Which just goes to show the story is not what they're trying to say, and these people were targets of an attack, not targets of a con to spread propaganda for a foreign power. This is character assassination; they were never asked to do anything, and my have been tangentially connected to foreigners. And the US government was either directly involved, or at the very least let it happen and continue to happen, until the most convenient time to "expose" them.

Again, character assassination, and an attack on all independent media.