Ex-Rand Paul aide pardoned by Trump is charged with funneling Russian money into 2016 election
:A former campaign staffer and the grandson-in-law of US Senator Rand Paul who received a presidential pardon from former President Donald Trump has been charged with directing Russian money into the 2016 presidential election, according to the US Department of Justice.”
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How Putin’s oligarchs funneled millions into GOP campaigns
US sanctions on Russian oligarchs miss richest of rich
State bankruptcy furor shakes up McConnell reelection bid
‘GRIM REAPER’ MITCH MCCONNELL ADMITS THERE ARE 395 HOUSE BILLS SITTING IN THE SENATE: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO PASS THOSE’
Oligarch Overload – How Ultra-Rich Donors Have Flooded American Politics With Cash Since Citizens United
U.S. Readied Sanctions on Russian Oligarch’s Associates—Then Mysteriously Backed Off
Senate GOP blocks three election security bills
Musk, Bloomberg, Bezos: America’s aristocracy of tech robber barons lives by its own rules
For the third time this year, GOP rejects election-security bill
August 3, 2017:
GOP campaigns took $7.35 million from oligarch linked to Russia
The impeachment hearings are a battle between oligarchy and democracy
An Impeachment Witness Shows How Republicans Are Helping Putin
Election Hackers Altered Voter Rolls, Stole Private Data, Officials Say
Giuliani associate can be questioned under oath about Republican money transfers, judge says
The Dark Heart Of The Impeachment Investigation Is A Powerful Oligarch — With Close Ties To Vladimir Putin
Trump Threatens to Veto Bill on Foreign Influence in Elections
Maria Butina Receives Hero’s Welcome in Moscow
Senate Republicans block two election security bills
David Correia, Who Was Indicted With Giuliani Associates, Is Arrested
Indicted Giuliani associate worked on behalf of Ukrainian oligarch Firtash
DOJ: Ex-Manafort Associate Firtash Is Top-Tier Comrade of Russian Mobsters
Senator: Oligarch linked to Kremlin earned millions while fighting extradition to U.S.
Two Unofficial US Operatives Reporting To Trump’s Lawyer Privately Lobbied A Foreign Government In A Bid To Help The President Win In 2020
Two Giuliani Associates Who Helped Him on Ukraine Charged With Campaign-Finance Violations
Kevin McCarthy Is Donating the Cash He Took From Rudy Giuliani’s Indicted Pals
McConnell campaign touts Chao’s meetings with Kentuckians
Democrats in Congress are getting things done. Trump and Republicans are just ignoring them.
Mitch McConnell: The Man Who Sold America
NRA Was ‘Foreign Asset’ To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Reveals
McConnell changes position and backs $250 million for election security
McConnell, Decried As ‘Moscow Mitch,’ Approves Election Security Money
Why did McConnell choose Thursday to support election security?
Breaking: Republican FEC Commissioners Block Investigation into NRA Russian Ties in 2016 Election
RUSSIAN-LINKED COMPANY INVESTING IN ARIZONA HAS DEEPER TIES TO RUSSIAN MOBSTERS THAN PREVIOUSLY UNDERSTOOD
As FEC Nears Shutdown, Priorities Such As Stopping Election Interference On Hold
FEC Republicans block efforts to investigate NRA’s financial ties to Russia
FEC’s Chair Says GOP Members Blocked Probe into ‘Blockbuster’ Claim Involving Russians, NRA
The secrecy of Russia’s election interference
Mitch McConnell, the ‘do nothing’ Senate leader
Joe on Mitch McConnell’s inertia on gun control legislation: ‘What is his legacy?’
McConnell Whines About ‘Moscow Mitch’ Nickname: It’s ‘Over the Top’
McConnell: ‘Over-the-top’ Moscow Mitch nickname effort to ‘smear’ me
REPUBLICANS BLOCK FOURTH ELECTION SECURITY BILL DESPITE MUELLER’S WARNING RUSSIA IS INTERFERING ‘AS WE SIT HERE’
This is the gun control legislation Mitch McConnell won’t allow senators to vote on
Trump must back gun legislation before Senate will vote: McConnell
McConnell has a long history of opposing gun legislation in the wake of tragedies
Literally!
New questions about ‘Moscow Mitch’ and Russian company
McConnell Said No to Money for Miners, Yes to Russian-Backed Plant
“COINCIDENCE NUMBER 395”: THE N.R.A. SPENT $30 MILLION TO ELECT TRUMP. WAS IT RUSSIAN MONEY?
The NRA Has Thrown $1.6 Million At Mitch McConnell To Block Expanded Background Checks
McConnell’s new posture toward Moscow
“It was also unrelated, no doubt, to the fact that Len Blavatnik, a Ukrainian American whose firm owns 22.5 percent of Rusal, contributed $3.5 million to the McConnell-affiliated Senate Leadership Fund between 2015 and 2017, making McConnell his top recipient. Blavatnik — whose partner in the Rusal investment, Putin-allied oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, has also been hit by U.S. sanctions — gave millions more to other Republicans and to Trump’s inauguration. (Another Rusal owner, Russian state-owned VTB Bank, is also under U.S. sanctions.) “
This video might make you mad:
GOP campaigns took $7.35 million from oligarch linked to Russia
Lindsey Graham, Russian Oil Money & A Campaign Finance Scandal
NEW: NRA Admits Financial Support From Russian Official Reportedly at Center of FBI Investigation
NRA in crisis: how the gun group became ensnared in the Russia inquiry
OpenSecrets – NRA
Mitch McConnell lashes out on Senate floor about ‘Moscow Mitch’ accusation
Why is Mitch McConnell blocking election security bills? Good question.
