How Many Current or Former Members of Our Government Are Loyal to Putin?

I fear that when I learn the truth about how many members of our government are Russian agents, even I will be shocked. When I began to look into Trump’s past and discovered facts he continues to deny, I began to find other connections between Putin, his oligarchs, and our elected officials.

First, I learned that although Trump told his cult that “he never met the man,” referring to Putin, after an invitation from the KGB in 1987, he and his first of three wives, Ivana, traveled to the Russian Capital. Putin had already been a member of the Russian spy agency for 12 years and was undoubtedly in attendance.

This led me to wonder how many other Americans had close relationships with members of the Russian government.

I won’t bore you with all of the connections between our elected officials and Russia, there are many, but look at this interesting “family tree.”

In 2016, Ted Cruz’s campaign to win the Republican nomination was financed by tech billionaire, Robert Mercer. Cruz’s chief strategist was Steve Bannon, and his campaign manager was Kellyanne Conway.

Mercer has been seen with several Russian oligarchs in various ports around the world when his yacht was anchored near the Russians. Mercer is an anarchist, who is well known as one of many super-rich Americans who would end our democratic republic. Mercer is also the primary supporter of the right-wing extremist blog and radio broadcast called “Breitbart.” Bannon was the executive officer of Breitbart for about a decade.

When Cruz’s campaign failed in the summer of 2016, Mercer took his money, Bannon, and Conway to the campaign of Donald John Trump. Although his campaign was in decline, it suddenly began to move forward. It was during this time that our security agencies learned of Putin’s interference in our election process in support of the orange puppet.

There is one more interesting fact attached to these Russian connections.

Although Trump and Cruz conducted vicious campaigns against each other, which involved the most egregious personal attacks against Cruz, his wife, Heidi, and his father, Rafael, calling his wife “ugly,” and accusing Rafael of aiding Lee Harvey Oswald in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Cruz campaigned for Trump and became one of his biggest supporters. Why would any real man do this? Ask Putin, and traitor Cruz.

After his illegitimate win in the Electoral College, Trump began to select his cabinet and executive advisory staff. His first selection was Bannon. He had the title of policy adviser. His first choice for Secretary of State was Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon.

I had to ask myself, “what qualifications did Tillerson have which made him eligible for such an important office? What I learned was very disturbing. Tillerson was a close friend and business associate of Vladimir Putin. At one time he was awarded the highest honor available to a non-Russian by the Russian president.

I had the same question about Trump’s nominee Wilbur Ross, the Secretary of Commerce. It took me just a few minutes to learn that Ross had been the CFO of the Bank of Cyprus. This bank is owned by Vladimir Putin.

When I asked how these two men could possibly have been confirmed without a single qualification, I learned that the Senate Majority Leader, Moscow Mitch McConnell, had received campaign contributions from at least two Russian oligarchs. Because “the truth lives here,” I began additional research.

Over four years Trump and Moscow Mitch quashed efforts to sanction Russia for its “declaration of war” in our 2016 election. Trump initiated multiple phone calls between himself and Putin which were not recorded over his four years pretending to be your president.

Recently I learned of Russian connections between Senator Ron Johnson and other Republicans. The latest was a former congresswoman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard.

Her support for Putin’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine parallels those of Fox’s fake journalist, Tucker Carlson. The Russian news agency, controlled by Putin, continues to broadcast comments from Gabbard and Carlson claiming support from the American people for Putin’s war crimes.

Where does it end? How many politicians who call themselves “Americans” are actually Russian agents?

This makes your vote even more important. With a little research, you can discover how the candidates offered to you in every state voted on the issues most important to you and yours. One source is “Real Clear Politics.com.” Take a few minutes and become an informed voter. Turn off the television and save your country’s future.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Daily Kos: Russia’s most prominent state propagandist apparently agrees that Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian agent
Politico Magazine: The Hidden History of Trump’s First Trip to Moscow; by Luke Harding

Images Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License