Rand Paul

Senator from Kentucky, Son of Congressman Ron Paul

Rand Paul on Russian election meddling: ‘We all do it’ Politico By QUINT FORGEY 07/15/2018 Russian election interference.

Sen. Paul and Sen. Lee the only two senators who voted a Putin-friendly “no” on the inclusion of Montenenegro into NATO.@ManchuCandidate  Senate votes overwhelmingly to admit Montenegro to NATO Politico By ANDREW HANNA. 03/28/2017 “The treaty was originally expected to be ratified during the final days of the Obama administration. But the vote was delayed by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).”

“Rand Paul & Bernie Sanders only Senators to vote no (the two in 98-2) on the escalation of Russian sanctions in July, 2017. Paul seemingly keeps turning up like a bad penny when pro-Russian, Putin-friendly attempts to subvert consensus legislation happens” @ManchuCandidate.

Senate Joins House in Overwhelmingly Passing New Russian Sanctions NBC News  / Updated By Alex Johnson “The vote on the bill — which would also add sanctions against North Korea and Iran — was 98-2, with only Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., dissenting. The House passed the measure on Tuesday by 419-3. The bill targets Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and Syria, citing corruption, human rights abuses and weapons sales.”

Rand Paul’s Russian Connection Paul names controversial Kremlin expert foreign policy adviser Dimitri Simes The Washington Free Beacon BY:

“Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) has named as one of his key foreign policy advisers a controversial Russia policy expert with deep ties to the Kremlin.

Dimitri Simes, the president of the Center for the National Interest, and Ambassador Richard Burt, a member of the Center’s board of directors, are recent additions to Paul’s foreign policy advisory team, the senator told National Journal earlier this year.

For years, Simes and the center have provided a sympathetic platform for the Russian government in the heart of the D.C. policy establishment. Its ties to Moscow extend throughout the organization.

The advisory council of the National Interest, the center’s chief publication, includes Alexey Pushkov, a Russian Duma official recently targeted for sanctions by the U.S. government in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

Rand Paul’s Wild Flip-Flopping On Russia And Ukraine Forbes David Adesnik Contributor. March 11, 2014

McCain accuses Paul of ‘working for Vladimir Putin’ CNN Politics By Samantha Reyes, i March 17, 2017 “

Sen. John McCain accused Sen. Rand Paul of “working for Vladimir Putin” on the Senate floor Wednesday, leading some to wonder if the Arizona Republican had violated Rule 19, a Senate regulation evoked earlier this year when one senator imputes the honor of another.

McCain’s comments came after Paul objected to a resolution that would allow Montenegro to join the NATO alliance. McCain responded by lobbing accusations at his fellow GOP senator multiple times, both before and after Paul objected to the vote, though the Kentucky senator did not add additional defense Wednesday.”

What on earth compelled eight GOP lawmakers to flee America for Moscow on July 4?. Daily Kos Kerry Eleveld  July 05, 2018 “There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for making this trip and conducting these single-party negotiations, often in secrecy. Additionally, the GOP’s normalization of Putin—an autocrat who has robbed his country blind—is as shameful as it is inexplicable. After the closed-door discussions, Russian lawmakers even bragged about how cozy the meeting was, writes the Daily Beast. A Duma lawmaker later said “this was one of the easiest” sit-downs he ever had with American officials”

  • Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
  • Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)
  • Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)
  • Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
  • Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
  • Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
  • Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
  • Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX)

August 6, 2018: “Konstantin Kosachev, chair of the Council of the Federation Committee on Foreign Affairs, who is under U.S. sanctions, said that Rand Paul “has access to the top U.S. leadership, is close to Donald Trump, and we expect that we will be able to convey our signals through him. “Kosachev said after meeting with the US Senator. His words lead “RIA Novosti”.@JuliaDavisNews  IZ.ru

‘MSM wants us to cast Russia as an enemy & it’s wrong’ – Ron Paul to RT July 16, 2018

How Putin’s oligarchs funneled millions into GOP campaigns  May, Contributor Editor’s note May 8, 2018: This column originally published December 15, 2017. New allegations about $500k in payments from a Russian oligarch made to Trump attorney Michael Cohen have placed it back in the news.

Ron Paul, Father

Ron Paul Is Putin’s New Best Friend The former congressman from Texas is making a better argument for shielding the Russian president from blame than Kremlin TV. The Atlantic. LUCIA GRAVES. “Just days after the tragic crash of a Malaysian Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine, Western politicians and media joined together to gain the maximum propaganda value from the disaster. It had to be Russia; it had to be Putin, they said,” Ron Paul wrote in an editorial Sunday. “President Obama held a press conference to claim — even before an investigation — that it was pro-Russian rebels in the region who were responsible. His ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, did the same at the U.N. Security Council — just one day after the crash!”

Related Story: Inside Rand Paul’s Jewish Charm Offensive

Paul’s argument, which he first made in a Friday television appearance, was quickly picked up by the Kremlin-funded English language outlet Russia Today. And on Monday, the Permanent Mission of Russia to NATO, a group tasked with facilitating cooperation between Russia and NATO, tweeted out his column.

Ron Paul: Western politicians and media joined together to gain the maximum propaganda value from the disaster http://t.co/DjGLkpkbFE

— Russians at NATO HQ (@natomission_ru) July 21, 2014

It’s easy to see why they liked the piece. Politically, it’s a much sounder line of argument for protecting Russia from blame than what’s being reported on Russian TV (much of which is funded by the Kremlin), where conspiracies theories abound. One report promotes the idea that the airliner was already full of corpses when it took off from Amsterdam. Another claims the tragedy was somehow mysteriously the result of the Ukrainian military confusing MH17 for Putin’s presidential plane.”

Russia behind crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, investigators say PBS News Hour   World The Boeing 777 passenger jet was headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 passengers and crew were killed.

Prosecutors said in 2016 that the plane was shot down by a Buk missile fired from territory controlled by Russia-backed rebels, using a mobile launcher trucked in from Russia and hastily returned there. Thursday’s presentation went a step further by identifying the exact unit allegedly involved and more details of the rocket involved.

Investigators now say that their careful analysis of video and photos from social media and analysis of parts of the rocket found at the crash scene traced its journey into Ukraine and had given them a “fingerprint” identifying the rocket and where it came from. “This is an important piece of the puzzle.”  “All findings from this forensic investigation confirm the earlier conclusion of the JIT that Flight MH 17 was shot down by 9M38 series missile,” said Jennifer Hurst of the Australian Federal Police.”