Jones denies knowledge of Russian-style online effort

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama Sen. Doug Jones says he was unaware of an experiment run by outside researchers during his campaign seeking to emulate Russian tactics to influence elections.

The Washington Post and New York Times have both reported that a social media researcher acknowledged testing misleading online tactics during Jones’ campaign against Republican Roy Moore last year. The effort was modeled on alleged Russian attempts to bolster the candidacy of President Donald Trump in 2016.

Jones told reporters during a conference call Thursday his campaign didn’t know anything about the effort at the time. And Jones says he is “as outraged as everyone else” about the allegations.

Alabama Republican Party chairwoman Terry Lathan has tweeted that the effort was “deeply disturbing.”

Jones says his campaign tracking software didn’t detect any anti-Moore effort.