Senate Russia Investigation Expands to Include Jill Stein
Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is being investigated for possible collusion with Russia, The Washington Post reported.
Stein attended a 2015 dinner in Moscow, which former national security adviser Michael Flynn — who pleaded guilty earlier this month making false statements to the FBI regarding his interactions with Russian officials — also attended.
A picture from the event shows Russian President Vladimir Putin sitting next to Flynn and across the table from Stein.
Jill Stein cooperating with Senate Intel Committee's probe into Russian meddling https://t.co/XLzkOHUfPm… pic.twitter.com/eM0G2e3oOU
— The Informer (@The_lnformer) December 19, 2017
The dinner was sponsored by Russian television network RT and Stein said in a statement that she “made the trip with the goal of reaching an international audience and Russian officials with a message of Middle East peace, diplomacy and cooperation against the urgent threat of climate change, consistent with long-standing Green principles and policies.”
“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 the time and since: that we did not accept any payment or even reimbursement for the trip,” Stein explained, according to CBS News.
The investigation into the former Green Party candidate indicates that the Senate intelligence probe will more than likely continue well into 2018, despite Democrat claims that Republicans are pushing to finish the investigation by the end of the year.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has “two other campaigns that we’re starting on,” Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina told reporters. One of those campaigns is Stein’s.
In September, Politico reported that Stein was the beneficiary of at least one of the political ads Russia bought to influence the 2016 election.
“Choose peace and vote for Jill Stein. Trust me. It’s not a wasted vote. … The only way to take our country back is to stop voting for the corporations and banks that own us. #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein,” the ad read.
In her book “What Happened,” Hillary Clinton said the votes for Stein “may well have thrown the election to Trump.” Clinton specifically pointed out that Flynn, Stein and Putin had attended the same dinner in 2015.
Former Clinton campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson echoed Clinton’s sentiments.
“Russian operatives were not promoting Jill Stein because they thought she could win,” Ferguson said. “They were promoting her because they thought it would hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump.”
Stein said she would cooperate with the committee, but warned against the investigation being used to “intimidate and silence principled opposition to the political establishment,” according to The New York Times.
“We strongly support legitimate inquiry into any illegal activity in our elections — including quid pro quo deals, money laundering, corruption and violence of campaign finance laws,” Stein said.
“At the same time, we caution against the politicization, sensationalism and collapse of journalistic standards that has plagued media coverage of the investigation.” (For more from the author of “Senate Russia Investigation Expands to Include Jill Stein” please click HERE)
Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
