A staffer for Georgia gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams has resigned after he gave an interview with a Russian-headquartered news agency that is under FBI scrutiny.
Marcus Ferrell was interviewed on Sputnik News on Eugene Puryea’s podcast, By Any Means Necessary. Ferrell and Puryea were discussing the role that Confederate monuments will play in Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election.
Abrams, a Democrat, is hoping to become the nation’s first female, African-American governor.
In a statement to 11Alive, Abrams spokesperson Priyanka Mantha said, "This is a distraction from the real issues Georgians deal with every day: how to expand educational opportunity for everyone, and ensure families who work hard can get ahead, not just get by."
According to Yahoo News, the FBI has questioned a former White House correspondence for Sputnik News regarding whether the news agency has been serving as an undeclared propaganda arm of the Kremlin.
Abrams' campaign said it does not allow staffers to speak on the record with prior authorization. Once the campaign learned of Sputnik News' affiliation, Ferrell turned in his resignation.
Sputnik was launched in November 2014 by the Russian media group Rossiya Segodnya.
