Twitter Gives Profile Names Of Russian-linked Accounts To Senate Investigators

Twitter has given staff of the Senate intelligence committee profile names of 201 accounts linked to Russian efforts at interfering in last year’s election, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirm to CNN.

Investigators have now asked Twitter for the posts from these accounts, but as of Friday, they have not yet received word from Twitter on that front the sources said.

In that meeting, Twitter representatives informed congressional staff that it had shut down the 200 accounts after connecting them to Facebook accounts that had been suspended because they were linked to a Russian troll farm.

Twitter has not provided details about the accounts, but research from independent groups monitoring Twitter provides some insight into how Russian-linked accounts used the social media platform in an attempt to amplify America’s political divisions.

The Alliance for Securing Democracy, an initiative by the public policy group German Marshall Fund, has an ongoing review of 600 Twitter accounts linked to Russia and seeking to influence U.S. politics.