Sanders implies Russia, not his supporters may be to blame for online vitriol-Experts aren't so sure

[ehrnst]

17. Experts say they found no evidence Russian bots were involved,

and Russian propaganda isn't bothering with it...

The Daily Beast reached out to experts in tracking disinformation to see if there was any evidence of Russian involvement in the feud between Sanders supporters and the Nevada Culinary Workers Union. None could point to a specific example of Russia-linked personas imitating pro-Bernie personas and attacking members of the Nevada Culinary Workers Union.

Ben Nimmo, director of investigations at the disinformation-tracking firm Graphika, told The Daily Beast that, after 2016, Russian trolls have tried harder to stay undetected, making finding them a tricky process.

“Actually proving that a particular account is run from Russia means crossing a high evidence bar. There are far more accusations of ‘Russian trolls’ or ‘Russian bots’ going around than there are actual known Russian assets that have been taken down.”

Oftentimes, Russian covert operations on social media act as echo chambers for the issues and priorities of overt Russian propaganda outlets like Sputnik and RT. Jessica Brandt, director of research at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, which tracks Russian state news trends and disinformation, said Russian outlets haven’t made much of the Nevada union feud.

“We’ve seen no evidence of that,” she told The Daily Beast, adding that the Alliance’s dashboard for tracking overt Russian propaganda turned up only one story on the Nevada issue.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/experts-call-bs-on-bernies-russian-bot-theory

And there's a whole lot more evidence that Sanders supporters would harass the Union.

https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/462344-working-families-party-director-responds-to-harassment-after-warren-endorsement

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/07/politics/bernie-sanders-social-media-attacks-invs/index.html

You know, no other candidate felt a need to tell their supporters not to harass his opponents.

Bernie Sanders Politely Asks Supporters Not to Harass His Opponents

Why would Russian Bots try to make Sanders supporters, and by extension Sanders look bad, as this harassment does - so much that he's trying to claim that it's not his supporters?

It's been shown that he's the number one choice of the GOP as an opponent to Trump, so it makes no sense that Russia would be trying to tank Sanders, because it would run counter to the GOP efforts to re-elect Trump.