我刚刚出版了一本揭露俄罗斯虚假信息传播活动的书。如今，这个“假的我”竟然成了俄罗斯虚假信息传播计划的一部分。
Our Land I just published book that exposes Russian disinformation operations. Now I—that is, a fake version of me—have become part of a Russian disinformation operation.
这本书记录了俄罗斯多年来针对美国实施的秘密影响力操纵和虚假信息传播行动（其中许多行动都是为了支持特朗普）。书中最后警告称，莫斯科很可能会干预正在进行的中期选举，以帮助特朗普和共和党。
chronicles the shadow war of clandestine influence and disinformation operations—many implemented to aid Trump—that Putin has been mounting against the United States for a decade. It ends with the warning that Moscow would likely attack the ongoing midterm elections to help Trump and the GOP.
在本书出版两周后，媒体报道称：俄罗斯的虚假信息传播者利用社交媒体上的虚假账号，开始对民主党候选人进行诋毁性攻击。
Within days of the book’s publication two weeks ago, media outlets reported that Russia’s disinformation operatives, using phony accounts on social media platforms, had started hurling derogatory material at Democrats.
上周，这种隐蔽的虚假信息传播活动进一步扩大，开始散布针对民主党候选人的恶意指控——这些指控都被虚假地归咎于我。
Last week, this covert disinformation operation widened to spread scurrilous allegations against Democratic candidates—phony accusations that were falsely attributed to me.
因此，在写完这本揭露俄罗斯虚假信息传播行为的书，并指出这些行为对当前选举构成威胁之后，我反而被俄罗斯的虚假信息网络利用，被用来影响中期选举的结果，从而帮助特朗普。这真是一个自相矛盾、荒谬至极的处境……在书中，我提到了几个俄罗斯的秘密虚假信息传播机构；它们在2024年大选期间制造并散布了关于副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯和明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·沃尔兹的虚假言论。
So after writing a book about Putin’s disinformation efforts and noting they posed a threat to the current elections, I am being used by a Russian disinformation network to influence the midterms in Trump’s favor. This is a bizarre snake-eating-its-tail situation. In the book, I report on several secret Russian disinformation units that produced and disseminated false allegations about Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during the 2024 campaign.
其中一个虚假信息传播团队被称作“Matryoshka”（即俄罗斯传统的套娃）。他们在X（TikTok的前身）等社交媒体平台上散布了各种关于哈里斯的谎言：称她17岁时曾堕胎、患有早发性阿尔茨海默病、她的祖父是共产党人、她的家族与辉瑞等大型制药公司有联系……然而，“Matryoshka”并没有就此罢休……他们还在继续针对我。
One was dubbed Matryoshka by disinformation trackers. (That’s the name for those iconic Russian nesting dolls.) It zapped out on X and other social media platforms assorted lies about Harris: She had an abortion when she was 17. She was exhibiting early-onset Alzheimer’s. Her grandfather was a communist.
当新闻机构最近揭露 Matryoshka 再次作案时（他这次制作了一些视频，假装是 CNN 的新闻片段，内容是关于好莱坞名人诋毁民主党人的言论），我立即指出：这些幕后黑手还在制作并发布虚假视频，这些视频伪装成 CNN 的节目，但实际上包含了对民主党参选人的诽谤性内容。例如：
詹姆斯·塔拉里科（James Talarico，来自德克萨斯州）“鄙视”哈西德派犹太人，因为他们不允许对同性恋者进行性别认同相关的医疗治疗；
Her family was connected to Pfizer and Big Pharma. But Matryoshka was not done with —or me. When news organizations recently revealed that Matryoshka was at it again, this time concocting videos that purported to be CNN news segments covering Hollywood celebrities trash-talking Democrats (Nazi whores!), I reported that these covert operatives were also generating and posting fake videos that appeared to be CNN spots with damaging information on Democratic senatorial candidates. James Talarico (Texas) “despises” Hasidic Jews because they don’t allow gender affirmation treatment.
谢罗德·布朗（Sherrod Brown，来自俄亥俄州）经营的生意导致俄亥俄州的蜜蜂数量减少了九倍；
Sherrod Brown (Ohio) owns a business that has “caused the bee population in Ohio to decline by a factor of nine.”
乔恩·奥索夫（Jon Ossoff，来自乔治亚州）呼吁停止对以色列的所有军事援助，并将所有资源转移到乌克兰。
Jon Ossoff (Georgia) has “called for a complete halt to military aid to Israel and for all resources to be redirected to Ukraine.”And there were others.
在我处理这个新闻事件的过程中，一个专门监测俄罗斯虚假信息的匿名活动组织 @antibot4navalny 告诉我：Matryoshka 还在 X 平台上发布了一段视频，声称民主党向 CNN 的负责人马克·汤普森（Mark Thompson）支付了 2.89 亿美元，以此让 CNN 报道那些“鼓励未成年人进行性别转变”的内容。我迅速发表了一篇文章揭露这一荒谬的虚假信息。在一位律师联系 X 平台后，该公司立即删除了这段虚假视频。
While I was working on that story, @antibot4navalny a group of anonymous activists who monitor Russian disinformation, informed me that Matryoshka had also posted on X a supposed video that reported that the Democratic Party had paid $289 million to Mark Thompson, the head of CNN, so the cable news network would run reports that “promote gender transition among minors.”I quickly published a piece exposing this absurd disinformation. After a lawyer for contacted X, the company took down this fraudulent video.
