But yeah, I'm sure this is all a coincidence. Like Tulsi herself says, she's doesn't control her Russian benefactors (though we can't say that they don't control her)!
What does all this have to do with Bernie Sanders? Gabbard a former supporter of Bernie's (and has red-hot hatred for Sanders's arch-nemesis Hillary Clinton), and Bernie has just today decided to return the favor by defending Gabbard against the very credible public evidence that she is a Russian asset.
So, first of all, no.Tulsi Gabbard has put her life on the line to defend this country. People can disagree on issues, but it is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset.— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 21, 2019
And second of all, this is as good a time as any to point out some of Bernie's own Russia connections. After all, we believe in full disclosure, right?
Tad Devine, Pro-Russia Political Strategist: Bernie Sanders's chief strategist for the 2016 campaign, Tad Devine, also worked for pro-Russia Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych both pre and post Yanukovych's successful 2010 presidential campaign, until Yanukovych was ousted by the Ukrainian parliament and fled to Russia in 2012. Devine's partner in that campaign was none other than Donald Trump's former campaign chair and felon convicted in the Trump-Russia scandal, Paul Manafort. Devine was so close to Manafort's work for Russia that prosecutors called him to testify in Manafort's trial!
Interestingly, Devine produced Bernie's 2020 launch video and continued to work for him until he was let go shortly after his testimony in the Manafort case.
The Mueller Report was absolutely clear on who the Russian favorites were in 2016, and it wasn't just Donald Trump. Directions came down from the Kremlin-directed "Internet Research Agency" (also indicted by Mueller) that Hillary Clinton was the number one target but other candidates should also be criticized, except, and this is a quote, "except Sanders and Trump - we support them."
Connection to RT: During the 2016 primary, not only did the Kremlin propaganda channel RT provide Sanders fawning coverage, Bernie Sanders gave them at least three interviews himself. Vladimir Putin himself attended RT's 10th anniversary dinner and was seated at a table with Jill Stein of the Green party and Donald Trump's first National Security Advisor, Mike Flynn. In 2017, RT registered in the US as a foreign agent.
WikiLeaks: Russian-backed WikiLeaks chose opportune moments to selectively release DNC emails stolen by Russians to benefit Sanders and Trump, and although the emails showed nothing incriminatory, Bernie Sanders took every opportunity - as much as Donald Trump did - to use them to bash the Democratic National Committee and to make it look like the Democratic primary in 2016, in which Hillary Clinton trounched him by 4-million votes, was "stolen from him.
Bernie supporters were easy targets for Russians: Bernie supporters were key targets of Russian social media election influence operation, and that has been proven by many research organizations. “I think there is no question that Sanders was central to their strategy. He was clearly used as a mechanism to decrease voter turnout for Hillary Clinton,” said one researcher from Clemson University. The research was part of an extensive article in the Washington Post chronicling Bernie Sanders's role as a Russian asset, witting or not.
Bernie Sanders repeatedly voted against Russian sanctions: Bernie is all about quid pro quo, I mean, returning the favor.
Sanders voted against the Magnitsky Act in 2012 - a law that allows the United States to keep Russian oligarchs from using the US banking system and sanction them while Russian aggression around the world continues. It was the Magnitsky Act that famed Russian lawyer with dirt on Hillary Clinton, Natalia Veselnitskaya, reportedly really wanted to get rid of in her meeting with Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner at Trump tower. Interestingly, Tulsi Gabbard's "crisis communications" consultant is the same one who was paid by Veselnitskaya to trash the Magnitsky Act.
Sanders reveresed course on the Magnitsky Act in 2015 before he ran for president, but went missing when Democrats tried to prevent Trump from lifting sanctions on Russia. Requiring 60 votes to pass, the measure got only 57, meaning Bernie Sanders's vote - and a little elbow grease - could have been crucial to passage.
In June of 2017, Congress voted overwhelmingly to impose sanctions on Russia and Iran. The vote in the Senate was 98-2. The two 'Nay' votes? Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders.
I don't know about you, but right now, Bernies defense of Tulsi sure looks like one Russian asset covering for another after the person Russia fears the most, Hillary Clinton, blew their cover.
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