Topic: Alliance For Securing Democracy

New Knowledge, an Austin-based cybersecurity startup, is identified as a primary author of the Senate reports on Russian disinformation. The company's leadership includes former State Department officials under Hillary Clinton and is backed by investors with ties to the CIA and Chinese firms. Discrepancies are noted between the firm's claims of Russian-led voter suppression and NPR's own reporting on why black voters stayed home in 2016.

A new think tank called the Alliance for Securing Democracy has formed, bringing together prominent neoconservatives like Bill Kristol and Mike Chertoff with Obama-era Democrats. The group's mission is to counter Russian interference in democratic institutions. The hosts view this as a "regrouping" of the political establishment against the Trump administration's outsider approach.