State Dept: No one better about lying over US role in world than Russia

The State Department’s top spokeswoman said Saturday that no one is better at lying about the U.S. role in the world than Russia, as diplomats spar over Moscow’s denial of the use of chemical weapons in war-torn Syria.

“One of the things that I do is deal with combating Russian disinformation,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told CNN. “There’s no one better, in the world, about lying about [the] U.S. role in the world than Russia.”

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Defense officials for Russia, whose military has supported Syrian President Bashar Assad for several years, has claimed that the apparent chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians there last weekend was staged by the United Kingdom.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) Nikki Haley blasted Russia over a disinformation campaign in the days since the strike during her appearance before the U.N. Security Council on Saturday, where she confronted Russian diplomats over the attack in Syria.

Earlier on Saturday, the Pentagon reported that in the 24 hours surrounding the retaliatory strike by the U.S, U.K. and France defense officials saw a 2,000 percent increase in Russian trolling efforts online.