Is Russia co-opting US far-right groups to attack western democracies?

Startling allegations that the Base's leader is a Russian spy lend support to claims of a Kremlin 'long game'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/10/us-far-right-groups-russia-links

 

7 Calls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtM-qzmKPZI

Campaign Puts Trump and the Spy Agencies on a Collision Course - The New York Times

As president, Donald Trump never trusted the intelligence community. His antipathy has only grown since he left office, with potentially serious implications should he return to power...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/12/us/politics/trump-intelligence-agencies.html

What Paul Manafort did, according to Mueller and a bipartisan Senate report - The Washington Post

Former president Donald Trump is preparing to bring back into his campaign fold a man convicted of multiple crimes and whom a bipartisan Senate report labeled a "grave counterintelligence threat" because of his ties to a Russian spy...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/19/trump-manafort-hiring/

MAGA Republicans caught COLLUDING With Chinese spy as fake whistleblower

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWmVWHA4oGU

Journalist traces the peculiar story of Steve Bannon's enigmatic Chinese benefactor (Dave Davies, Fresh Air podcast)

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos talks about the path of Guo Wengui, a billionaire who fled China and insinuated himself into the MAGA inner circle. But who is he really working for?

Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/20/1130184401/the-inscrutable-aims-of-steve-bannons-enigmatic-chinese-benefactor

The Suspected Chinese Spy Who Met With Trump — ProPublica

As often happens in counterintelligence cases, Liu remains an ambiguous figure: a con man, or a spy, or possibly both. People familiar with the case are suspicious about his ability to roam the world for years and his success at infiltrating high-level U.S. politics. 

 "Guys like this never do this kind of thing on their own," a national security source said. "They always do it for someone else."…

https://www.propublica.org/article/liu-tao-trump-meeting-china-investigation

A shocking CNN scoop confirms: Officials are defending our country from Trump - The Washington Post: Opinion

A key spy is pulled out of Russia because the president can't be trusted not to tell Putin.....
https://beta.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/09/shocking-cnn-scoop-confirms-officials-are-defending-our-country-trump/

'The Shadow War': How a Chinese spy stole some of the Pentagon's most sensitive secrets - CNN Politics:

To his American friends and contacts, Stephen Su was an affable businessman and gregarious guy. "People liked him," Bob Anderson, the FBI's former head of counterintelligence, told me. "They didn't think he was an asshole and I know that sounds stupid, but people are people and that's how it started."...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/14/politics/shadow-war-chinese-spy/index.html

Israel's election and crazy Mar-a-Lago spy stuff | Pod Save The World

Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes are discussing Israel's election, some absolutely insane spy stuff happening in Mar-a-Lago, Egypt, Brexit, and more.....
Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ5hdg8I6_g

Russian Flag Flies on Cathedral in English Town Where Ex-Spy Was Poisoned - NYTimes

The stunt came two weeks before the anniversary of a nerve-agent attack on a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/17/world/europe/russia-flag-salisbury-cathedral-uk.html

Justice Alito, you owe President Obama an apology - The Washington Post

Clearly, Obama was right about foreign entities trying to influence our political system. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/21/justice-alito-you-owe-president-obama-an-apology/

Here's why the Russian spy's cooperation agreement is HUGELY problematic for Trump and the NRA - Daily Kos

Russian spy Maria Butina has reportedly been struggling during her time in a U.S. federal prison. Butina's lawyers have repeatedly asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to order Butina out of the solitary confinement in which she is held and released into the general prison population. In late November, her lawyers said Butina is increasingly in poor mental health because of the isolation, but Judge Chutkan denied their request. ....
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1818459

Russian hackers were caught in the act — and the results are devastating - The Washington Post: Opinion

The Dutch have decided to blow the spies' operation wide open. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/russian-hackers-were-caught-in-the-act--and-the-results-are-devastating/2018/10/05/5e72495a-c8b5-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html

The Plot to Subvert an Election: Unraveling the Russia Story So Far - The New York Times

For two years, Americans have tried to absorb the details of the 2016 attack — hacked emails, social media fraud, suspected spies — and President Trump's claims that it's all a hoax. The Times explores what we know and what it means. ....
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/20/us/politics/russia-interference-election-trump-clinton.html

A Russian spy teamed up with her NRA pals to broker a bizarre 'Russian jet fuel' sale–wait, what? - Daily Kos

At every turn, we learn that the insane conglomeration of corruption, radicalism and just ridiculous grifting that now makes up the conservative movement is even more insane than we might have imagined. ....
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1792805

Accused Russian Agent Maria Butina's Story Reveals Pro-Putin Views In The U.S.

Washington Post investigative journalist Rosalind Helderman says Butina was welcomed by members of the Christian right and the NRA who had "become intrigued with Putin's Russia."
Interview:
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/26/632511302/accused-russian-agent-maria-butina-s-story-reveals-pro-putin-views-in-the-u-s

Who Is Maria Butina? The Story of Accused Russian Spy Who Infiltrated the NRA Before ’16 Election - YouTube

Last week a Russian gun rights activist named Maria Butina—who had direct ties with the NRA—was charged by the Justice Department with acting as an unregistered agent of the Russian government. She was arrested in Washington, D.C. as she was preparing to go back to Russia. Butina is accused of trying to infiltrate the NRA and other right-wing groups. Butina worked for the Russian banker Alexander Torshin, a longtime friend of the NRA who now serves as the deputy head of the Russian central bank. In January, McClatchy reported the FBI was investigating whether Torshin illegally funneled money to the NRA to help Trump. The NRA spent more than $30 million to help elect Trump—more than twice what it spent on Mitt Romney’s run in 2012. For more we speak with Greg Gordon, Washington Correspondent for McClatchy. His report in January with Peter Stone was headlined, ”FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump.” ...
Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ8JncuV8nA&t=29s

China Built an Army of Influence Agents in the U.S. - The Daily Beast

The Russians may be getting all the attention for influencing American opinion and policy. But Beijing has been at it for decades. ....
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-china-built-an-army-of-influence-agents-in-the-us

The NRA-Linked Russian Spy Who Isn't Donald Trump - YouTube

A Russian operative was caught cozying up to the NRA to further Putin's interests. No, not Trump, it was Maria Butina....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD8ssT-wsYk