Advocacy group: #SchumerShutdown becomes top hashtag used by Russian bots

#SchumerShutdown became the top trending topic promoted by Russian bots on social media on Sunday night, a national security group found.

The Alliance for Securing Democracy, an organization led by national security officials from both political parties housed at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, found that the phrase was the top trending hashtag promoted by Russian bots as of 10 p.m. on Sunday.

The news was first reported by HuffPost.

The group tracks activity by about 600 Twitter accounts that are tied to Russian influence projects.

{mosads}The hashtag has been used by Republicans to blame Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democrats for the government shutdown.

#ReleaseTheMemo, a slogan calling for the release of a memo that some Republicans say proves bias in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s election interference, was the second highest trending hashtag at the time.

Russian-linked bots on Twitter were found to have fueled #ReleaseTheMemo as well.

Both parties have utilized hashtags blaming the other for the government shutdown, which will enter its third day on Monday after senators failed to strike a funding deal.

#TrumpShutdown became Twitter’s top trending topic worldwide on Friday, shortly before the government shutdown began.