“For the love of money is the root of all evil.” – Timothy 6:10, KJV.

By Glen Reaux

This article is a re-posting of the February article, “The Republican Senate, Putin’s Payola Part 1.”

When you read the title of this article, you may have thought to yourself a number of things and in no specific order, things such as, “it’s catchy but it can’t be true.”  Or, this writer is some kind of conspiracy nut, the author is imagining things, it is an exaggeration or just another outrageous headline meant to grab your attention.  We live in America and this is impossible!  Well, let me burst your bubble.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The famous author, Mark Twain stated: “Truth is stranger than fiction.”  This axiom is an icon of American culture.  Twain later added to the statement.  The revision reads, ‘Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”  Herein lays the basis for this article’s title.  The truth that Vladimir Putin has bought and paid for the presidency is only surpassed by the fact that he also owns the Republican leadership led by Moscow Mitch McConnell.  And, this in itself poses a puzzle that makes the truth almost impossible for you to believe.  After all, the fact that America, “the land of the free and home of the brave” has all of these constitutional checks and balances is a guarantee against dictatorships and a coup d’état.  America is not a banana republic, right?  Get ready for a surprise. After reading this article, Moscow Mitch, Putin’s Bagman Part 1, we at Xplicit News dare you to follow our research and prove us wrong. If you can, we will gladly apologize to Moscow Mitch and publish a retraction.

If America is worse than a banana pepublic is true, why isn’t it all over the news?  The answer to that question is, It Is.  The news media has done their job, in part.  They have placed the dots on the paper.  Unfortunately, for two reasons, they will not draw the lines needed to connect those dots for you.  First, they are prohibited from doing so.  To tell the truth in a certain way would draw the ire of right-wing media sources and the criticism of academics from major universities, many of whom have been on the payroll of the elite and corporate America since the August 23, 1971, release of the Powell Memo¹.  This 47-year-old document was commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and written by former Nixon Supreme Court appointee Lewis F. Powell Jr., just prior to his confirmation to the bench.  The Powell Memo is the blueprint responsible for the social engineering of this country.  It created the environment that has made it possible for greed to rule over democracy.  These institutions of the elite would destroy the credibility of the very news sources that you rely upon to live your lives.  Secondly, the media today exist because of advertising dollars.  Advertising dollars are provided by the same elitist institutions that funded and implemented the Powell Memo.  Without their dollars, the news media doesn’t exist.  Here at Xplicit News, we are not compromised by that set of circumstances.  As stated in our mission, we are here to provide “a factual look behind the curtain.”  That factual look is exactly what this article is.

This article is not making the assertion that the Republican leadership sat down at a table across from Putin, had tea and crumpets or drank vodka shots while smoking Cuban cigars and conspired to overthrow our government.  While Robert Mueller has obtained ample proof that something on that magnitude did happen between Trump and Putin, said conspiracy theory is not what this article is all about.  Instead, it is about the violation of Christian principles that the Republican Party says are at the very roots of their existence.  There is no proof in the public domain that I am aware of, that the Republican Leadership conspired with Putin and the Russians.  But there is proof that the Republican Leadership is made up of weak and flawed human beings that did not follow the teachings of the apostle Paul whose co-worker and companion Saint Timothy wrote:“For the love of money is the root of all evil.” (Timothy 6:10 King James Version).  This love of money fosters greed and greed creates addiction and an addiction to power made possible through the wealth accumulated from said love of money.  When you look at the Republican leadership through this biblical context, it then becomes possible to believe and understand how the supposedly unbelievable and impossible actually happened and proliferates today.  The proof is exhibited by their obvious conduct.

This article is not going to be a “bible thumping fire and brimstone” lesson in religion or humanity.  Quite the contrary, this article is a secular, fact-driven investigation that will provide to you, proof of their crimes as supported by listed sources.  In the beginning, their actual motivation was not treason.  Moreover, it was the love of money coupled with a lust for power, created by the implementation of the Powell Memo that circumstantially made Republicans vulnerable to compromise by Putin.  None-the-less, for their protection against detection, a web of deception had to be created.  Remember, these delusional men still think that they are patriots taking action on behalf of the nation.  Although Putin’s payola web, may not be obvious or easy to understand at this time, the facts will speak for themselves and they will open your eyes, to the truth that is hidden by your disbelief.

To bring their crimes into focus, you must first do two things. 1.) Make note of specific events and then ask why certain outcomes or results persist.  2.) Follow the money.  Doing so will enable you to identify the sources of the money and their intended destinations.  The rest is merely deductive reasoning.

In April of 2018, under extreme pressure from our NATO allies, the Trump administration announced economic sanctions would be placed on a list of Russian Oligarchs with close ties to Putin in retaliation for the Russian government’s use of nerve agents in an attack on British soil.  On this list of oligarchs is Oleg Deripaska, a long-time business associate of former Trump Campaign Manager, and now convicted felon, Paul Manafort.  Deripaska is the founder and majority stock-holder of the second-largest aluminum company in the world, Rusal. Two of his business partners are Putin’s state-owned bank VTB, which is currently under U.S. sanctions and Len Blavatnik, a dual U.S.-U.K. citizen and one of the largest donors to GOP political action committees during the 2015-2016 election-cycle.

Blavatnik moved to the U.S. in the 70s and returned to the former U.S.S.R. in the late 80s, just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of 1991.  The fall of the Berlin Wall, the resultant economic collapse and dissolution of the Soviet Union gave birth to the Russian Oligarchy and created the circumstances that facilitated the rise of Vladimir Putin to power.  It is this solitary event that Putin blames the west for and has ignited his quest for revenge.  If Putin is successful in accomplishing his revenge, a shift in the global geopolitical landscape will occur which may restore Russia to its former prominence on the world stage.  Enter Donald Trump and the Republican controlled Congress eager to make money and thanks to the environment created by the Powell Memo, ripe for compromise.  Putin seized the opportunity.

