Story highlights They posted on websites such as The Washington Post and The New York Times

"The 'House of Cards' element is new. We hadn't heard that before," Isikoff said

Washington (CNN) Yahoo correspondent Michael Isikoff said on CNN's "New Day" Monday that Russians who worked for a St. Petersburg "troll factory" were required to watch Netflix's "House of Cards" to help them write messages that would influence Americans against their own government.

He was referring to a story he wrote, published on Sunday , in which an interview broadcast in Russian with a former member of the troll factory revealed the Russians were part of President Vladimir Putin's campaign to influence the 2016 election.

The independent Russian TV station Rain interviewed an agency worker identified as "Maksim" who said the troll factory, formerly known as the Internet Research Agency, targeted Americans in the comments section of popular websites with messages slamming Hillary Clinton about her family's past scandals as well as the scandal of her private email server.

They were also required to post about guns and gays, while mentioning religion. They were never to mention Russia or Putin and they were instructed to use VPNs, or virtual private networks, to disguise their Russian origin.

Read More