{"id":2471036,"date":"2025-08-05T12:11:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T16:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/familiar-phrase-from-russiagate-intelligence-docs-raises-eyebrows\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T12:13:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T16:13:29","slug":"familiar-phrase-from-russiagate-intelligence-docs-raises-eyebrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/familiar-phrase-from-russiagate-intelligence-docs-raises-eyebrows\/","title":{"rendered":"Familiar phrase from Russiagate intelligence docs raises eyebrows"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffamiliar-phrase-from-russiagate-intelligence-docs-raises-eyebrows%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2471036&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The newly declassified Russiagate intelligence documents reveal that the phrase &#8220;critical infrastructure&#8221; was controversially used as a broad justification for censorship and federal surveillance relating to the 2016 election interference investigation. Emails from Leonard &#8220;Lenny&#8221; Benardo, a senior executive at the Soros-funded Open Society Foundations, suggest a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign to frame the Russian interference story as a domestic threat by labeling election systems as critical infrastructure. This classification, expanded under the Obama governance to include U.S. elections, laid the groundwork for the creation of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which used this rationale to monitor and suppress perceived misinformation and disinformation online. Critics argue that this terminology enabled what they call a &#8220;censorship-industrial complex,&#8221; extending government surveillance and content moderation powers over social media and public discourse. George Soros&#8217;s philanthropic networks are highlighted as major funders of groups involved in content moderation and censorship efforts tied to the broader Russiagate narrative.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Familiar phrase from Russiagate intelligence docs raises eyebrows<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2195242\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Peculiar language uncovered in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3487303\/declassified-durham-annex-clinton-plan-trump-russia-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">a newly declassified Russiagate intelligence document<\/a> is raising suspicions about how the term &ldquo;critical infrastructure&rdquo; became a catch-all phrase used by censorship powers to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-remains-undaunted-on-social-media-policy-after-injunction\/\" title=\"White House stays firm on social media policy despite injunction.\">suppress disfavored speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Censorship watchdogs are calling attention to a particular phrase, pertaining to &ldquo;critical infrastructure,&rdquo; that appeared in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the appendix<\/a>&nbsp;to former special counsel John Durham&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/739109\/read-in-full-special-counsel-john-durhams-final-306-page-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">final report<\/a>&nbsp;on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3489114\/george-soros-russiagate-scheme-durham-annex\/\">How Soros is entangled in the Russiagate scheme: Durham annex<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3488737\/utah-deidre-henderson-defies-doj-demand-voter-data-request\/\">Utah questions DOJ&rsquo;s sweeping requests for voter data after handing over public information<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3487023\/key-russiagate-records-still-classified-heavily-redacted\/\">The key Russiagate records that are still classified or heavily redacted<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>One message included in the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >recently released intelligence materials mentioned invoking<\/a> a threat to critical infrastructure as an impetus for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-rep-eric-swalwell-blasts-pathetic-dad-who-said-lets-go-brandon-to-biden\/\" title=\"Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell Blasts &#039;Pathetic Dad&#039; Who Said &#039;Let&#039;s Go, Brandon&#039; to Biden\">federal intelligence officials<\/a> to investigate foreign meddling in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n<p>The message,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3489114\/george-soros-russiagate-scheme-durham-annex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;written by<\/a>&nbsp;a high-ranking executive at an organization funded by Democratic megadonor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/george-soros\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">George Soros<\/a>, indicates knowledge among some actors that the FBI would play a role in advancing the Russian collusion plotline. Durham&rsquo;s team of investigators did not disclose to whom the message was directed, only citing a confidential source who had turned over this sensitive intel.<\/p>\n<p>Russian hackers had reportedly accessed the emails of numerous U.S. nonprofit organizations, including the Soros-funded&nbsp;Open Society Foundations.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensocietyfoundations.org\/who-we-are\/leadership\/leonard-benardo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Leonard &ldquo;Lenny&rdquo; Benardo<\/a>, senior vice president of OSF, correctly predicted that the FBI would aid former Secretary of State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hillary-clinton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Hillary Clinton<\/a>&rsquo;s campaign plan to tie Trump to Russia, per a pair of July 2016 emails cited in the Durham annex.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3489114\/george-soros-russiagate-scheme-durham-annex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>HOW SOROS IS ENTANGLED IN THE RUSSIAGATE SCHEME: DURHAM ANNEX<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the time, Benardo appeared to be engaged in conversations with the Clinton campaign about how to turn the Trump-Russia narrative into &ldquo;a long-term affair,&rdquo; as relayed to the unidentified associate.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire,&rdquo; Benardo, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20201127082134\/https:\/\/www.opensocietyfoundations.org\/who-we-are\/leadership\/leonard-benardo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">then OSF&rsquo;s regional director for Eurasia <\/a>overseeing &ldquo;efforts relating to Russia and the former Soviet republics,&rdquo; allegedly wrote in one of the emails.