Background on CrowdStrike and the Ukraine Conspiracy Theory
There’s been an ongoing far-right conspiracy theory that CrowdStrike is based in Ukraine, that they were behind the hacks and leaks in the 2016 election, and that they framed Russia for it all.
- CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company that investigated the hack of the Democratic Party’s servers in the 2016 election. So it became the focus of conspiracy theories.
- The company is based in Irvine, CA, but Trump apparently believes it operates from Ukraine.
- Trump and his fellow Ukraine conspiracy theorists believe that there’s a “missing” DNC server sitting somewhere in a Ukraine basement. They also think this server is the key to the truth of what happened in 2016.
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- Tip: There is no missing DNC server. The FBI didn’t “take” the computer because they took an image of it. That’s how investigations are handled. Investigators don’t confiscate a victim’s computer.
- They believe that CrowdStrike is part of an anti-Trump conspiracy and that they falsified their findings that Russia was behind the hack.
- CrowdStrike made public certain evidence that definitively points to Russia.
- CrowdStrike is also likely a target because they’ve been working with the Ukraine government to fight off Russia’s sustained cyberwarfare against the country.
- Trump’s own staff has repeatedly warned him that the Ukraine conspiracy theory he and Giuliani (and apparently Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo) are pursuing is “completely debunked.”
- Trump’s first Homeland Security Advisor, Thom Bossert, says he told Trump there was no basis to the theory that Ukraine meddled in our 2016 elections to help Democrats, that Russia is the party that intervened in our elections.
- The conspiracy theory also claims that the DNC hack was an inside job, which is how Seth Rich and his family got dragged through the mud after Seth’s murder. Seth’s family has a lawsuit against Fox News for propagating that particular aspect of this conspiracy theory.