Gone are the days when as my old Russian history professor described it the Dallas Morning News was “the house organ of the Republican Party.”
Ruth May, a global business professor at the University of Dallas, disentangles how Russian oligarch money has made it’s way into the campaign coffers of some of our heroes:
Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.
As she writes in her lead, “Party loyalty is often cited as the reason that GOP leaders have not been more outspoken in their criticism of President Donald Trump and his refusal to condemn Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Yet there may be another reason that top Republicans have not been more vocal in their condemnation. Perhaps it's because they have their own links to the Russian oligarchy that they would prefer go unnoticed.”
She then writes:
Recall how McConnell strenuously opposed Obama’s inclination to release information about Russian involvement in the 2016 election during the campaign. This may be one reason why.
Read it all here.
It’s rather encouraging that’s it’s not just the NY Times and the WashPost following the money.