5 Times Democrats Tried To Work With The Russians To Swing Elections
The Democrats don't have the moral high ground here.
The Left has been screaming for Donald Trump Jr.'s head after it became known that he met with a Russian government attorney with the intent of obtaining opposition research on Hillary Clinton. While this was wrong (but not illegal), the Democrats aren't really in a position to lecture about Russia collusion since their party has a history of attempting to work with the Russians to swing elections.
Here are five times Democrats attempted to work with Russia to influence elections.
1. Former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) twice reached out to the Soviet Union for election help. According to Michael Reagan, Sen. John Tunney (D-CA), at the behest of his friend Ted Kennedy, lobbied the Soviet Union "to sabotage [Jimmy] Carter's foreign policy efforts," as this was during Kennedy's primary challenge against Carter in 1980.
"One 1980 document stated that Kennedy offered to condemn President Carter’s policy toward the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in exchange for KGB help," wrote Reagan. "News accounts of that period prove that Kennedy did, in fact, openly criticize Carter's Afghanistan policy."
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4. Bill Clinton pledged to support Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1996 if Yeltsin agreed "to clear up 'negative' issues." The Washington Times unearthed a confidential memo in 1996 that revealed the following:
The Democrats don't have the moral high ground here.
The Left has been screaming for Donald Trump Jr.'s head after it became known that he met with a Russian government attorney with the intent of obtaining opposition research on Hillary Clinton. While this was wrong (but not illegal), the Democrats aren't really in a position to lecture about Russia collusion since their party has a history of attempting to work with the Russians to swing elections.
Here are five times Democrats attempted to work with Russia to influence elections.
1. Former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) twice reached out to the Soviet Union for election help. According to Michael Reagan, Sen. John Tunney (D-CA), at the behest of his friend Ted Kennedy, lobbied the Soviet Union "to sabotage [Jimmy] Carter's foreign policy efforts," as this was during Kennedy's primary challenge against Carter in 1980.
"One 1980 document stated that Kennedy offered to condemn President Carter’s policy toward the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in exchange for KGB help," wrote Reagan. "News accounts of that period prove that Kennedy did, in fact, openly criticize Carter's Afghanistan policy."
[clip]
4. Bill Clinton pledged to support Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1996 if Yeltsin agreed "to clear up 'negative' issues." The Washington Times unearthed a confidential memo in 1996 that revealed the following:
President Clinton, in a private meeting at the recent anti-terrorism summit, promised Boris Yeltsin he would back the Russian president's re-election bid with "positive" U.S. policies toward Russia.
In exchange, Mr. Clinton asked for Mr. Yeltsin's help in clearing up "negative" issues such as the poultry dispute between the two countries, according to a classified State Department record of the meeting obtained by The Washington Times.
Mr. Clinton told Mr. Yeltsin that "this is a big issue, especially since about 40 percent of U.S. poultry is produced in Arkansas. An effort should be made to keep such things from getting out of hand," the memo said.
In exchange, Mr. Clinton asked for Mr. Yeltsin's help in clearing up "negative" issues such as the poultry dispute between the two countries, according to a classified State Department record of the meeting obtained by The Washington Times.
Mr. Clinton told Mr. Yeltsin that "this is a big issue, especially since about 40 percent of U.S. poultry is produced in Arkansas. An effort should be made to keep such things from getting out of hand," the memo said.