Sick Plot Twist in Romanian Election Drama: Gov't Knew Own Marketers Were 'the Russians', Redacted the Name, Blamed Russia Anyway
"It's not the crime, it's the cover-up!" To hide their blunders, Romania's top leaders launched a fruitless witch hunt for Russians and "Legionnaires."
In previous stories, we explored why elections in Romania were canceled, who Mr. Călin Georgescu is, and how a series of political blunders turned him from a fringe stalking horse into a winning prospect. This piece delves into the cover-up that ensued – government deception, manipulation and repression – that has only fully come to light in recent days. At the heart of it all lies the decision to redact the name of the president’s party marketing agency in declassified reports, simply because their campaign was the only thing that sounded remotely tied to Russia.
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The decision to cancel ongoing elections was unprecedented in democratic countries and inconsistent with the Romanian Constitutional Court's longstanding standards.
The Court initiated action ex officio – a procedure intentionally excluded to limit its powers. It reversed its previous ruling that validated the elections, failed to involve a public prosecutor (mandatory by law), and claimed jurisdiction over matters it had previously dismissed. Moreover, after repeatedly ruling that intelligence reports should not be admissible in ordinary courts, it based its decision solely on such reports.
Yet, as the saying goes, "the Constitution is not a suicide pact." So, were the reports at least solid and conclusive, suggesting such grave danger that rules needed to be bent or broken?
In their redacted versions, they were only vaguely suggestive. In their unredacted forms, they certainly were not.
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The day Mr. Georgescu’s surprise first-round win, President Klaus Iohannis said there were no Russia or Russians. "The President of Romania did not receive any reports from state institutions regarding risks of influencing the presidential elections, external interference in the electoral process, or any suspicious manner of promoting the mentioned candidate on social media platforms," the Presidency initially stated in a press release that has since been deleted.
Then he changed his mind, summoned the Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) to discuss alleged Russian election interference and tasked four intelligence services with delivering reports. One week later they were declassified. Here's what they found.
Special Telecommunications Service (STS): Their report detailed some routine DDoS attacks that were successfully repelled. While the report was still classified, the STS issued a public press release denying any interference, sparking controversy by implying their findings had been misrepresented at higher levels. Indeed, once declassified, the report revealed no mention of "Russia" or "Russian."
External Intelligence Service (SIE): Their report provided a general overview of Russian cyber tactics and a history of election interference but included no case-specific data. Shortly afterward, news broke out that the Service director had used a private jet to attend Formula 1 races, prompting widespread calls for his resignation.
Internal Intelligence Service (SRI): Their first report analyzed publicly available data about TikTok accounts supporting Mr. Georgescu, with no reference to "Russia" or "Russian." A second report revisited the STS findings and SRI's own initial report, adding a speculative conclusion that a "state actor" may have been involved.
Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI): Their report presented some original intelligence, claiming that a campaign supporting Mr. Georgescu was "almost identical to" another campaign, run by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. This was the closest thing to a smoking gun that any service produced.
The MAI report, however, was the only one redacted before declassification. One such part, as it was later revealed, included the name of the influencer marketing agency that ran the campaign: Kensington. It is a widely known fact that Kensington worked for the president's own National Liberal Party.
But wait – was the ruling party colluding with Russia? That mere thought would turn the narrative of Russian interference on its head. When the report was unclassified, the redacted parts ensured that Kensington’s name, with all the implied connections to the PNL, was left out of public scrutiny.
Nonetheless, the president and his allies, fully aware of the unredacted truth, continued to publicly assert Russian interference, canceling the elections and raising alarms with EU and NATO allies about an alleged external attack on democracy.
For domestic purposes, however, the „Russian interference” narrative quickly became useless. Regime loyalists believed that something even more secret than the unclassified reports must justify the cancelation, but they were a minority. The government needed to find a more convincing reason for what they had done.
