![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/trump-russia.jpg\")
<\/a>FBI Director James Comey during his congressional testimony Monday. (J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE\/AP)<\/p><\/div>\n
The FBI is investigating if several right-wing news websites \u2014 including Breitbart and InfoWars \u2014 played any part in the Russian cyber attacks of the 2016 presidential election, according to a report.<\/p>\n
Investigators are looking into bots from hackers that spammed social media links with pro-Trump and anti-Clinton stories \u2014 some of them totally phony \u2014 at times when Donald Trump\u2019s campaign seemed to be in trouble, McClatchy Washington Bureau<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Sources familiar with the probe said the bots spewed millions of Twitter and Facebook links to conservative sites like Breitbart and InfoWars, as well as Russia\u2019s RT News and Sputnik News, during the most contentious times of the campaign.<\/p>\n Many of the stories were false, or contained false facts. They included exaggerated reports of Clinton\u2019s health problems, links to hacked John Podesta emails on WikiLeaks and stories about the fact-free \u201cPizzagate\u201d conspiracy theory of a Democratic child sex ring.<\/p>\n The FBI will look into whether any of the news sites knew about the bots or did anything to assist the hackers behind them, according to McClatchy. The right-wing review is part of the FBI\u2019s broader probe into whether Russia interfered with the election, and if anyone in the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.<\/p>\n The FBI has not commented on the report, and the role of the bots was not directly mentioned during FBI Director James Comey\u2019s congressional testimony Monday about the campaign hack.<\/p>\n Alex Jones, the firebrand Infowars host, devoted part of a recent show to denying any links to the Kremlin.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not gonna sit here and say, \u2018I\u2019m not a Russian stooge,\u2019 because it\u2019s a f—ing lie,\u201d Jones said, calling any such suggestions a \u201cwhole ridiculous narrative of the bitching left.\u201d<\/p>\n He also admitted to appearing on RT News \u201cprobably 100 times or more.\u201d<\/p>\n Breitbart did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n Bots aside, Breitbart and Infowars have blatantly championed Trump\u2019s political career, and both reported unprecedented traffic boosts during the businessman\u2019s rise to the White House.<\/p>\n Stephen Bannon, the White House\u2019s chief strategist, served as Breitbart\u2019s CEO until he joined the Trump campaign in August 2016.<\/p>\n Trump also appeared on the conspiracy-laden Infowars as a candidate and, according to the New York Times,<\/a> thanked Jones for his support after winning.<\/p>\nInfoWars host Alex Jones. (INFOWARS VIA YOUTUBE)<\/h5>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n