Russia is responsible for online smears that circulated last week against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday.
“Based on newly available intelligence, the intelligence community assesses that Russian influence actors created and amplified content alleging inappropriate activity committed by the Democratic vice-presidential candidate earlier in his career,” an official with Office of the Director of National Intelligence told reporters at a press briefing.
Last week, videos and other content spread online accusing Walz of various misconduct when he was a high school teacher and football coach. One video claimed to feature a man, identified as Matthew Metro, who asserted that he was abused by Walz as a student. It widely circulated on X but it was entirely fabricated.
The Washington Post interviewed the real Matthew Metro, who said the man in the video is not him. Metro did attend the high school where Walz was a teacher, but was not one of his students. Other posts with allegations against Walz were shared on various platforms, but they too were quickly debunked.
Intelligence officials told reporters the false content against Walz used various tactics associated with previous misinformation campaigns by Russia.
Russian operatives responsible for bogus Walz accusations, US officials say
