The surreptitious tactics also included what an internal report called a false flag operation to make it appear as if an army of Russian accounts were following Mr. Moore on Twitter. Mr. Hoffman apologized last month but said he had not sanctioned the tactics that were used in Alabama. Instead, he said he had been trying to support “organizations trying to re-establish civic, truth-focused discourse” and had not been aware of the deceptive work during the 2017 campaign. The idea behind the “Dry Alabama” tactics, people involved in the effort said, was to drive a wedge between Mr. Moore and business-oriented conservatives, who would perhaps redirect their support to Mr. Jones. Mr. Moore has denied any misconduct.

Source: New York Times January 10, 2019 01:52 UTC