Dirty CONS: McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and more. Ukrainian/Russian-owned. The research!

[calimary]

A little bit of digging that could pay off now - AND LATER, when certain republi-CONS might think they're presidential material:

A report about one Len Blavatnik, an individual with US and UK citizenship, Ukrainian (OF COURSE!!!)-born billionaire who's friends with Russian oligarchs close to Putin, Oleg Deripaska in particular. Doling out some "6.35 million dollars to republican candidates and incumbent senators, using two holding companies, Access Industries and A1 Altep Holdings."

If the above report is true, then ol' Mitchy-boy is bought and paid-for. Linked to Putin. ($3.5 million)

So is Lindsey Graham. ($800K)

So is Marco Rubio. (1.5 million)

So is John Kasich. ($250K)

So is Scott Walker. (1.1 million)

So was the now-deceased John McCain (the low-ball on the list, only $200K)

Here's a report from the Dallas Morning News - from August of 2017 (!!!!! - NOBODY's picked up on this!!!!) :

Party loyalty is often cited as the reason that GOP leaders have not been more outspoken in their criticism of President Donald Trump and his refusal to condemn Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Yet there may be another reason that top Republicans have not been more vocal in their condemnation. Perhaps it's because they have their own links to the Russian oligarchy that they would prefer go unnoticed.
Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.
During the 2015-2016 election season, Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonard "Len" Blavatnik contributed $6.35 million to leading Republican candidates and incumbent senators. Mitch McConnell was the top recipient of Blavatnik's donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik's holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documents and OpenSecrets.org.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/tangled-web-connects-russian-oligarch-money-gop-campaigns

on edit -
Emphasis is mine.

GUYS! NOTE!!!!! THIS IS IMPORTANT, AND YES, I'M SHOUTING!!!

Look at that "dishonor role" of republi-CONS. I'm thinking specifically of John Kasich. JOHN KASICH is on that list, taking dirty money from a dirty Putin-connected/Oleg Deripaska-connected Ukrainian billionaire. JOHN KASICH is gonna run for president someday. Just watch! He's already considered a prime candidate and a somewhat "nice, normal, old-fashioned 'respectable' GOPer." He's already in the top tier for 2024 and onward. Some even have already asked him about running in 2020 to try to primary trump. HE'S DIRTY, TOO!!!! HE'S a wholly-owned subsidiary TOO!!! Don't forget this in the years ahead! We can head him off at the pass with info like this!

"Little Marco" can also be undone by this. He's got lots of presidential ambition. Same thing for Scott Walker.

(From a post in another thread:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11656970 )

[calimary]

1. Just wanted you to know. Knowledge is POWER.

And forewarned IS forearmed.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[BSdetect]

3. Wondering what it will take to remove these aholes from power?

More that we can muster.

[Achilleaze]

4. republicans sold out America to the Evil Empire*

* russia, according to ronald freaking reagan (R)

[Traildogbob]

40. Not just politicians!!

Fox noise and right wing media have their fingers in the Russian cookie jar. I am extremely excited about my birthday gift, February 7th, for the "Say's Who" testimony before congress. Shawn Hannity has his head planted so deep up tRump's ass, he has to have been on the pay role. Don't forget Hannity was one of two of Cohen's clients. Sing bird sing!

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

5. Wow. Great OP.

Good to get some figures. mitch isnt fooling anyone. He's jamming up the country bc he's going to be in a jumpsuit.
Orange is his new black.

[calimary]

11. I have seen reports that he's received 2.5 million, and not 3.5 million.

Nevertheless, that's STILL seven figures, whichever way you slice it. Either 2.5 million dollars or 3.5 million dollars is about 2.5-3.5 million dollars too much.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

15. That's a lot of cabbage.

[Lucca2]

6. They sell their souls for so little.

Or, perhaps they have no souls and greed is all that motivates them. Disgusting.

[calimary]

9. Welcome to DU, Lucca2!

So little, so much, whatever. There's an old cliche that applies, anew, here:

"We already know what you are. Now we're just haggling over the price."

[Blue Owl]

7. The Neocomrades

n/t

[calimary]

23. And to every last miserable one of 'em in the next campaign, the question should be asked:

How much campaign money have you taken from Ukraine, Russia, or other such foreign sources?

And we should expect them to tap-dance and hedge and bob 'n' weave and try to change the subject. At which time we should be ready with facts. Like the ones that can cast serious shade on several GOP self-styled up-'n'-comers (Kasich, Rubio, and Walker, among others). AND it would likely mean any higher ambitions by dear little Lindsey Graham might not even get off the ground.

