Washington's Russia Circus Comes for Jill Stein

[ehrnst]

Stein, who received enough votes to tip the scales for Trump in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, has long been a source of frustration among Democrats—and, for some, an object of suspicion. In 2015, she attended a gala in Moscow hosted by RT, the state-sponsored Russian media outlet, alongside Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Flynn, whose contacts with Russian officials are at the center of Mueller’s probe. Both sat at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s table during the event. Three months earlier, Stein met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Her running mate, Ajamu Baraka, has echoed Russian talking points about the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, which U.S. intelligence sources believe was shot down by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. (Stein herself has suggested that Russia was entitled to invade Ukraine, that NATO should leave Russia alone, and that the overthrow of former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych was a C.I.A. coup.) During the campaign, Stein made multiple appearances on RT.

What, if anything, this amounts to is unclear. Stein has signaled her willingness to cooperate and has denied that her campaign engaged in any untoward behavior. “Our communications with Russian individuals regarding an invitation to speak on international relations at the RT 10th anniversary media conference will confirm what we stated publicly at that time and since: that we did not accept any payment or even reimbursement for the trip,” Stein said in a statement on Monday. The news that the Senate Intelligence Committee is investigating Stein also prompted fierce pushback from some quarters on the left: “Regardless of what people think of Jill Stein or the Green Party, this Senate investigation sets a dangerous precedent,” warned Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill. Democrats are “strongly implying if not outright stating she’s a Kremlin agent: all because of a congressional inquiry,” wrote Glenn Greenwald, also of the Intercept. “They couldn't better replicate McCarthyism if they tried.” (WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, for his part, condemned the scrutiny as “a campaign of xenophobia and defamation to eliminate America’s left opposition.”)

For others, investigating Stein is just common sense. The Russia saga already features an ex-British spook who compiled a salacious dossier of allegations against a G.O.P. presidential candidate; a music producer who acted as an intermediary between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer; and thousands of stolen emails and multiple apparent Kremlin agents attempting to penetrate the Trump campaign. Could Russia have been encouraging Stein’s third-party campaign, too, even if there was no collusion? It’s a question around which Burr, a Republican, has found common cause with Democrats. If Stein, wittingly or unwittingly, helped to derail Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, the Senate Intelligence Committee would like to know why.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/12/senate-intelligence-committee-jill-stein-russia

[zipplewrath]

1. Hard to believe they didn't

Could Russia have been encouraging Stein’s third-party campaign, too, even if there was no collusion?

I'm not quite as pissed off at Stein and her supporters as most around here, but it is hard to believe that Russia would ONLY be involved in Trump's campaign and not be leveraging Stein's as well. Even if they were unaware, it would be easy for Russia to work social media to encourage interest in her campaign, and it doesn't seem it would be too hard to funnel cash there as well.

[crazycatlady]

2. IIRC Stein's 2012 campaign tried to derail Obama

I'm convinced Greens hate Democrats more than Republicans.

[ehrnst]

3. The 2016 election was proof. (nt)

[Blue_Tires]

4. We knew they'd come for her sooner or later...