Roy Moore was reportedly targeted by Dems in second ‘false flag’ operation in 2017 Alabama race
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alabama Republican Roy Moore was reportedly targeted by another “false flag” operation organized by Democrats who supported Doug Jones during the state's Senate special election in 2017, according to a new report.
A New York Times story revealed Monday that Democrats created a Facebook page that gave the false impression that it was the work of Baptist teetotalers supporting Moore in the contest. That “Dry Alabama” Facebook page – which called for outlawing alcohol in the state – intended to alienate pro-business, moderate Republicans from Moore, the paper reported.
Democrats reportedly saw an opportunity to win that race after Moore was hit with allegations of past inappropriate sexual conduct with teenage girls. Jones went on to win the race.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It’s the second report in recent weeks of a stealth social media effort by pro-Jones activists.
In December, the New York Times also reported that Democratic operatives, backed by a liberal billionaire, created thousands of fake Russian accounts to give an impression the Russian government was supporting Moore. The secret project was carried out on Facebook and Twitter. After that revelation, Jones said he was "outraged" over the report and called for a federal investigation into the project.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As for the “Dry Alabama” effort, a Republican operative in Alabama at the time posted a screengrab of the sponsored post and expressed confusion over why she was targeted.
“Y’all’s targeting is so wrong,” the Republican, Elizabeth BeShears, tweeted in December 2017. “So wrong.”
The New York Times identified a progressive activist named Matt Osborne as one of the people behind the “Dry Alabama” effort. The story said he defended the tactics, accusing Republicans of doing similar things, though also said he’d like to see it banned in politics one day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“If you don’t do it, you’re fighting with one hand tied behind your back,” Osborne told the paper. “You have a moral imperative to do this — to do whatever it takes.”
The New York Times reported that both of the false flag operations each received $100,000 and were funneled by the same progressive group called “Investing in Us.”
After December's revelation of the first false flag operation, liberal billionaire and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who gave $100,000 to the cause, later apologized for his contributions and said he wasn't aware of what the group was doing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News’ Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report.