As Mad-Eye Moody often warned Harry Potter: "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!" and "You've GOT to KNOW!"

[1democracy]

8. why is this legal?

(que jaws music) We're going to need a bigger boatload of lawyers...

[Lonestarblue]

38. The money came from a US citizen.

The donor was a Russian who moved here and became a citizen, but donations increased a lot in 2016. Most likely, the money came from Russia but that might be hard to prove.

[kag]

53. GREED

The bane of our election system. We HAVE to pass an amendment to overturn the effects of Citizen's United. We have to get rid of PACs and SuperPACs.

The root of this entire shit show is GREED. Forget corporations (for now). Putin is able to use the entire GDP of Russia, and now Ukraine, to influence politics anywhere in the world...because GREED.

Sorry. I know this doesn't answer anyone's question, but it has been welling up since I started reading this thread. If these assholes had more concern for the people of the U.S. than for their own pocket books, we wouldn't be in this mess.

[Cracklin Charlie]

10. They all took the rubles.

Leadership passed it out like Halloween candy at the RNC.

My guess, only.

[NastyRiffraff]

12. This should be blaring from every media outlet

It explains a LOT of their behavior, especially McConnell and Graham. But all of them are dirty, and you're right, calimary, we need to know this.

[shraby]

13. Way to go Calimary. Good find.

[LiberalLovinLug]

14. I wish the MSM would start to focus on this

Such a danger in putting all their eggs in the Trump basket. All of a sudden the air will be let out of that giant orange balloon and they, and the public, will be left holding a piece of string that leads nowhere....

[watoos]

25. The M$M is not our friend.

This won't get covered. The NY Times spent a year and a half uncovering the Trump crime family corruption, the money laundering the tax fraud. The fact that Donald's daddy had to give him 400 million dollars to bail him out. This blockbuster expose' made the news cycle for 24 hours.

[ms liberty]

16. K&R. n/t

[BlueJac]

17. Great post and a must read!

TY

[calimary]

18. I posted this because I think it's GRAVELY important to make sure we take the White House

OUT of republi-CON hands. OUT, OUT, OUT. And as many statehouses as possible. And state legislatures. And of course the United States Senate. As well as keeping the House of Reps - or maybe even building a bigger and more insurmountable majority.

In 2020, we'll either have trump defending his so-called presidency, OR a new contender from the right or far right who primaried his ass and now takes the baton for the bigtime, alone.

SO WE BETTER BE READY FOR IT!!! Let's not just assume that because the Blue Wave materialized quite nicely last November, it'll just stay that way without careful watching, tending, and protecting. We have gains to protect from Washington DC to the Pacific. And we can't do anything about gerrymandering until we gain a whole lotta seats and governorships at the state level. We HAVE TO work towards solidifying a long-term Democratic majority. That's the ONLY way we're gonna be able to fix everything these greedy, short-sighted, deceitful assholes have broken! We can't just gain more power. We have to keep the bad guys OUT, OUT-OUT-OUT, of power. OUT-OUT-OUT-OUT-OUT. For as long as possible!

[WhiteTara]

19. Here's my column focusing on the Turtle.

http://eureka.news/free-parking-59/

snip
Mitch enters the story through his brother-in-law, Jim Breyer, a global tech venture capitalist. Mitch is married to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, and Jim’s married to her sister, Angela, CEO of the family’s shipping enterprise.

The story seems to begin in 2005 when Jim invested in Facebook and joined their board. At an international tech summit in 2009 he met Kremlin backed Yuri Milner, a Russian tech entrepreneur, along with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman (MBS).

[Pobeka]

20. For two years I've said McConnell et. al. are up to their necks in russian money.

Which explained his treasonous reluctance to investigate Trump -- because an investigation of Trump would turn up the McConnell/Russia connection too.

My outstanding question -- why did Paul Ryan bail out? He was two steps from being president, which could have happened with and impeachment and removal of both Trump and Pence, which was actually conceivable. What did/does Ryan know? Did he make a hidden deal with Mueller? Ryan must have also been on the russian dole.

[watoos]

27. And the Chou shipping line that got caught hauling drugs.

The fentynal comes from China, not over a wall in Mexico. It's sad that Mitch's in-laws are probably responsible for more drugs coming into this country than comes over a wall. Are there any decent Republicans in Congress?

