(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Spies Reminiscent of Us [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-21 Bringing this one up for discussion. We all know about the measures taken against Russian politicians and businessmen in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, these measures have only affected those who hold Russian passports. What about Russians who have naturalized and become US citizens but continue to support Putin's war and destabilize American society from within? Worse still, what about those who use their ill-gotten money to buy their way into American society and act as hidden agents of the Kremlin? A few years ago, CNN ran a story about Richard and Cynthia Murphy, an apparently typical American family who turned out to be Russian spies gathering information for the KGB. Another example is Aleksandr Torshin and Maria Butina, who worked to infiltrate the National Rifle Association and other conservative groups in the US to influence American politics on behalf of the Kremlin, even though Butina was a US citizen. She was ultimately accused of attempting to establish back-channel communication between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, and served a prison sentence. Torshin, who supervised Butina's work from Russia, was sanctioned. A recent example is Sergey Shestakov, a court interpreter who became a US citizen in the 90s and was recently implicated in the shenanigans of ex-FBI agent Charles McGonigal with some of the most notorious Russian oligarchs. Then there are oligarchs like Len Blavatnik who are said to still have ties to their ‘motherland’. Most of them have made their fortunes through illicit schemes or outright crimes in their home countries, and have used that money to whitewash their reputations through all sorts of ‘charitable’ actions. They ultimately obtain citizenship and become part of our society, but continue to pledge their allegiances to Putin. These are just a few examples that we know of, but how many more are there that we don't even have a clue about? The problem is not unique to us. Last year, a UK think-tank called Chatham House published a research into how kleptocrats from post-Soviet countries influence Britain's rule of law and political elites. The paper evidenced that the inclusion of naturalised citizens of Russia with a kleptocratic past threatens the UK, and urged the government to look into the origins of their wealth. Examples cited in the research include Evgen Lebedev, the so-called ‘Baron of Hampton and Siberia’, the son of an ex-KGB officer who was introduced into the UK’s parliament; and Vladimir and Lubov Chernukhin, the biggest donors to the UK’s Conservative party with a background of serving in Russian government offices. According to the research, both have established links to the Putin government, both have made their wealth through corruption and embezzlement, and are now using that stolen money to whitewash their names and buy up politicians in the UK. Incidentally, neither of them has spoken out against Putin's war, but they are – or rather their money is – still welcome in the country's high society. That should, of course, be a headache for UK authorities, but it is a trend that is omnipresent. In Germany, there is even a special word for this kind of person: ‘Putinversteher’ - someone who understands or justifies Putin's actions but, for some reason, prefers to enjoy the freedoms that Germany has to offer rather than go back to the motherland. You'd think people like these would have undergone thorough due diligence procedures before receiving citizenship. But they have essentially abused the loyalty of the migration institutes. