RT just took over a C-SPAN feed for 10 minutes with no explanation
On Thursday afternoon, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took to the House floor to speak about the Securities and Exchange Commission. The scene was being streamed online by C-SPAN — until an uncharacteristically jovial jingle cut into the feed:
Here's the moment Russia Today took over the C-SPAN1 feed. Unclear what happened. RT aired for about ten minutes before C-SPAN1 came back. pic.twitter.com/mhWVgCoFxF
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 12, 2017
RT is Russia's state television network, and the symbolism of the official voice of the Kremlin interrupting the American cable channel dedicated to publicizing official government proceedings should likely send people reaching for their tin-foil hats. The clip was posted by Deadspin editor Timothy Burke, who said the interruption happened on C-SPAN's raw feed, and a Twitter user in Washington, D.C., corroborated Burke's clip. CNN producer Donie O'Sullivan, meanwhile, pointed out that C-SPAN's on-demand footage from the time in question shows no irregularities.
The network has yet to comment.
Update 4:26 p.m.: C-SPAN addressed the issue in a statement, which is included below.
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 12, 2017