Associated Incidents
A former Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy is under investigation for allegedly collaborating with Russian military intelligence to spread misinformation about Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign.
John Mark Dougan, who attended high school in Palm Beach County, served as a deputy from 2005 to 2008.
In 2017, the FBI indicted Dougan in Palm Beach County for extortion and wiretapping.
"Somehow his skills which he honed in Palm Beach came to the attention of the Kremlin," said investigative reporter Catherine Belton of the Washington Post.
"We began writing this story, we were given agency-shared documents that showed clearly Dougan was working directly with a senior officer from the Russian military on preparing fake news for American audiences."
Belton says documents show the Russian military intelligence officer gave money directly to Dougan, which helped bolster his fake news operation.
Belton says Dougan denies the claims.