<\/p>\n<p>In the other email, according to the annex, Benardo suggested as part of a messaging strategy, &ldquo;Say something like a critical infrastructure threat for the election to feel menace since both [the president] and [the vice president] have acknowledged the fact [the U.S. intelligence community] would speed up searching for evidence that is regrettably still unavailable.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue,&rdquo; Benardo allegedly prefaced the directive.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3487303\/declassified-durham-annex-clinton-plan-trump-russia-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>DECLASSIFIED DURHAM ANNEX REVEALS FBI IGNORED EVIDENCE OF A CLINTON PLAN TO CREATE RUSSIA HOAX<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The familiar phrasing from Benardo&rsquo;s &ldquo;apparently hacked&rdquo; emails &mdash; unearthed nearly a decade later &mdash; raised alarm among free speech hawks who have long scrutinized the increasingly expanded scope of what&rsquo;s considered &ldquo;critical infrastructure.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Foundation for Freedom Online founder <a href=\"https:\/\/2017-2021.state.gov\/biographies\/michael-a-benz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Mike Benz<\/a> said he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MikeBenzCyber\/status\/1950993987843600812\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">suspects<\/a> that this moment in the<strong> <\/strong>Russiagate saga may be when government censors &ldquo;cooked up &hellip; the legal predicate cover&rdquo; for policing speech across social media.<\/p>\n<p>Benz, who said he&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MikeBenzCyber\/status\/1950997031079538818\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">flabbergasted by<\/a> Benardo&rsquo;s &ldquo;cavalier&rdquo; and &ldquo;flippant&rdquo; use of the &ldquo;critical infrastructure&rdquo; excuse as a throwaway line, asserted that such Russiagate-era jargon gave rise to <a href=\"https:\/\/foundationforfreedomonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Censorspeak-Decoded_v4.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">&ldquo;censorspeak,&rdquo;<\/a> Orwellian terminology classifying almost anything, such as social media, public health, and the U.S. elections process, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/topics\/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience\/critical-infrastructure-sectors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">so-called &ldquo;critical infrastructure.&rdquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1811422\/biden-gave-putin-list-of-16-critical-infrastructure-entities-that-must-be-off-limits-to-cyberattacks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>BIDEN GAVE PUTIN LIST OF 16 CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE &lsquo;ENTITIES&rsquo; THAT MUST BE OFF-LIMITS TO CYBERATTACKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Investigative journalist Benjamin Weingarten, who has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/2025-03-25_testimony_weingarten.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">testified before Congress<\/a> on government-led censorship operations, similarly said that claiming the elections are &ldquo;critical infrastructure&rdquo; under threat from Russian actors snowballed into the &ldquo;censorship-industrial complex.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Step 1: Clinton plan emerged to claim &#8220;critical infrastructure&#8221; pertaining to elections under threat from Russians<\/p>\n<p>Step 2: Outgoing Obama admin declares election infrastructure a critical infrastructure sub-sector under CISA&#8217;s purview <\/p>\n<p>Step 3: Regime re-classifies tweets&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8VgoA4t4Ow\">pic.twitter.com\/8VgoA4t4Ow<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bhweingarten\/status\/1951037870422237413?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 31, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MikeBenzCyber\/status\/1635698987565973521\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">According to Benz<\/a>, formerly a State Department official specializing in international communications and information policy during Trump&rsquo;s first term, powers granted to prevent the spread of Russian propaganda eventually turned inward toward monitoring the online activities of everyday citizens.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/uscode.house.gov\/view.xhtml?req=(title:6%20section:652%20edition:prelim)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">created<\/a> the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an ancillary agency of the Department of Homeland Security designed to safeguard &ldquo;critical infrastructure&rdquo; against cybersecurity threats.<\/p>\n<p>DHS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/news-events\/directives\/homeland-security-presidential-directive-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">originally defined<\/a> &ldquo;critical infrastructure&rdquo; as information technology, telecommunications, emergency services, and mass transportation systems, among other traditional understandings of a society&rsquo;s essential infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">In January 2017, outgoing Obama administration DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/archive\/news\/2017\/01\/06\/statement-secretary-johnson-designation-election-infrastructure-critical\" target=\"_blank\">expanded the definition<\/a>&nbsp;of &ldquo;critical infrastructure&rdquo; to include the U.S. electoral system despite&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/814151\/dhs-and-top-election-officials-finally-meet-to-begin-hashing-out-critical-infrastructure-designation\/\" target=\"_blank\">opposition from some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-trump-campaign-takes-fight-over-pennsylvania-election-and-mail-in-ballot-laws-to-us-supreme-court\/\" title=\"NEW: Trump Campaign Takes Fight Over Pennsylvania Election and Mail-In Ballot Laws to US Supreme Court\">state election officials<\/a><\/a>. Johnson&rsquo;s declaration, placing election equipment in the same category as electrical grids, came the same day as the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dni-warns-of-serious-cyber-threat-from-russia\/\" title=\"DNI Warns of \u201cSerious Cyber ...\u201d From ...\">intelligence community released<\/a><\/span> its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/files\/documents\/ICA_2017_01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Russiagate report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On the same day John Brennan&#8217;s bogus ICA was released, DHS Sec Jeh Johnson, one of the most underrated Russiagate perps, declared election systems as &#8220;critical infrastructure.&#8221; Perfectly orchestrated stunt.