Josh Hawley blames 'deep state' for alleged Russian influence campaign

A recently unsealed Department of Justice indictment alleges that a Russia-sponsored scheme tried to influence public opinion using a prominent conservative media company. Many of the right-wing influencers associated with that company have publicly called themselves “victims.”

But that didn’t stop Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Fox News host Laura Ingraham from denying on Thursday the veracity of the charges. In fact, Hawley and Ingraham went so far as to imply that the indictment was some kind of deep-state attempt to help Vice President Kamala Harris win this year’s election.

“This is the third straight presidential election, Laura, that they've tried this,” Hawley told Ingraham. “Nobody believes this stuff. This isn't about foreign interference by Russia. This is a smokescreen for domestic interference by our deep state and the Democrat Party. This is the same play that they've run for years. In 2016, the FBI used this playbook in order to interfere in our election that year.”