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Campaign financing seemed a promising avenue. After all, how could someone who declared zero expenses win so many votes? So far, there is no proof that Mr. Georgescu spent his own money or coordinated with those who did. Authorities uncovered two significant independent sponsors but subjected them to a glaring double standard.
Bogdan Peșchir: Known as @BogPR, Peșchir is a crypto millionaire who frequently finances viral TikTok content in exchange for alleged financial returns. He reportedly spent several hundred thousand euros on influencers supporting Mr. Georgescu. His name appeared unredacted in the SRI report.
His home was raided by a SWAT team, and police seized his laptops and cryptocurrency wallets, containing $7 million. He was interrogated but neither arrested nor investigated further, as no evidence linked him to direct coordination with Mr. Georgescu or with anything Russian, except for some Dostoevsky novels on his bookshelves, as he later claimed he joked with police.
Influencers paid by Peșchir were questioned, with media tipped off to cover the events. One incident escalated into a viral sensation when an influencer, @Makaveli, unleashed extreme profanity on live national TV, targeting CNN anchor Mihai Gâdea over perceived lack of journalistic integrity.
The other sponsor is Kensington, the company hired by the National Liberal Party to do the sneaky stalking horse campaign, using public funds earmarked for reimbursement. They too spent hundreds of thousands of euros on influencers supporting Călin Georgescu.
Unlike Peșchir, Kensington’s founders were neither raided nor interrogated. Police never even mentioned them, it was journalists who found out their name, from fiscal authorities. The "russian look-alikes", the smoking gun that got the elections canceled, were never bothered with a question.
When Kensington’s involvement became public, they claimed their campaign had been "hijacked" and went on to file a police complaint.
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In another turn of events, soon after the elections were canceled, police announced they had foiled a rebellion of Mr. Georgescu’s "Legionnaires."
The term "Legionnaires" has ominous connotations in Romania, evoking the proto-fascist Iron Guard. However, past claims of Legionnaire activity during political crises have invariably proven diversionary.
Still, it was quite a scare when police alleged that far-right paramilitary forces were preparing to storm the capital, armed and intent on staging a coup. Unnamed police sources claimed these "Legionnaires" possessed a list of politicians’ and journalists’ addresses for intimidation purposes.
In reality, police stopped a few cars and detained one individual, Horațiu Potra, a former member of the French Foreign Legion, hence the moniker "the Legionnaire".
Potra, hailed as a hero on public TV for his private military operations in Africa, had previously campaigned for PM Ciolacu’s Social Democratic Party. His link to Georgescu? The two had met on a few occasions, which Georgescu attributed to a shared connection through his security detail.
Police took him to court, his pocket knives, pepper spray and a "firearm" seized as evidence, demanding arrest, but the court refused outright. It so happened that the judge was a certified firearm expert. She quickly asserted that the weapon was really an airsoft pistol, and that it was broken anyway. Mr. Potra was released without charges, and the alleged list of victims was never heard of again.
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President Klaus Iohannis never came forward to address any of the issues, other than saying, "It must be the Russians," and remarking, "It's a bit unusual" that he was snubbed at a critical NATO meeting. He’s days past the end of his constitutional term, with some parties calling for his resignation. His aloof Facebook posts, Christmas message included, are met with a deluge of insults, adding to the injury of a single-digit approval rating.
Mr. Nicolae Ciucă, who was replaced as party head after his poor 8% result in the presidential race, claimed he had no idea where the money went. He stated that he didn't oversee payments and only found out about Kensington a few days ago, just like everyone else. However, he was adamant that there was no attempt to prop up Mr. Georgescu: "God forbid!" he said.
Mr. Marcel Ciolacu, who came in 3rd in the elections, was once again designated Prime Minister by President Iohannis and pushed his cabinet through with a slim majority. It was under his ultimate authority that police acted so heavy-handedly, but he has avoided the topic altogether. He also has yet to announce the new election day, as required by law.