Here in Palm Beach County, Florida, we’ve seen up close that what President Donald Trump continues to dismiss as the “Russia, Russia, Russia hoax” was anything but fiction.
Trump has recently revived the narrative around Russian involvement in the 2016 election, seemingly as a way to distract from mounting public pressure—much of it from his own supporters—to release the full details buried in the Jeffrey Epstein files, which contain serious allegations involving underage girls.
Now, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is actively pushing the misleading claim that Russia’s interference on Trump’s behalf in 2016 was largely a political fabrication by his opponents in Washington.
Gabbard has pointed fingers at the Obama administration, alleging it altered intelligence assessments to emphasize, in her words, “not if but how Moscow attempted to influence the outcome of the U.S. election.”
But let’s be clear: anyone suggesting Gabbard is presenting the full truth needs a serious reality check. There never was an “if” when it came to Russia’s efforts to support Trump’s candidacy in 2016.
There’s only a “how.” And acknowledging that isn’t unpatriotic—it’s acknowledging established fact.
A real-world example from Palm Beach County
If you’re still skeptical, let me share something we saw firsthand: how Russian operatives manipulated unsuspecting locals to push Trump’s message.
In the summer of 2016, two residents—Anne Marie Thomas, a choir singer from Jupiter, and Harry Miller, a retiree living in Leisureville, Boynton Beach—were contacted by phone and invited to help organize a political rally at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, just months before the election.
They believed they were working with college students from Texas coordinating campaign events across Florida. But an FBI investigation later revealed those so-called students were actually Russian operatives running operations from a troll farm, organizing pro-Trump rallies across the U.S.
The Russians used a Facebook page named “Being Patriotic” and a Twitter account called “March for Trump” to stage flash-mob style rallies in about 20 cities across Florida, according to the FBI.
On a site called “Florida Goes Trump,” the trolls posted:
“On August 20, we want to gather patriots on the streets of Floridian towns and cities and march to unite America and support Donald Trump!”
They added:
“Our flash mob will occur in several places at the same time.”
Russians bankrolled the spectacle
Thomas later told me she was sent a script and roughly $500 to $600 to help organize the spectacle—including acquiring a Hillary Clinton mask and putting together a costume.
Miller, too, was paid several hundred dollars, which he used to purchase supplies at Lowe’s to build a jail-like cage in the bed of his pickup truck. According to the script, this is where “Hillary” would end up during the performance.
Both were eager participants in this political theater.
“It was fun,” Miller told me afterward.
He didn’t seem fazed that he had unwittingly participated in a Russian propaganda operation.
“How would I know the guy was Russian?” he said. “He had an accent, but I thought he was one of those Muslims, and I figured, he was a new immigrant and I’d work with him because he wants to be involved.”
Thomas even recruited her boyfriend to play Bill Clinton in the performance. She added some of her own creative touches to the Russian script.
“I wore a shirt that had prison number 09112012 on it,” she said, referencing the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. “That was my idea.”
In the script, Thomas—playing Hillary—was supposed to pull a skillet from her purse and hit her “husband,” wearing a Bill Clinton mask, as he groped female passersby.
“I was supposed to say, ‘Where are my emails?’ and they gave me some jokes,” she explained.
The rally climaxed with the crowd chanting “Lock her up!” and Thomas climbing into the makeshift cage on Miller’s truck.
The Russians who orchestrated the entire event asked for photos and video, presumably for bragging rights—proof of their successful meddling to share over celebratory vodka shots.
Mueller confirmed what happened here
This entire charade came to light in 2018, when special counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for interfering in the 2016 election via fake social media accounts designed to boost Trump’s chances.
Thomas and Miller were later interviewed by FBI agents, who concluded they were unaware of who was really pulling the strings.
“They’re trying to connect Trump to Russia,” Miller told me. “But I was the guy dealing with the Russians, not Trump.”
Still, that doesn’t let Trump—or Tulsi Gabbard—off the hook for trying to rewrite this history. Gabbard, by the way, has been affectionately referred to as “our girlfriend Tulsi” on Russian state television.
Let’s not forget what really happened.
There is no “Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”
Russian interference in the 2016 election—specifically designed to help Donald Trump—was real. It happened right here in Palm Beach County.
And yes, we’ve got the receipts.
There is no “if.”
