The Russians Colluded Not Just With Trump, But With the Entire GOP

A Russian spy named Maria Butina, who has been arrested and charged with espionage in an attempt to sabotage American democracy, established a secure back-channel for Republican Senators and House members to coordinate their campaigns with high Russian officials.

In an affidavit filed by Kevin Helson, an FBI Special Agent, Butina is accused of filtering millions of Russian dollars through the NRA to GOP (Government of Putin) candidates in the U.S. Congress in an effort to defeat their Democratic opponents. Helson’s affidavit states that Butina was successful in “securing a very private line of communication between the Kremlin and [Republican] party leaders through…the [National Rifle Association].”

Once established, the back channel, presumably, provided a means by which Republican congressional leaders could have privately strategized for ways to win the 2016 U.S. elections–through social media propaganda, through the use of Russian bots and memes to deceive American voters, and through targeted media-ad buys with the money provided by Russian donors. This was the very blueprint that the Trump campaign used to win the White House. It is now apparent that Russians were bent on gaining control of Congress as well as the White House.

The NRA’s acceptance of Butina as an active member of the pro-gun organization is now seen as a dubious maneuver. It is possible that the NRA knowingly colluded with Butina to help undermine the integrity of U.S. elections.

To reiterate, it is illegal for any foreign power to sabotage any U.S. election through any means–with money, with propaganda, or through direct communication with candidates or their agents. And any U.S. citizen who aids and abets such efforts is committing treason,a crime that is subject to the death penalty.

This indictment casts a new light on GOP senators’ July 4th visit to the Kremlin. They were reaffirming their loyalty to Putin and Russian oligarchs, and, in essence, tacitly reassuring Moscow that they want to continue their “back-channel” conspiracy to maintain control of the U.S. Congress.

I finally know what MAGA means: it’s a concerted effort to transform the United States of America into the United States of Russia.

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