Russian Official Courted American Conservatives Since 2009 — Including Sarah Palin
NPR has the big get:
Kremlin-linked Russian politician Alexander …Ω traveled frequently between Moscow and various destinations in the United States to build relationships with figures on the American right starting as early as 2009, beyond his previously known contacts with the National Rifle Association.
Documents newly obtained by NPR show how he traveled throughout the United States to cultivate ties in ways well beyond his formal role as a member of the Russian legislature and later as a top official at the Russian central bank. These are steps a former top CIA official believes Torshin took in order to advance Moscow’s long-term objectives in the United States, in part by establishing common political interests with American conservatives.
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Torshin’s earliest known visit to the United States was in 2009, when he requested a meeting with former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin — a request that has never before been reported.
An email from the former Alaska governor’s archives, released because of a public records request from activist Andree McLeod and posted online en masse by then-Alaska Dispatch News reporter Richard Mauer, shows how Torshin made the approach through the Russian ambassador to the U.S., who was then-Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
An aide wrote to Palin in May of 2009: “You had received a request to call the Russian Ambassador regarding a proposed visit by Mr. Alexander Torshin… Torshin will be visiting Alaska on June 6, 2009 and we have asked the Lt. Governor to meet with him.” Neither the Russian Embassy nor Palin responded to a request for comment.
Putin? Attempting to cultivate powerful American “useful idiots” for at least a near-decade? You betcha!
