In late September, Luther, a Chinese YouTube video blogger in the United States, sent a secret message to his nearly 200000 subscribers.
He said there were "three hard disks" containing explosive information about Hunter Biden, the son of US presidential candidate Biden.
The hard drives are said to contain evidence of hunt Biden's secret dealings in China and Ukraine, as well as sex videos with scenes of sexual abuse.
"One of our comrades in arms got it," Luther said on his show
Luther is a member of a group of Internet influencers led by controversial Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui (also known as "Miles Kwok") and former trump adviser Steve Bannon.
The two renamed their "disclosure revolution" the new federal state of China this year, and soon became the center of the hunt Biden laptop scandal.
The unconfirmed videos and photos they released are said to show that hunt Biden was "engaged in sexual and drug abuse". Because the source and essence of these materials can not be confirmed, most mainstream media in the United States did not report these accusations, but these videos and photos have been seen by tens of millions of viewers.
Former core members of the group told ABC that the group was "very, very dangerous for any country" and that its reckless dissemination of false information would seriously damage democracy.
John pan, a former core member of the group, said publicly for the first time that "[Guo Wengui's media] is spreading false information. I think this is an attempt to obstruct the US election. "
Bannon and Guo Wengui
Guo Wengui, a fugitive in China, fled to the United States in 2014 and claimed to be politically persecuted.
By developing real estate, he made billions in China, while in the United States, he runs online streaming platforms.
In June, Guo and Steve Bannon launched a radical campaign against the Communist Party of China, called the new China Federation, with branches in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Through various media channels, live rallies, flyers and spam email campaigns, the campaign played a role in promoting Guo's conspiracy theory and false information.
But his controversial strategy and many dangerous conspiracy theories that spread so much that critics question his real motives.
Guowengui's GTV media group is reported to be under investigation by the FBI and the securities and Exchange Commission.
His media partner Bannong was arrested by federal agents in August on Guo's yacht for fraud.
However, Guo and his supporters seem to form a united front.
They call it the "explosive revolution", a media movement that "exterminates the Communist Party" by any necessary means.
Dr. Anne Kruger, head of the Asia Pacific Department at firstdraft, the fact checking agency, studied the organization's operations and said its followers have made suspicious materials available online rampant.
"Their main strategy is to try to attract people who may resent the Communist Party of China and promote conspiracy," Dr Kruger said
Although their content is usually only disseminated in Mr. Guo's own media network, in some cases, it will also move to mainstream media.
One of the most successful activities of the organization was the spread of a non credible claim by a virologist that the covid-19 virus was deliberately created in a Chinese laboratory.
Recently, firstdraft researchers found that Guo's supporters mentioned the current widespread rumor when he began posting a scandal about Hunter Biden in late September.
In the next few weeks, Guo's website has spread rumors about Hunter Biden on the Internet.
"This is a few weeks from the crucial moment of the U
"I don't think it's strange to see them very opposed to the Communist Party of China and pro trump, because it's for their political purposes."
Within hours of the alleged sex video released by hunter Biden, twitter and Facebook suspended more than a dozen social media accounts controlled by Guo's group.
A political act of planning
Pan Linzheng, a former key insider of Guo Wengui's movement, also believes that the seemingly guilty but unverified information in hunt Biden's laptop released by Luther is a deliberate political move.
"Luther is Guo Wengui's number one propagandist. His channel is now supported by Guo Wengui, "said Pan Linzheng, who had been in the core circle of Guo Wengui's group until December 2019.
Mr. Pan, a Chinese immigrant living in Brisbane who later became a dissident, came to Australia in 2010.
In recent years, he has opened his own YouTube channel to host political debates on China's politics and human rights issues.
As a human rights advocate, pan Lin is immediately fascinated by Guo Wengui's unusual accusations of corruption among Chinese officials.
He said he thought at the time, "I think this person might be talking about something important. I should support him. "
A friend introduced pan Linzheng to Guo Wengui, and pan soon became a core member of Guo Wengui's inner circle. The people in this inner circle are all Chinese dissidents and social media celebrities.
The group, originally composed of 18 members, discussed how to plan a media storm against the Chinese Communist Party.
"We are talking about how to promote Guo Wengui's information and how to spread it to the whole world," Pan said. Whether it's true or not. "
Mr. Pan said Mr. Guo usually shares "new information" about corruption in China with his team and asks them to disseminate it on their respective networks.
Pan Linzheng said that one of Guo Wengui's favorite topics is to refer to a Chinese as a "Chinese spy".
For example, Guo Wengui instructed the group to name a Chinese woman living in the United States as a Chinese Communist agent, Pan said. At that time, there was no reliable evidence to support Guo's accusations.
"Guo Wengui would say," each of you should criticize her on your own channel. " And that's false information. "
Audio files leaked from the caucus meeting also show that Guo Wengui encouraged his main followers to spread rumors that martial law would soon be implemented in Hong Kong during the Hong Kong Democratic protest in 2019.
At that time, Guo Wengui shared a document he claimed to have obtained from "reliable informants within the Communist Party of China": "the martial law will restrict the movement of people in and out of Hong Kong... They will also clean up the U.S. and European institutions in Hong Kong and foreigners holding U.S. and British passports."
As the popularity of Pan Linzheng's video soared, some posts attracted thousands of people to watch, and he also left a deep impression on the New York based billionaire and Bannon.
In a private message to pan Linzheng, Guo Wengui filmed Bannon praising him and his program, and expressed his hope to make him a hero.
In the video, ban Nong said to pan Linzheng, "I hope to be on your program soon."
Bannon turned to Guo Wengui and said, "I really want to receive him when he comes, bring him to Washington, let him give a speech, and make sure there are a lot of audience You are really heroes. "
Zhuang Lihong, a dissident in New York and a former demonstration leader in Wukan, is another close ally of Guo Wengui, who has decided to speak publicly.
Zhuanglihong has expressed concerns about China's human rights record at the United Nations and the U.S. Congress.
According to the introduction, Zhuang Lihong met guowengui in 2017 and worked with guowengui every day for three months in 2019.
"He asked us to spread his heavy-weight bomb blasts, most of which were not verifiable, but because of my disgust for the Communist Party, I chose to trust him," zhuanghehong said
Mr. Guo has been boasting that he has "close ties" in the White House, Zhuang said.
"He always said he was meeting important people to make us feel like we were part of something big, just as we were affecting American politics," zhuanghehong said.
"But I was with him, and I knew he was just watching his phone and never met any politician.
"I think he's a liar."
Zhuanglihong said he regrets helping Guo Wengui now.
"I've seen through his real identity," he said. He will not do anything that is really good for democracy. "
Both Mr. Ban and Zhuang lie Hong sued Guo for libel in the U.S. court.
Guo and his representative in Australia did not respond to ABC's request for comment.