RUSSIAN ROUNDUP: These are the GQP pols with the strongest links to Putin

When it comes to the Party of Putin, “Soft on Russia” is an understatement ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ {NAME}, As Putin’s war on Ukraine rages on, his Republican cronies here in the U.S. can’t seem to keep their mouths shut about it, delivering one garbage take after another during speeches, TV interviews, and on social media. This week, it’s Eric Trump’s weird flex about how his dad had “a great relationship with Putin,” while President Biden has “no relationship.” Last week, it was Madison Cawthorn calling Ukraine’s hero President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug” who runs an “incredibly evil” and “woke” government. Meanwhile, Kremlin documents have emerged that show Putin and his propagandists singing FOX News’s Tucker Carlson’s praises for the way he attacks American leadership while talking up the Russian regime. It's become more obvious than ever that the Republican Party is the Party of Putin. But who among them has the strongest links to the Kremlin and the oligarchs pulling the strings? Let’s take a look. The Trump Crime Family: This one was obvious, we admit. But it’s really shocking just how much evidence there is that the Trump family has been in Putin’s pocket since the very beginning of Daddy Trump’s political career: - As far back as 2014, Eric Trump boasted to a reporter that his family no longer needed American investors to fund their business ventures because “we have all the funding we need out of Russia.” - In 2016, GOP House Speaker wannabe Kevin McCarthy said he believed Donald Trump, then still just a candidate for President, was on Putin’s payroll. - Trump’s own ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, recently said he thinks Putin waited until now to invade Ukraine because he had been hoping for a second term for Trump, whom he saw as “doing a lot of his work for him” and “easing his path” toward a takeover of Ukraine. - Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was sentenced to almost a decade in federal prison after an investigation found evidence he was working with Russian intelligence to influence U.S. elections and policy for Putin’s benefit. (Trump issued him a full pardon in 2020.) - Multiple Russian nationals have been indicted for making millions of dollars’ worth of illegal contributions to Trump-affiliated PACs. That’s all before you even consider the Trump family’s ongoing public praise for Putin and their constant promotion of Russian disinformation on social media, both before and after the invasion of Ukraine! Madison Cawthorn: Cawthorn’s recent comments slamming President Zelenskyy as a “thug” were just the tip of the iceberg – he’s said since last year that he “doesn’t give a damn” whether Russia invades Ukraine and has praised the Russian military on FOX News. What’s more, he met his soon-to-be-ex-wife under shady conditions through a man he met at an illegal casino in Russia – the man lied to get Cawthorn to attend a fake CrossFit event, but when Cawthorn showed up, it turned out to be a setup – the only person there was a woman, whom he married 6 months later. (They filed for divorce after just 8 months.) Mitch McConnell: They don’t call him “Moscow Mitch” for nothing – back when he was Senate Majority Leader, he earned the nickname by repeatedly trying to undo sanctions on a Kremlin-linked Russian aluminum firm whose owner was under investigation for interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The owner had promised to build a large mill in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky if he could get the sanctions lifted, and his oligarch buddies funneled millions into McConnell’s PAC. (Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham were also beneficiaries of this flood of Russian money. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately As soon as Trump lost the 2020 election and the Democrats retook the Senate, the Russians froze the deal … probably because they realized McConnell was no longer in a position to give them anything they wanted. Marjorie “Traitor” Greene and Paul Gosar: The day after Putin invaded Ukraine, these two members of the January 6 Sedition Caucus spoke at an event sponsored by white nationalists where the host praised the invasion and the crowd cheered “Putin! Putin!” just before they took the stage. Since then, Greene (a known adherent of the QAnon conspiracy theory cult) has been blasting Russian disinformation all over social media, including baseless accusations that the U.S. and Ukraine were building biological weapons together in Ukrainian labs. Meanwhile, Gosar was one of just three members of Congress (all Republican) to vote against a resolution supporting Ukraine and calling for a cease-fire, and one of just a handful to vote against stronger sanctions against Putin including a ban on Russian oil. {NAME}, when one of our nation’s two main political parties has become this enmeshed with a hostile foreign dictatorship, that’s a national security crisis of epic proportions. We trust that the DOJ and our intelligence agencies are aware of the situation and working behind the scenes to address it. But in the meantime, it’s up to us to do our part to remove these traitors from office on election day – and make sure they STAY out. We can’t allow those who sympathize with – or worse, admire – a murderous, authoritarian thug like Putin to continue destroying our American democracy. [So please, chip in today to help No Dem Left Behind defeat the Party of Putin this November.]( Thank you for helping us defend democracy. --The No Dem Left Behind team P.S. Just $5 would go a long way in helping us accomplish our goals and keep updates like this running. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately No Dem Left Behind is a federal PAC focused on building a base of support for progressive values in rural America. 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