On Wednesday, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford came to Capitol Hill with a stark warning: Russian cyber propagandists were capitalizing on the debate over the NFL anthem protests to sow division in American society.

"We watched even this weekend, the Russians and their troll farms, and their Internet folks, start hash-tagging out 'take a knee' and also hash-tagging out 'Boycott NFL,' '' Lankford said in a Congressional hearing.

The claim quickly reverberated around the media, with outlets ranging from Reuters to Breitbart to NBC News publishing stories on Lankford's comments. On CNN, journalists Jim Sciutto and Jessica Schneider reacted to the news with grim resolve.

"A lot of people turn to social media to educate themselves on issues," Schneider said. "But the Senator today warning be aware out there of what you see and read, because it may actually be the Russian propaganda machine at work on your computer."

"No question. We all have to be smarter about this," Sciutto replied.

But while broader Russian trolling efforts have been well documented by reporters and government sources, the only specific account Lankford's office named to support his claim is actually run by two young right-wing trolls from Oregon.

When the Washington Post asked Lankford's office for evidence to back up his statement, a spokespman referred them to the Twitter account of Boston Antifa, a fake left-wing group that had jumped into the debate over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality.

"More gender inclusivity with NFL fans and gluten free options at stadiums." Boston Antifa tweeted. "We're liking the new NFL #NewNFL #TakeAKnee #TakeTheKnee."

Boston Antifa's tweet listed its geotag as Vladivostok, Russia, which was seized on by some users of Twitter and Reddit as evidence that the account was run by Russian operatives who had failed to mask their location. Others cautioned against jumping to conclusions, pointing out that it is trivially easy to set a fake location for a tweet.

And Boston Antifa's operators, who falsely took credit for hanging an anti-racism banner at Fenway Park earlier this month, have identified themselves as pranksters from Oregon who find humor in provoking leftists, angering conservatives and fooling the media.

Their Youtube account, which used to feature parodies of progressivism including a recent polemic on how fidget spinners could trigger PTSD in hurricane victims, now hosts just one video -- with a Russian title. Both the group's Twitter and Facebook accounts have been removed, but the groups' interview with right-wing talk show host Gavin McInnes remains online.

In that video, Brandon and Alexis -- the account's operators -- describe their antifa characters as an Andy Kaufman-style longform prank and identify themselves as Oregon residents, in unaccented American English.

"For some reason a lot of people seemed to buy it up," Brandon said to McInnes. "I don't think any of them should feel bad, because the real people are so ridiculous anyway."

A source close to Lankford acknowledged in an email that the Boston Antifa account may not be linked to the Russian government, but maintained that there was a high likelihood it was connected to some Russian entities, based on information collected by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Lankford's office declined to elaborate on what evidence ties Boston Antifa to Russian influence campaigns.

"Because of the nature of the Senate Intelligence Committee's classified work, we do not disclose our methods and analysis on issues like this," a spokesman for Lankford wrote in an email. "Senator Lankford's hearing statement was based on the Committee's monitoring of Russian troll farms for nearly a year."

It is true that Russian-linked groups have a well-accepted history of attempting to intrude on Americans' digital lives. In 2015 -- well before the start of the 2016 presidential campaign -- the New York Times Magazine documented a Russian "troll farm" that spread disinformation and propaganda in the U.S. And government investigators have tied the Russian government to the email hacks of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, in addition to other influence operations.

And the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a group that tracks social media activity linked to Russian influence campaigns, found that the NFL was the number one topic for such accounts last week. The group cautions that the accounts it tracks, which it does not identify, are not necessarily Russian propaganda agents; rather, they frequently promote messaging friendly to the Russian government, either intentionally or unintentionally.

But public evidence of Boston Antifa's ties to Russia is scant, and their stated goal is to provoke outrage for their own amusement.

Their antics have tricked conservative and mainstream media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, Townhall, RT, Gateway Pundit and Reuters. Independent Journal Review writer Benny Johnson dedicated a story to aggregating the fake pages' most controversial social media posts, under the headline "Alleged Boston Antifa thanks Hillary Clinton, Democrats for their support as they burn American flag."

Correction: Sen. Lankford's comments were made on Wednesday, not Thursday, and the CNN journalist who commented on the hearing was Jim Sciutto.