It just gets better and better

There’s been a lot of reporting about that relationship, which is widely seen as part of Russia’s efforts to cultivate right-wing groups throughout the United States and Europe. As The Washington Post noted last year, “On issues including gun rights, terrorism and same-sex marriage, many leading advocates on the right who grew frustrated with their country’s leftward tilt under President Barack Obama have forged ties with well-connected Russians and come to see that country’s authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin, as a potential ally”.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/opinion/nra-russia-investigation-trump.html

At least some investigators think the relationship between the N.R.A. and Russian government actors went beyond mutual admiration. On Thursday afternoon, the House Intelligence Committee released the transcript of its interview with Glenn Simpson, one of the founders of the research firm Fusion GPS. (The transcript of Simpson’s interview with the Senate was released last week.) In it, Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, asks Simpson about Russia’s interest in the N.R.A. Simpson replied that it appeared that the Russians had “infiltrated” the N.R.A. He mentioned Torshin and a woman named Maria Butina, whom McClatchy describes as Torshin’s “protégée.”

You just can’t make this stuff up, folks.

And you know, I STILL don’t believe Conservatives were deliberately trying to betray their country. I just think they were greedy, hateful and stupid enough to do so without even realizing it. Am I exaggerating? Look this guy up. His Wikipedia bio makes excellent apocalyptic reading.

Aleksandr Torshin, AKA “Boris Badunov”

Maria Butina, AKA “Natasha Fatale”