This story is indeed moving along faster than a hummingbird’s wings. The latest break is that George Santos has bragged on record about having gone to Moscow “many times in my career.” We believe him. It’s one of the few statements that the man has made that you can put some faith in.

The Daily Beast has an article up, connecting all the dots. George Santos has parroted Russian talking points, particularly about Ukraine, for quite some time. And well he should, they’re writing some big checks.

The cousin and cash handler for one of Russia’s most notorious oligarchs poured tens of thousands of dollars into electing a newly minted congressman-elect who called Ukraine’s government “a totalitarian regime.” […]

For much of his professional career, which included a stint as regional director at an alleged Ponzi scheme, the Republican used the name George Devolder. However, as he ventured further into the world of politics, he began to increasingly use the name George Devolder-Santos or simply George Santos. […]

But unreported until now is that by the time Devolder-Santos made these statements, his congressional ambitions had already received a $32,800 boost from a controversial figure linked to the uppermost echelons of the Russian regime—and that support would more than double in size during the months ahead.

The cash came from Andrew Intrater and his wife, who variously listed her occupation as “homemaker” and “analyst” for Falcon AI, one of her husband’s subsidiary firms.

Intrater’s main venture is today called Sparrow Capital, but it previously used the name Columbus Nova—and its primary function has long been to manage the investments of Intrater’s cousin, Viktor Vekselberg, one of Putin’s wealthiest and most influential courtiers. […]

So tightly intertwined is Intrater’s business with that of his relative, who snatched up swaths of Russia’s aluminum and fuel industries during the post-Soviet period, that Columbus Nova described itself in 2007 Securities and Exchange Commission filings as “the U.S.-based affiliate” of Vekselberg’s Renova Group. In fact, SEC records show that “Columbus Nova” was merely a trade name, and the company was in fact incorporated as Renova U.S. Management LLC until it rechristened itself Sparrow Capital in 2018.

The rebrand came just months after the Department of the Treasury froze almost all of the company’s assets for its tight ties to the heavily sanctioned Vekselberg. The following year, Intrater became a national figure when it surfaced that his firm had paid half a million dollars to longtime Trump fixer Michael Cohen, and the pair had exchanged hundreds of phone calls and text messages during the 2016 campaign.

I’m sure Michael Cohen will chime in on this at some point. And you see how deep the roots go, back to Trump’s 2016 campaign. Robert Mueller was right, “They’re doing it as we sit here,” meaning interfere with our elections.

Another election, another Russian asset in Congress. Are we going to put up with this?

I can’t see how George Santos simply walks into Congress, even a GOP-led House, and stays there, on these facts. Welcome to another trial by fire for democracy. The outcome of this particular case is going to be most instructive going forward. As stated earlier, I think that Tulsi Gabbard’s take down of Santos on Fox News was the Kremlin getting the hook and pulling Santos off stage. I really believe that is what’s going to happen.

 

 

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11 COMMENTS

  1. Resolving this mess properly is going to involve Republicans acting responsibly, ethically, and for the good of the nation.

    I don’t have high hopes.

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    • I don’t have hopes either, but with this latest revelation of Russian interference in our elections leaves me to wonder if the Russians were funneling cash for this guy who else got cash for their campaigns?
      I seriously doubt it was just him.

      • We already know who the politicians are who spent July 4 dining with Putin. They’re probably just a smattering of who is now bought and paid for by Russia.

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      • Indeed, not. Look at, for example, all of the Russian money that has flowed through the NRA to literally hundreds of pro-gun Republican candidates.

    • I suspect there are quite a few Republicans on Capitol Hill that have taken Russian money, albeit better laundered to hide the source than is the case here. Going back to 2016 and what I recall was damn near doubling of NRA donations to GOP candidates (and yes, Russia had their hooks into the NRA) is one way. The candidates can play the Sgt. Schultz “I know nothing!” routine which may or may not be enough. But there are surely other sewers Russian money went through, especially after Trump was in office. I for one don’t think it’s a coincidence that during Trump’s first year even the GOP slammed him in vote that gave Russia a rebuke, yet they (the GOP) became more tolerant of Russia, or at least Trump’s coddling/sucking up to that country.

      So in that sense this is a can of worms I’d imagine the GOP doesn’t want kicked over. If he had brain one Santos could milk this big-time, extracting a huge payout in some form for taking himself and his problem off the table. This is where McCarthy, as I noted in a comment in an earlier article is between the whole rock & hard place. He needs Santos vote for Speaker, but that means seating Santos and every day this drags on the worse it gets. I think you and others are correct that the Kremlin has the hook out. And that the GOP is trying to push Santos into it, especially if McCarthy isn’t going to get the gavel on the first vote. It’s a lot easier for them if he resigns before being sworn in. Maybe he doesn’t realize he’d have to serve multiple terms to qualify for a Congressional pension.

      • Very good and insightful posting.
        We are so far down the rabbit hole and about to go in deeper come 3 Jan I don’t see how we can survive as a “United” states. I guess that thinking is playing into their hands as ultimately that is what is the GOP goal, destabilize this country, it’s form of government and all it stands for to the point where they convince a lot of us (not ever me as I am a confirmed Skeptic) that we need to tear down and rebuild but that rebuild will be in their image, think Lady Liberty shrouded with an American flag holding bible. IOW American style Fascism.

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        • The United States will remain united, because there are no red states or blue states. Every state, every city, every street is some shade of purple. Too many people have roots in more than one state for any state to succeed.

          The Founding Fathers set things up so that the states would be too financially enmeshed for any to secede, They didn’t count on the North becoming industrial, dependent on European immigrant labor, and the South becoming agricultural, dependent on slave labor.
          Their interests diverged, and the South tried to secede.

          Since World War II, the national economy has merged the state economies too well for any section to separate now.

      • They changed their platform in 2016 to remove references that Russia didn’t like. They were already bought, they just hadn’t all realized it.

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