[erronis]

31. Fentanyl from China via the McTurtles. Other opioids from Sackler/Perdue. Tainted $s from Russia.

It seems like there's a whole group gunning against the US population. Headed by (R)s and the dump mob.

Who is printing all these greenbacks that are flooding the market? Some may be legit sales profits but I'll bet a lot are totally illegitimate.

[LiberalFighter]

21. Any Supreme Court Justices? (Citizens United)

[onit2day]

22. I don't believe this republican cult cares.They want dominance at any cost.

[calimary]

24. They're starting to care (at least some of 'em). Some of them have noticed that they don't own

House of Reps anymore. And decisively so. By a margin of some TEN MILLION votes.

[Dustlawyer]

26. One of the biggest reasons yet to eliminate the legalized bribery that is our campaign finance

system!

FU John Roberts and your partisan cohorts!

Did any of the Russian money make it through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and it's Institute for Legal Reform?

[2naSalit]

28. K&R

[Leith]

29. That's not the end of it

Ruth May wrote a follow-up in December, 2017.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/15/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns

How could these go unnoticed?!

[Mr.Bill]

30. I think (and hope)

That Mueller is onto all of this. That's why the investigation is taking so long.

A Chimpanzee could have headed up an investigation and found enough to impeach and remove Trump from office in about two weeks.

[BarbD]

32. This makes so much sense.

Mitch better lawyer up.

[enid602]

33. Maverick

Thank God McCain only accepted $200k, so he won’t have to be stripped of his ‘maverick’ status posthumously.

[GoCubsGo]

34. I am only surprised at how little some of these guys got.

I won't be surprised if we find out that Miss Lindsey got a hell of a lot more than $800 K.

[not fooled]

35. Yeah, a story that should get broad coverage

The only explanation for why it doesn't is that the corporate media are in the tank for the orange blob and his henchmen.

[debsy]

36. yup

I've been posting on this too. These guys (and probably a few gals in the GOP too) are all dirty, rotten cheaters. They couldn't win if they didn't cheat (and sell the country down the river).

I called McConnell's office a few times this week and stated how disgusted I am that he sold out his country in favor of the global criminal enterprise that includes - but is not limited to - Donny, Vlad, M bin S, KJU, and all their loyal butt lickers. I didn't use those exact words but...

[rainin]

37. I suspected this when all the 2016 republican presidential candidates

remained quiet about the russian interference in the elections. In a normal world, they would be crying foul. The only possible explanations for their silence are fear (kompromat) or greed ( $$$$$$ ).

[calimary]

39. Fear or greed - or BOTH.

"...just haggling over price."

[pnwmom]

41. I've posted this here before but it can't be posted too many times. Here is the 12/15/17 story,

updated on May 8, 2018.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/15/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns

Editor's note May 8, 2018: This column originally published December 15, 2017. New allegations about $500k in payments from a Russian oligarch made to Trump attorney Michael Cohen have placed it back in the news.

As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team probes deeper into potential collusion between Trump officials and representatives of the Russian government, investigators are taking a closer look at political contributions made by U.S. citizens with close ties to Russia.

Buried in the campaign finance reports available to the public are some troubling connections between a group of wealthy donors with ties to Russia and their political contributions to President Donald Trump and a number of top Republican leaders. And thanks to changes in campaign finance laws, the political contributions are legal. We have allowed our campaign finance laws to become a strategic threat to our country.

SNIP

[hedda_foil]

47. More dirt from the update include Mnuchin.

In total, Blavatnik, Intrater, Shustorovich and Kukes made $10.4 million in political contributions from the start of the 2015-16 election cycle through September 2017, and 99 percent of their contributions went to Republicans. With the exception of Shustorovich, the common denominator that connects the men is their association with Vekselberg. Experts who follow the activities of Russian oligarchs told ABC News that they believe the contributions from Blavatnik, Intrater and Kukes warrant intense scrutiny because they have worked closely with Vekselberg.

Even if the donations by the four men associated with Russia ultimately pass muster with Mueller, one still has to wonder: Why did GOP PACs and other Trump-controlled funds take their money? Why didn't the PACs say, "Thanks, but no thanks," like the Republicans said to Shustorovich in 2000? Yes, it was legal to accept their donations, but it was incredibly poor judgment.