<\/p>\n<p>Note how he framed the issue&ndash;but NO HACKING <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qT2336sZB8\">pic.twitter.com\/qT2336sZB8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Julie Kelly &#127482;&#127480; (@julie_kelly2) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/julie_kelly2\/status\/1947755603310346525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>This designation laid the groundwork for CISA, formed a year later, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/publications\/ESI_Strategic_Plan_FINAL_2-7-20_508.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">frame its mission<\/a> as combating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/publications\/19_0717_cisa_foreign-influence-taxonomy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">foreign interference<\/a> in U.S. elections under the pretext of protecting &ldquo;critical infrastructure.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Notably, when asked in an <em>Axios<\/em> interview whether Trump is seen as &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZDC8qSj2ITE&amp;t=103s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">a domestic threat<\/a>,&rdquo; CISA&rsquo;s inaugural director, Chris Krebs, said, &ldquo;There is disinformation that he is spreading. I mean disinformation is one type of threat.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>CISA&rsquo;s efforts to curb &ldquo;disinformation&rdquo; ramped up ahead of the 2020 election, <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/cisa-staff-report6-26-23.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">especially flagging posts<\/a> that questioned vote-by-mail.<\/p>\n<p>After former President Joe Biden took office, CISA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oig.dhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/assets\/2022-08\/OIG-22-58-Aug22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">transitioned<\/a> its Countering Foreign Influence Task Force to focus more on &ldquo;general MDM,&rdquo; or misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation, allegedly &ldquo;aiming to sow divisions and reduce national cohesion.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230226233255\/https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-11\/mdm-incident-response-guide_508.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">a 2022 pamphlet<\/a> titled &ldquo;Planning and Incident Response Guide for Election Officials,&rdquo; CISA admitted to switching from exclusively targeting foreign actors to surveillance of &ldquo;domestic sources&rdquo; supposedly &ldquo;seeking to interfere with and undermine our democratic institutions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>CISA head Jen Easterly, the Biden-appointed successor to Krebs, further characterized proverbial wrongthink as &ldquo;critical infrastructure&rdquo; within the agency&rsquo;s purview.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One could argue we&rsquo;re in the business of critical infrastructure,&rdquo; Easterly said at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/rewired-2021-jen-easterly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">a 2021 RE:WIRED conference<\/a>. &ldquo;And the most critical infrastructure is our cognitive infrastructure, so building that resilience to misinformation and disinformation, I think, is incredibly important.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/cisa-staff-report6-26-23.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">findings<\/a> from the House Judiciary&rsquo;s select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government, to justify censorship as cyber defense, CISA classified &ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; on the internet as a cybersecurity threat to &ldquo;critical infrastructure.&rdquo; Accordingly, tweets challenging state-approved opinions on topics ranging from election integrity to the COVID-19 pandemic were deemed an attack on &ldquo;critical infrastructure.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As for Soros, he has a vested interest in the content-moderation industry. Through his grantmaking nexus, he has funded key components of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/technology\/2204408\/how-we-uncovered-a-modern-censorship-regime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">censorship industrial complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The billionaire financier&rsquo;s Foundation to Promote Open Society dumped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensocietyfoundations.org\/grants\/past?filter_keyword=Disinformation+Index&amp;grant_id=OR2023-89938\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">$250,000 in grant money<\/a> into the Disinformation Index, the American outpost of the Global Disinformation Index, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3158138\/george-soros-pours-250000-global-disinformation-index\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">known for<\/a> blacklisting mainstream conservative media from advertising dollars.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/124442\/house-committee-claims-cybersecurity-agency-engaged-in-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>HOUSE COMMITTEE CLAIMS CYBERSECURITY AGENCY ENGAGED IN CENSORSHIP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The latter previously received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensocietyfoundations.org\/grants\/past?filter_keyword=Disinformation+Index&amp;grant_id=OR2021-83920\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">$150,000 in funding<\/a> from the Open Society Institute, another Soros outfit.<\/p>\n<p>Soros, through his philanthropic work, also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2620714\/soros-flooded-big-tech-censorship-pressure-group-with-millions-during-midterm-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">poured millions<\/a> into Global Witness, a group that pressured Big Tech companies, such as Google, X, Facebook, and TikTok, to fight &ldquo;disinformation&rdquo; and &ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; during the 2022 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2195242\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2195242\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russiagate docs reveal &#8220;critical infrastructure&#8221; phrase misuse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3767,"featured_media":2471037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AP24071511857699-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4786,4702,16740],"class_list":["post-2471036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-intelligence","tag-phrase","tag-russiagate"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AP24071511857699-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2471036"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471044,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471036\/revisions\/2471044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2471036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2471036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2471036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}