Trump may get all the attention for his potential ties to Russia, but Russia has long had a friend in Dana Rohrabacher. Rohrabacher, a long-time vocal fan of the Kremlin and a representative of California, has been made fun of for years for his dedicated and often inexplicable defense of Russia in the face of almost anything, up to and including giving back Alaska. But, with current politics, and leaking accusations of bribery from his colleagues, it’s becoming a lot less funny. Now word is coming that Rohrabacher wasn’t even seen as that: Russia was hoping he’d be a stooge they could manipulate.
The New York Times has just broke word that back in 2012, Rohrabacher was warned that the Russians were trying to recruit him. No accusations of money changing hands have come to light, but Rohrabacher looks more than a little foolish:
Law enforcement officials did not think that Mr. Rohrabacher was actively working with Russian intelligence, officials said, rather that he was being targeted as an unwitting player in a Russian effort to gain access in Washington, according to one former American official. The official said there was no evidence that Mr. Rohrabacher was ever paid by the Russians.
Rohrabacher has gotten in trouble for his views on foreign policy before, ranging from blatantly attempting to bail out a family friend with legislation to most recently questioning the legitimacy of a foreign government on air. Still, that leaves Rohrabacher, one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders in Congress, in something of a bind. Nobody seems to think he’s a spy, or taking bribes, but a consensus seems to be emerging that Rohrabacher might do better to just stay away from foreign policy.
(via The New York Times)