Perhaps????
Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset
Kentucky is asking Mitch too ….
(Some dirty words – Samantha Bee)
New questions about ‘Moscow Mitch’ and Russian company
Mitch McConnell should explain why he obscured Russian interference in our election
Kentucky sports radio host plans book-length rebuke of Mitch McConnell
SNOPES: Mitch McConnell Blocked New Bipartisan Panel From Investigating Russian Hacks?
Mixture
About this rating
What’s True
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled during a 19 December 2016 television interview that he doesn’t believe it is necessary to set up a special committee to investigate reported Russian hacks during the 2016 election.What’s False
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mitch-mcconnell-blocked-investigating-russian-hacks/
Making the comments during an interview are not the same as formally blocking the panel; McConnell also said he believes existing congressional intelligence committees, which are bipartisan, are capable of carrying out the investigation.
“… he doesn’t believe it is necessary to set up a special committee to investigate reported Russian hacks during the 2016 election.“
December 19, 2016 C-Span: Senator Mitch McConnell Interview
The Craven Power Politics of Mitch McConnell
He blocked a bipartisan statement on Russian hacking before the election, but now belatedly joins senators asking for a probe.
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-craven-power-politics-of-mitch-mcconnell/
Congressional Democrats want review of Russian investment in Braidy’s Kentucky mill
This week, Rusal and Braidy said their respective boards of directors had approved the deal, which is slated to close by June 30, according to a joint news release. The Russian company also has said it intends to supply aluminum for Braidy’s mill from a smelter that’s under construction in Siberia.
From Friday: Court rules Bevin must give Braidy investors’ names to Courier Journal
The U.S. previously placed sanctions on Rusal, as well as co-owner Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch. The sanctions on Rusal as well as En+ Group, its parent company, were lifted earlier this year.
Kentucky’s senators, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, joined other Republicans in voting down a measure in January that opposed ending those sanctions.Now, eight congressional Democrats have expressed concern about Rusal’s investment in Braidy’s planned mill — citing the fact that parent company En+ is “substantially owned by individuals and entities with close ties to the Russian government” — in a letter they sent Thursday to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a copy of which the New York Times included in its report on their request.
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/companies/2019/05/17/kentucky-braidy-industry-congress-democrats-want-review-russian-investment/3704124002/
Russian-backed Kentucky mill makes PR push amid Democratic concerns
James Madison and our Founding Fathers envisioned a nation governed by a Representative Government
Political Representation
1.1 Delegate vs. Trustee
Historically, the theoretical literature on political representation has focused on whether representatives should act as delegates or as trustees. Representatives who are delegates simply follow the expressed preferences of their constituents.James Madison (1787–8) describes representative government as “the delegation of the government…to a small number of citizens elected by the rest.” Madison recognized that “Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.” Consequently, Madison suggests having a diverse and large population as a way to decrease the problems with bad representation.
In other words, the preferences of the represented can partially safeguard against the problems of faction.
In contrast, trustees are representatives who follow their own understanding of the best action to pursue. Edmund Burke (1790) is famous for arguing that Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests, which interest each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; but Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole… You choose a member, indeed; but when you have chosen him he is not a member of Bristol, but he is a member of Parliament (115).
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/political-representation/#KeyComPolRep
In an Oligarchy, There is NO Representation, Delegate OR Trustee
Mitch McConnell Received Donations from Voting Machine Lobbyists Before Blocking Election Security Bills
‘Mitch McConnell is a Russian’ trends after GOP senator blocks election security bills
Mitch McConnell, the man who broke America
We are being ruled by the oligarchy of big donors, talk radio and @FoxNews
Rules for Rulers:
Checks and Balances requires someone to care enough to care.
HMM!
A Swamp Story: Trump Encouraged a Foreign Official to Back a Donor’s Business Deal
Companies that funded Trump’s inauguration came up big in 2017
Republicans like this demonstrate the party’s intellectual collapse
An Emergency for the G.O.P.
The day Citizens United v FEC decision was announced @KeithOlbermann nailed it
The “Citizens United” Decision and Why It Matter
Leadership PACs
All Expenses Paid – How Leadership PACs Became Politicians’ Preferred Ticket to Luxury Living
The Humiliation of the Freedom Caucus
DowDupont Lavishes Campaign Cash On Politicians Who Voted Against a Ban on its Blockbuster Pesticide
When does @realDonaldTrump attack @senatemajldr over Kentucky’s poverty @GOPChairwoman ? @gop ?
Most & Least Federally Dependent States
1 New Mexico 85.81
2 Mississippi 81.46
3 Kentucky 78.76
