Mike Pence’s Putin connection exposed
Reports this week confirm the Special Counsel is examining illegal donations funneled into the National Rifle Association, particularly from Russian politician Alexander Torshin. Mueller’s team is also probing the Republican National Committee to determine whether illegal foreign donations were made in exchange for a pro-Russia platform, and whether that money was funneled to President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the coffers of republican down-ballot candidates. Rick Gates, the former Trump Campaign Deputy Director and longtime business associate of Paul Manafort, recently announced his cooperation in a new plea agreement. Gates will now provide testimony to assist the Special Counsel’s investigation into direct ties between Trump and the Kremlin.
Vice President Mike Pence, who supervised Trump’s White House transition, insists he was oblivious to any campaign members’ involvement with Russia. The former Indiana Governor was hand-picked for the nomination by former Trump Campaign Manager, Paul Manafort. Manafort now faces a lifetime prison sentence, while investigators continue to probe his activities during the 2016 election, as well as his political consulting role for the now ousted, pro-Putin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort left the campaign in August 2016, after reports confirmed he illegally accepted $12.7 million from a pro-Putin Ukrainian politician. In October 2016, the Daily Beast reported Manafort continued to maintain communications with Pence well after the election, while also advising Trump with his selection of cabinet position appointees. Pence also supervised the appointment of Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor, despite being warned of the general’s ties to Turkey and Russia. Pence has also held a longstanding relationship with Blackwater founder and former Trump campaign advisor, Erik Prince, who’s also under investigation for his involvement in several nefarious negotiations with foreign officials tied to dark money groups.
Pence’s extreme Christian conservatism has not only earned him decades of Koch brother campaign donations, but has also captured the attention of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), which is directly controlled by Vladimir Putin. Putin has dedicated much of his presidency bolstering and expanding the ROC. After 70 years of repression, parts of the church were co-opted by the Soviet state, with many clergy becoming KGB informants. It has long been rumored that Kirill, the current Patriarch of the ROC, has KGB connections. Given that during the 1980’s, Putin served in the KGB’s Fifth Directorate, which was responsible for oversight of religious groups, it’s possible that the two men have known each other for thirty years. Kirill backed the invasion of eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, and was instrumental in the imprisonment of the protest Russian punk rock group, Pussy Riot.
In May 2017, Pence attended a Washington, DC conference hosted by Reverend Franklin Graham. Senior religious officials from the U.S. and Russia discussed ways to unite against the global persecution of Christians, promising to improve Russo-American relations. Mr. Alfeyev, an Oxford-educated Russian cleric who met with Pence at the summit, said he felt optimistic about strengthening ties between the two countries. In their speeches to the conference, both Alfeyev and Pence agreed Russians and Christians in the Middle East were suffering genocide, and stressed the need for international action to fend off the threat.
Putin’s shaping of the Russian Orthodox ideology parallels that of extreme Christian fundamentalism. A fervent foe of homosexuality and any attempt to put individual rights above those of family, community or nation, the ROC helps project Russia as the natural ally of all those who pine for a more secure, illiberal world free from the tradition-crushing rush of globalization, multiculturalism, and women’s and gay rights.
Gina Bradbury is a freelance writer with 20 years experience working in both the federal government and private sector. She is active in grassroots advocacy for progressive policy.