His testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Russian cyberwarfare tactics made multiple headlines,[13] with Slate calling him "Testifier Extraordinaire" and the star of the hearing.[3] Afterwards, CNN profiled him in a piece where they reported he himself was targeted by Russian information warfare after he documented Internet troll techniques.[2] His comment of "follow the trail of dead Russians" was seen as particularly noteworthy by CBS News, Salon, and The American Interest.[17][18][19]
Watts wrote for The Daily Beast in August 2016 that Russian propaganda fabricated articles were popularized by social media.[39] Watts along with his colleague Andrew Weisburd documented how disinformation spread from Russia Today and Sputnik News, "the two biggest Russian state-controlled media organizations publishing in English", to pro-Russian accounts on Twitter.[39] Citing research by Adrian Chen, Weisburd and Watts compared Russian tactics during the 2016 U.S. election to Soviet UnionCold War strategies.[39] They referenced the 1992 United States Information Agency report to Congress, which warned about Russian propaganda called active measures.[39] They concluded social media made active measures easier.[39]
Weisburd and Watts collaborated with colleague J. M. Berger and published a follow-up to their Daily Beast article in online magazine War on the Rocks, titled: "Trolling for Trump: How Russia is Trying to Destroy Our Democracy".[4][40] They researched 7,000 pro-Trump accounts over a two-and-a-half year period.[40] Their research detailed trolling techniques to denigrate critics of Russian activities in Syria, and proliferate lies about Clinton's health.[40] Watts said Russia's goal was to elect Donald Trump as President of the United States and "to erode trust in mainstream media, public figures, government institutions".[4] He claimed the propaganda targeted the alt-right, the right wing, and fascist groups.[4] After each presidential debate, thousands of Twitter bots used hashtag #Trumpwon to change perceptions.[41] In November 2016 the Foreign Policy Research Institute stated Russian propaganda exacerbated criticism of Clinton and support for Trump.[42][43] The strategy involved social media, paid Internet trolls, botnets, and websites in order to denigrate Clinton.[39][42][43]
In October 2020, Watts stated that "Russia is the threat from now to Election Day for influence. But in 2021 and beyond, it's China ... Around the world right now, China is really beating up the U.S. and advancing their vision of meritocracy over democracy, their vision of human rights versus the American vision of human rights, and maligning the U.S. about Covid-19 response. We have been tied up in our own politics. We've kind of missed how China has really advanced abroad."[44]
In January 2013, Watts founded Miburo Solutions,[45] a boutique consulting firm focused on the detection of and response to foreign information operations. On June 14, 2022, Microsoft announced they entered an agreement to acquire Miburo.[46] The acquisition completed on July 1, 2022.[47] As part of the acquisition, Watts joined Microsoft as General Manager, Digital Threat Analysis Center (DTAC).[48]
He testified as an expert witness about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, in a March 30, 2017 hearing before the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.[13][14][49] His testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee was well received, and made multiple headlines.[13][21]Slate referred to him in a headline as: "Clint Watts, Testifier Extraordinaire", and "The star of March’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing".[3]CNN profiled him after the testimony in a piece "Russia investigation: Who is Clint Watts", where it was noted he gained knowledge in the field of Russian cyber hacking methods, after himself being a target in 2015 following his "Trolling for Trump" article; the FBI notified the Foreign Policy Research Institute of the attack.[2]Salon compared his testimony "follow the trail of dead Russians" to John Dean's statement about "a cancer on the presidency".[18] This phrase in testimony by Watts was highlighted by the media, including CBS News,[17]The American Interest,[19] and The Oregonian.[50] U.S. Senator Ron Wyden found the comment important to his investigation.[51]Mark Shields of PBS NewsHour found his testimony "compelling",[52] and CNN called it "blistering".[53]Jennifer Rubin wrote for The Washington Post that his testimony "laid out the most comprehensive look at the array of tools Russia used to influence our election".[54] After his testimony, he appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and explained ways the U.S. can better respond to cyberwarfare.[26][34] Currently, he is a consultant and contributor to MSNBC.
Watts, Clint (2018), Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News, Harper, ISBN978-0062795984
^ abcdeDougherty, Jill (2 December 2016), "The reality behind Russia's fake news", CNN, retrieved 2 December 2016, Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University
^ abcde"How Russian trolls influenced the U.S. election", Vice News, April 3, 2017, retrieved June 4, 2017, his candid testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 30 grabbed headlines. He answered questions about how these types of FBI counterintelligence investigations work, Russia's attempts to influence the U.S. election
^"Witness' blistering words about Trump", CNN, March 30, 2017, retrieved June 4, 2017, Clint Watts, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, says President Trump used active Russian measures against his opponents during the 2016 election.