A very recent specific event to pay close attention to happened on December 19, 2018, the Trump administration announced that it was lifting sanctions on Deripaska’s business interests, Rusal, its parent company En+ and JSC EuroSibEnergo.  The removal of these sanctions allowed for Deripaska to make billions of dollars and sent a signal to Putin that, America no longer has a backbone.  Almost immediately, the democratically controlled House led by Nancy Pelosi was joined by 130 Republicans in passing a resolution by a 362-53 symbolic vote rebuking Trump. The opposition in the Senate was led by Democratic Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer.   Leading the charge to lift sanctions was Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin.  On January 15, 2019, a motion carried with 57 votes including 11 Republicans.  The Senate motion opened the way for a debate on the lifting of the sanctions.  The Republican senators who voted with the Democrats were John Boozman of Arkansas; Susan Collins of Maine; Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Steve Daines of Montana; Cory Gardner of Colorado; Josh Hawley of Missouri; John Kennedy of Louisiana; Martha McSally of Arizona; Jerry Moran of Kansas; Marco Rubio of Florida; and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

On the following day, January 16^th, led by Mitch McConnell, the Senate approved the lifting of the sanctions on Deripaska’s companies.  Members of the Republican leadership that voted in favor of lifting the sanctions included Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, John Thune, John Barrasso, Todd Young, Roy Blun and James E. Risch. Texan Ted Cruise and freshman Senator Mitt Romney also voted in favor.  Deripaska’s business partner Len Blavatnik with an estimated net worth of $20 billion has made millions of dollars in contributions to Mitch McConnell and many other Republican Senators.

In taking a microscope to this specific event which involved Trump, Steve Mnuchin and the Republican controlled Senate, you have to follow the money to be able to connect the dots.  The dots start with convicted felon and former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, connects to his business associate Deripaska, the line is drawn from there to Blavatnik (Deripaska’s business partner), then Blavatnik’s holding companies Access Industries and Al Altep Holdings and it terminates at Trump, Steve Mnuchin and the Republican controlled Senate.  These connections are illustrated in a brilliantly documented report published on December 15, 2017, by the Dallas News².

According to the report which includes data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), through Access Industries, Blavatnik made a $1 million contribution to President Trump’s inaugural committee.  Blavatnik contributed a total of $3.5 million to a Political Action Committee (PAC) associated with Senator Mitch McConnell, $1.5 million to the GOP Senate Leadership Fund PAC in the name of Access Industries and another $1 million in the name of Al Altep Holdings during the 2015/2016 election campaigns and in 2017 another $1 million.  This is a grand total of $7 million contributed to the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell since 2015.  Blavatnik also contributed another $800,000 to the Security is Strength PAC associated with Lindsey Graham.   Prior to accepting the office of Secretary of the Treasury, Trump campaign Finance Manager, Steve Mnuchin had to sell his ownership stake in the Hollywood finance company RatPac-Dune which he co-owned with Blavatnik.  It is obvious from the Senate’s endorsement of Trump’s anti-American activities that, the money paid by Blavatnik to these individuals has been a compromising force which has bought for Putin, a lot of political power in our government and a guarantee against impeachment for his Manchurian Candidate, President Donald J. Trump.

On March 22, 2017, in an Associated Press exclusive³, the Associated Press reported that Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, began collecting $10 million a year in 2006 from Deripaska to advance Putin’s interests with Western governments.  This is another specific event which provides more evidence of Putin’s payola web involving Trump, Manafort and Deripaska.  This money trail goes as far back as June of 2005 and is proof that Putin has been planning and working on this government takeover for a long time.

Another specific event in this web of Putin-financed Republican corruption and deception is based upon following the money in the form of campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the Republican Party and its Senate membership.  In an episode straight out of a spy novel, Putin employed the use of an attractive, young, Russian female spy to infiltrate the Republican Party through its second largest contributor, the NRA.  The woman spy is Maria Butina.  On July 14, 2018, Robert Mueller’s team instituted a Criminal Complaint Filed Against Maria Butina⁴ in a plot to funnel money from Russia into the Republican Party using the NRA as a conduit.  On December 6, 2018, a Maria Butina Plea Agreement⁵ was reached whereby she pleaded guilty and agreed to help the Mueller investigation by informing on all parties that she was involved with.

The details of the Criminal Complaint Filed Against Maria Butina outlines her actions as a Russian agent in a conspiracy against the United States in conjunction with an official of the Russian Federation to advance the interests of the Russian Federation by exploiting personal connections with U.S. persons having influence in American Politics without the permission of the Attorney General and to infiltrate organizations active in U.S. Politics for said purpose.  This conspiracy included the development and use of contact lists of influential American Politicians, electronic communications such as emails, organizing events and trips in furtherance of the conspiracy.

End of Part 1

Part 2 – Maria Butina Plea Agreement, The NRA, Money Laundering, Citizens United, the Manchurian Candidate, Collusion by both the House and the Senate

Moscow Mitch Putin’s Bagman Part 2

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Linked Sources and Documentation

1. Powell Memo
2. Dallas News Report – https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/05/08/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns
3. Associated Press Exclusive – https://apnews.com/122ae0b5848345faa88108a03de40c5a
4. Criminal Complaint Filed Against Maria Butina
5. Maria Butina Plea Agreement

The Republican Senate, Putin’s Payola Part 2