US conspiracy influencer hides ties to Russian FSB officer with Wagner past
Elizabeth Leine, a rising MAGA influencer spreading conspiracy theories, has concealed a close personal connection to Dmitry Grizdak, a Russian FSB officer who previously served in the Wagner mercenary group.
Rapid rise to fame
Elizabeth Leine, virtually unknown a year ago, has quickly gained a following among right-wing American media personalities such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. She regularly promotes conspiracy theories and speaks with a vaguely European accent. Last year, Leine publicly called America "the cancer of the world."
Hidden Russian ties
Investigative reporting has revealed that Leine has a close personal link to Russia. She removed an episode of her show that featured a particular guest, likely to conceal his identity. That guest is Dmitry Valentinovich Grizdak, a Russian special forces (spetsnaz) operative who also works for the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB.
Grizdak's background
Grizdak was born on January 6, 1982, in Sverdlovsk and holds Russian passport number 4513 050102. Between 1998 and 2004, he was registered at an address in Moscow (Michurinsky Prospekt 25) that is also home to two FSB assassins linked to the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. Grizdak was attached to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's Akhmat battalion and later to the Wagner private military company founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
US visits
Between 2014 and 2016, Grizdak visited the United States at least four times, raising questions about how he obtained entry shortly after Russia's first invasion of Ukraine. After being contacted by investigators for comment, Grizdak completely deleted the contents of his Telegram account.
