suggesting how to restructure agencies such as the Department of Defense and policy suggestions that mimic Trump's own statements—is prompting critics to denounce the supposed foreign influence stemming from Klyushin.
"Artem Klyushin appears to be picking Trump’s cabinet, or at least is extremely prescient about it," flagged one X user. "Those nominated are controlled through ideology & blackmail. This is overt state capture of the USA by Putin & the Kremlin."
"Russian agent Artem Klyushin is openly puppeteering Trump and Musk to restructure the Dept of Defense. Does anyone in US law enforcement give a shit?" blasted someone else.
"If there was any doubt that [Elon Musk] paid to be co-President you can put that doubt to rest now," claimed another person. "Trump’s handler, Russian agent, Artem Klyushin is tweeting directions to both of them and making sure America knows it."
"Hey Media, why is a Russian bot creator creating policy for the Trump Administration," asked another.
A vast number of the people flagging concerns seem only to be noting that Klyushin is tagging Musk and Trump on X. Neither have publicly responded to the posts and there's no indication the effort is anything other than tweets.
Someone else referenced one of Klyushin's recent suggestions to the new Trump administration that the idea to court martial Defense Department service members came directly from Russia via Klyushin—despite the fact that the post came a day after news reports of that exact plan.
"Maybe Russian operative Artem Klyushin just got the information from public sources?" countered one person who wasn't buying into the panic.
It's not the first time Klyushin's name has come up in discussions about Russian meddling in U.S. affairs.
He previously took credit for Trump's victory in 2016, saying he wouldn't have won without him.
And a Senate Intelligence Committee report named Klyushin in its report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The report noted that Klyushin met Trump for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and described him as "a Kremlin-linked bot developer who has supported Russian social media influence operations in other countries" who has provided social media influence expertise to the Kremlin.
The committee, however, could not corroborate Klyushin's claim about his influence over the 2016 outcome. Its report also stated that when meeting Klyushin in 2013, "The Committee did not find information indicating that Trump had awareness of this at the time, or any subsequent communication with Klyushin."
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