周五，@antibot4navalny 告诉我，Matryoshka——通过 X 平台上一个显而易见的机器人账号——发布了一段所谓的 CNN 视频，视频中我正在推广一本新书。但这本书并不存在。据称书名为《》，视频宣称：“这本书将收录 300 多个关于民主党成员犯罪的故事。”
On Friday, @antibot4navalny informed me that Matryoshka—through an obvious bot account on X—had posted a purported CNN video of me promoting a new book. But the book isn’t . It’s supposedly called , and the video declared, “The book will feature over 300 stories related to crimes committed by members of the Democratic Party.”
这段伪造视频展示了一段捏造的我的引语：“显然，美国某处有一道裂缝直通地狱；否则我不明白民主党的这些魔鬼究竟是从哪里冒出来的。”这分析可真够绝的。视频指出：“大卫·科恩新书中的信息将进一步损害民主党在大选前的声誉和地位。”以下是该视频的截图：澄清一下，以上内容全都是假的——虽然《》倒不失为一个不错的书名选题。
This counterfeit video displayed the text of a made-up quote from me: “Apparently, there’s a fissure somewhere in the US that leads straight to hell; otherwise, I don’t understand where all these devils from the Democratic Party are coming from.”That’s quite the analysis. The video noted that “information from David Corn’s book will further damage the Democrats’ reputation and standing ahead of the elections.”Here are screenshots from that video: To be clear, none of this is true—though is not a bad idea for a book.
同样， 的律师联系了 X 平台。但那时已是周末，这段声称我出版了一本充满攻击民主党猛料、将影响大选的书的伪造 CNN 视频仍然留在网上。看起来它最初获得了近 20 万次观看，但我从可靠渠道获悉，Matryoshka 正在用机器人刷量，该帖子实际上可能只触达了几千名 X 用户。
Again, a lawyer for reached out to X. But by then, it was the weekend, and this fake CNN video claiming I had published a book full of dirt on Democrats that would affect the election remained online. It looked as if it initially drew nearly 200,000 views, but I was reliably informed that Matryoshka was using bots to juice this number and that this post likely had only reached a few thousand X users.
Matryoshka 利用创建长达 12 年之久的旧机器人账号，炮制了至少九个虚假视频，每个视频都宣扬一个荒诞且虚假的指控，针对一位民主党候选人。
Matryoshka, using old bot accounts created up to 12 years ago, spewed out at least nine sham videos, with each one promoting an outrageous but spurious allegation about a Democratic candidate.
就像之前那个虚假且荒谬的视频——声称 揭露了民主党全国委员会向 CNN 高层支付 2.89 亿美元以换取挺跨性别报道——这个视频似乎也有点太蠢了，不太可能产生太大影响。它更多是一种骚扰，而非严重担忧。随后又出现了其他虚假视频。
As with the previous fake and nonsensical video reporting that had revealed a $289 million payment from the DNC to CNN’s chief for pro-trans coverage, this one seemed a bit too silly to have much impact. It was more of an irritation than a cause of great concern. Then came other fake videos.
“马特留什卡”利用创建长达12年的旧机器人账号，炮制了至少九个虚假视频，每个视频都宣扬关于一位民主党候选人的荒诞且捏造的指控。其中一个视频“揭露”称，一位民主党参议员候选人“是一名隐瞒性取向以维持奢华生活方式的隐秘同性恋者”。视频称，他曾被指控“挪用公款支付男性性工作者的服务费用”。
Matryoshka, using old bot accounts created up to 12 years ago, spewed out at least nine sham videos, with each one promoting an outrageous but spurious allegation about a Democratic candidate. One “revealed” that a Democratic senatorial candidate “is a closeted gay man who hides his sexual orientation in order to maintain a luxurious lifestyle.”It said he had previously been accused of “embezzling public funds to pay for the services of male sex workers.”
视频配以阴森的合成器音乐，画面切到我的镜头和文字，声称我在书中“提供证据”证明这位民主党候选人“与未成年男孩约会并发生性关系”。引文继续写道：“作为一名同性恋者，我感到愤怒，一名同性恋者竟躲在女人身后以维持其奢华生活方式。”（顺便说一句，我不是同性恋。）视频以一张写着“at .com”的卡片结尾。在这一分半钟的视频中，标志始终出现在右上角。
With ominous synth music playing, this video segues to footage of me and written text in which I purportedly state that in my book “I present evidence” this Democratic candidate “dated underaged boys and had sexual relations with them.”The quote continues: “As a gay man, I find it outrageous that a gay man would hide behind a woman to maintain his lavish lifestyle.” (Not that it matters, but I’m not gay.) The video ends with a card saying, “at .com.”Throughout this one-and-a-half-minute video, the logo appears in the top right corner.
