"The senator from Kentucky (Rand Paul) is now working for Vladimir Putin." - Senator John McCain

[MelissaB]

Great reminder from Eric Garland

Only three senators voted against the Russia sanctions in both versions. Only one voted no twice: Rand Paul. I wonder why that is.

Link to tweet

McCain: Rand Paul 'working for Vladimir Putin'

By Jordain Carney - 03/15/17 05:17 PM EDT

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday accused Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) of working for Russian President Vladimir Putin after he objected to a treaty related to Montenegro.

"He has no justification for his objection to having a small nation be part of NATO that is under assault from the Russians," McCain said from the Senate floor.

"The senator from Kentucky is now working for Vladimir Putin."

More: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/324182-mccain-rand-paul-working-for-vladimir-putin

[MelissaB]

1. Rand Paul works with a RU-linked foreign policy advisor who works with Russia lobbyist Richard Burt.

Rand Paul’s Russian Connection
Paul names controversial Kremlin expert foreign policy adviser

BY: Alana Goodman
August 20, 2014 9:59 am

Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) has named as one of his key foreign policy advisers a controversial Russia policy expert with deep ties to the Kremlin.

Dimitri Simes, the president of the Center for the National Interest, and Ambassador Richard Burt, a member of the Center’s board of directors, are recent additions to Paul’s foreign policy advisory team, the senator told National Journal earlier this year.

For years, Simes and the center have provided a sympathetic platform for the Russian government in the heart of the D.C. policy establishment. Its ties to Moscow extend throughout the organization.

The advisory council of the National Interest, the center’s chief publication, includes Alexey Pushkov, a Russian Duma official recently targeted for sanctions by the U.S. government in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

More: http://freebeacon.com/politics/rand-pauls-russian-connection/

[MelissaB]

2. Richard Burt was the guy brought on by Jeff Sessions to write a Russia-friendly speech at the RNC.

Lobbyist advised Trump campaign while promoting Russian pipeline

Richard Burt helped shape the candidate's first foreign-policy speech while lobbying on behalf of a Moscow-controlled gas company.

By Ben Schreckinger and Julia Ioffe

10/07/2016 05:06 AM EDT

A Republican lobbyist was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote one of Vladimir Putin’s top geopolitical priorities at the same time he was helping to shape Donald Trump’s first major foreign policy speech.

In the first two quarters of 2016, the firm of former Reagan administration official Richard Burt received $365,000 for work he and a colleague did to lobby for a proposed natural-gas pipeline owned by a firm controlled by the Russian government, according to congressional lobbying disclosures reviewed by POLITICO. The pipeline, opposed by the Polish government and the Obama administration, would complement the original Nord Stream, allowing more Russian gas to reach central and western European markets while bypassing Ukraine and Belarus, extending Putin’s leverage over Europe.

Burt’s lobbying work for New European Pipeline AG, the company behind the pipeline known as Nord Stream II, began in February. At the time, the Russian state-owned oil giant Gazprom owned a 50 percent stake in New European Pipeline AG. In August, five European partners pulled out and Gazprom now owns 100 percent.

This spring, Burt helped shape Trump’s first major foreign policy address, according to Burt and other sources. Burt recommended that Trump take a more “realist,” less interventionist approach to world affairs, as first reported by Reuters. Trump’s April 27 speech sounded those themes and called for greater cooperation with Russia.

More: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-campaign-lobbyist-russian-pipeline-229264

[MelissaB]

3. Burt most likely brought The World's Dumbest Triple Agent, Carter Page to Trump as the Putin messeng

Burt most likely brought The World's Dumbest Triple Agent, Carter Page to Trump as the Putin messenger boy. -Garland

The Mystery of Trump’s Man in Moscow

Reports of deep Russian ties swirl around Trump adviser Carter Page. Oddly, nobody in Russia seems to have heard of him.

By Julia Ioffe

September 23, 2016

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/the-mystery-of-trumps-man-in-moscow-214283

[MelissaB]

4. Rand Paul, my senator

I agree with @realDonaldTrump, his Attorney General should not have recused himself over reported incidental contacts with Russian officials

Link to tweet

[rufus dog]

5. Interesting

Paul certainly is a part of creating chaos and discord, perhaps that is his objective.

[MelissaB]

6. Rand Paul's Wild Flip-Flopping On Russia And Ukraine

Forbes

Rand Paul's Wild Flip-Flopping On Russia And Ukraine

What Rand Paul has been saying about Russia and Ukraine is much more confusing than it is isolationist. Days after Moscow’s pawn, Viktor Yanukovych, fled Ukraine, Sen. Paul wasn’t celebrating the triumph of the Kiev democracy movement, but telling the Washington Post, ”Some on our side are so stuck in the Cold War era that they want to tweak Russia all the time and I don’t think that is a good idea.” Paul said he wanted “respectful” relations with Russia.

Rand Paul 1.0

It was a strange position to take even then, before the invasion of Crimea. During the Ukrainian protests, the Kremlin had issued a constant stream of lies blaming US and European meddling for the entire conflict, while characterizing the protesters as fascists. Before that, Putin spent much of the past two years fanning the flames of anti-Americanism at home with an extensive propaganda campaign.

Yet rather than learn the facts, Paul preferred to indulge his taste for showmanship, flaunting a dovish, anti-interventionist position when the rest of Washington was already fed-up with Putin. He never figured out that Putin was the one still fighting the Cold War.

Putin Rattles the Sabre

Paul’s dovish line started to seem a bit embarrassing when men with assault weapons and unmarked uniforms began to seize control of parts of Crimea, while Russian troops mounted massive exercises just across the border. On Feb. 28, Paul issued a brief and eccentric statement. After a bit of blather about today’s “interconnected world”, Paul mustered this timid warning for the Kremlin: “Russia should also be reminded that stability and territorial integrity go hand in hand with prosperity. Economic incentives align against Russian military involvement in Ukraine.”

More: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidadesnik/2014/03/11/rand-pauls-wild-flip-flopping-on-russia-and-ukraine/amp/

[Blue Owl]

7. Comrand Paul

n/t

[peggysue2]

8. Have a feeling that . . .

John McCain has decided he has nothing to lose, no more f**cks to give, so fire away at Rand Paul, at the Trumpster and anyone else strolling along the Putin Highway.

Go get 'em, sir! Clarity at any stage of life is a blessing. And people will applaud the Maverick's return.

[Duppers]

9. K & R

[MrsCoffee]

10. Can't get more blatant than voting against sanctions at this point.

[onecent]

11. My god, we're probably going to find 40 to 50 people that are on the Russian side.....

This is going to be a killer. I bet there's some sleepless nights this weekend in DC.

[dalton99a]

12. Kick.

[MelissaB]

13. Rand's father is contributor to RT, the Putin-controlled network cited by US intelligence agencies a

Rand's father is contributor to RT, the Putin-controlled network cited by US intelligence agencies as Moscow's propaganda vehicle.

Link to tweet