Jane Musgrave
A former Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, who fled to Russia and is charged with 19 counts of extortion and wiretapping by local prosecutors, is using his formidable computer skills to help the Kremlin spread disinformation about the United States and European countries.
Damning allegations about the latest exploits of John Mark Dougan were featured in a lengthy New York Times story last week.
“Working from an apartment crowded with servers and other computer equipment, Mr. Dougan has built an ever-growing network of more than 160 fake websites that mimic news outlets in the United States, Britain and France,” reported Steven Lee Myers, a NYT correspondent.
Same tricks, bigger stage? Dougan honed his skills as a website creator more than a decade ago to attack Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and then-Chief Deputy Mike Gauger, who is running for sheriff this year against his former boss.
On PBSOtalk.com, and its various digital offspring, Dougan portrayed the top cops as Nazis, fascists, molesters, white supremacists and crooks.
- He put their faces on photos of Hitler and Mussolini.
- He questioned their sexuality.
Finally, both Bradshaw and Gauger had enough. They launched an investigation in 2012. Five years later, State Attorney Dave Aronberg charged Dougan in court documents that remain sealed.
Acknowledging that the ex-Marine had fled to Russia, Aronberg said then he had “a good faith anticipation” of securing his arrest “in the foreseeable future.” The release of the charging documents would “seriously jeopardize” the ongoing investigation, he successfully argued.
But, wait, there’s more: Gauger also filed a defamation suit against Dougan. He dropped it in 2018, acknowledging that it was doomed. Because the alleged libelous information was in an online publication, Dougan enjoyed the same protections as mainstream media. That meant, among other things, Gauger had to notify Dougan by letter of any inaccuracies on the website. Gauger didn’t.
From Russia with love? Gauger said Dougan recently called him and apologized. Dougan wished him luck with his campaign to unseat Bradshaw. The call was more than a little bizarre, said Gauger, who is running as a Republican against his former boss, a Democrat.
“One thing I give him credit for is that he’s very intelligent. He’s disturbed, but intelligent,” Gauger said. “He has those skills. Look what he did to us.”
Keep reading: “A red flag planted in D.C,” NewsGuard’s coverage of Dougan’s activity.
— Jane Musgrave