McConnell surely knew as a participant in high level intelligence briefings in 2016 that our electoral process was under attack by the Russians. Two weeks after the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a joint statement in October 2016 that the Russian government had directed the effort to interfere in our electoral process, McConnell's PAC accepted a $1 million donation from Blavatnik's AI-Altep Holdings. The PAC took another $1 million from Blavatnik's AI-Altep Holdings on March 30, 2017, just 10 days after former FBI Director James Comey publicly testified before the House Intelligence Committee about Russia's interference in the election.

And consider Steve Mnuchin, Trump's campaign finance chairman. Could he have known that the Trump Victory Fund, jointly managed by the Republican National Committe and Trump's campaign, took contributions from Intrater and Kukes? Mnuchin owned Hollywood financing company RatPac-Dune with Blavatnik until he sold his stake to accept Trump's appointment as the Treasury secretary.

Which PAC officials are making the decisions to accept these donations?

[True Blue American]

42. Told you Kasich is not that

Nice, Christian man he portays on TV!

After getting his head handed to him by Voters trying to kill public Unions, he then gutted Public School Funding to build up a rainy day fund and push money at this friends 70 Charter Schools.

So many scandals the Legislature voted to over see them. In the last budget he cut so deep the Legislature put the money back.

Yet the fools in Ohio voted for DeWine and Husted.

[Baltimike]

43. knr

[Amaryllis]

44. Not party loyalty. It's all about protecting themsleves from exposure of their own

corruption and ties to Russian money.

[EricMaundry]

45. Len B owns the Warner Music Group

Atlantic Records
Warner Bros Records
Rhino Records
Warner Chappell Publishing

Next time you buy some music from these labels, think about where your money is going.

[hedda_foil]

46. Calimary, there's an updated version of the Dallas News piece from mid 2018.

More info and more characters.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/15/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns

[dalton99a]

50. +1

[karin_sj]

52. I just read the whole article

... and my brain hurts. It’s so obvious and plain to see that the Republican Party is bought and paid for by Putin and his mega-wealthy oligarchs. And it’s been obvious for a very, very long time. In the meantime, Trump is dismantling and destroying our country, bit by bit. I just hope to God that all of this comes out when Mueller finally presents his report.

[UpInArms]

48. Thank you, calimary ...

I have been shouting about this forever (it seems) ....

McTurtle... two words .... Merrick Garland ... he has been in on this from the getgo

[Marcuse]

49. Follow the NRA money.

[link:https://www.worldpress.org/article.cfm/nra-money-to-congress|

[marieo1]

51. Dirty money

Why isn't the media reporting this? This needs to be broadcast in huge bold print!!! They report all kinds of nonsense and something as serious and important as this they just keep quiet!! I am talking about CNN, USA Today and of course, Fox!! Most citizens would consider this to be criminal and something we all need to know. We need a big 'expose' on all of them and it needs to be in giant headlines in all newspapers!!

[cannabis_flower]

54. Too bad..

I didn't see Ted Cruz's name in there. Or John Cornyn's.

[malaise]

55. Great post

Rec

[TwistOneUp]

56. One of the most ...

One of the most infamous anti-semitic diatribes in existence, "The Protocols Of Zion", was written by a Madame Blavatnik, who was Ukranian.

Knowledge is power. Forewarned is forearmed.

[TwistOneUp]

57. What about Nunes? The guy that stymied subpoenas? How much did that crook take? nt

[calimary]

58. THAT is an EXCELLENT question, TwistOneUp!

[TwistOneUp]

59. Thanks!

While I'm not in his district (I'm in SF), I've heard he has "foreign investors" in his operations.

[calimary]

60. It would surprise me not at all.

We now know there’s a bunch of ‘em with - um - “foreign investors”.

Lookin’ at YOU, Mitch.

Lookin’ at YOU, Lindsey.

Lookin’ at YOU, Marco Rubio.

Lookin’ at YOU, Scott Walker.

Lookin’ at YOU, TOO, Bob Kasich.


https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/tangled-web-connects-russian-oligarch-money-gop-campaigns

And

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mavenroundtable.io/theintellectualist/api/amp/theintellectualist/news/mcconnell-received-3-5m-in-campaign-donations-from-russian-oligarch-linked-firm-93UjehU6aUCtejJRBFezCw/

And

https://mavenroundtable.io/theintellectualist/news/lindsey-graham-received-campaign-donations-from-firm-tied-to-russian-oligarch-pavoDoUI-U6je1HgaF2sag/

[Hermit-The-Prog]

61. k&r -- Russiapublicans shouldn't be able to hide