其他视频风格如出一辙。（显而易见的原因，我不会提供链接，也不会点名候选人。）它们声称一位曾在越战中服役的民主党州长候选人“涉嫌在战争期间的一场大屠杀中杀害37名平民”，另一位民主党州长候选人招募未成年人从事性工作，并“在女童军工作期间……为民主党成员组织性派对”，第三位民主党州长候选人“酒驾导致致命车祸”，还有一位民主党州长提名人向大学生贩卖毒品，“导致17人死亡”，等等。
The other videos are all in the same style. (For obvious reasons, I am not linking to them or mentioning the candidates by name.) They claim that a Democratic candidate for governor who served in Vietnam “is suspected of killing 37 civilians” in a massacre during that war, that another Democratic gubernatorial candidate recruited minors into sex work and “while working for the Girl Scouts…organized sex parties for members of the Democratic Party,” that a third Democratic candidate for governor caused “a fatal car accident while under the influence of alcohol,” and that another Democratic gubernatorial nominee sold crack to college students, “resulting in 17 deaths,” and so on.
也许这些伪造视频意在打擦边球、施加压力。但更多的是令人不安——它们展示了一个人多么容易被身份不明的无赖歪曲和利用。
Perhaps these phony videos are meant to be a brushback pitch. Mostly, it’s unnerving—a demonstration of how easy it is to be misrepresented and exploited by unidentified scoundrels.
这些视频中的每一个都展示了我对这些指控发表的言论，并指出这些内容完全是捏造的。与关于民主党全国委员会向美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）负责人付款的虚假视频类似，其中一些X平台上的帖子显示浏览量接近20万次。但实际数字很可能要低得多。截至本文撰写时，这些视频尚未疯传。（X平台没有立即回应删除这些视频帖子的请求。）因此，这位曾写书呼吁关注普京针对美国民主的虚假信息运动的记者，现在正被莫斯科的虚假信息操纵者利用，以破坏中期选举，从而使特朗普受益。
Each of these videos features me offering a colorful quote about the allegation and noting it’s straight out of . Similar to the bogus video about the DNC payment to the CNN chief, some of these X posts show nearly 200,000 views. But the real numbers are likely much lower. They have not, as of this writing, gone viral. (X did not respond immediately to a request to delete the posts with these videos.) So the journalist who wrote a book to call attention to Putin’s disinformation crusade against American democracy is now being used by Moscow’s disinformation operatives to subvert the midterm elections for Trump’s benefit.
同事和朋友问我这是否令人恐惧。目前还没有。也许这些虚假视频只是为了起到一种威慑作用。最主要的感觉是令人不安——这证明了被身份不明的恶棍歪曲和利用是多么容易。而且，众所周知，在互联网上反击谎言非常困难。我们所有人都容易受到网络攻击。
I’ve been asked by colleagues and friends if this is frightening. Not yet. Perhaps these phony videos are meant to be a brushback pitch. Mostly, it’s unnerving—a demonstration of how easy it is to be misrepresented and exploited by unidentified scoundrels. And, as we all know, it’s tough to beat back a lie on the internet. We’re all vulnerable to a cyber assault.
距离选举日还有五周时间。普京对中期选举的干预可能会达到什么程度？他会走多远来支持特朗普和共和党人？如果特朗普试图通过指控选举舞弊或采取干预选举和计票的行动来引发混乱和危机，可以预见，普京的虚假信息大军将竭尽所能，为任何流传的虚假声明和阴谋论推波助澜，或者编造他们自己的谎言。
There are five weeks to go to Election Day. How extensive might Putin’s war on the midterms become? How far will he go to boost Trump and the Republicans? If Trump tries to spark chaos and a crisis with accusations of vote fraud or actions to interfere with the election and the vote tally, Putin’s disinformation army can be expected to do whatever it can to bolster any false claims and conspiracy theories flying about—or to cook up its own.
我写这本书的一个原因是为了反驳多年来特朗普、共和党人、支持“MAGA”运动的人以及右翼媒体人士不断宣扬的错误论调（即“俄罗斯一直在干涉美国选举”）。这些人否认俄罗斯曾秘密干预美国的选举。通过重复普京本人的否认言论，这些愚蠢至极的人实际上是在帮助外国势力攻击美国的民主制度。我的目的是揭示：美国一直受到莫斯科的持续威胁；俄罗斯一直在暗中策划支持特朗普和共和党人。这场虚假信息传播活动甚至包含了关于我的虚假内容，这恰恰证明了我的书中所提出的论点。
One reason I wrote was to counter the false “Russia, Russia, Russia” narrative peddled relentlessly for years by Trump, Republicans, MAGA influencers, and right-wing media personalities who have denied Russia has been covertly intervening in US elections. By echoing Putin’s own denials, these useful idiots have been complicit in a foreign adversary’s attack on American democracy. My point was to show the United States has been under continuous assault from Moscow, as Russia has schemed to assist Trump and the Republicans. With this disinformation operation incorporating truly fake news about me, Putin’s Matryoshka crew has proved the premise of my book.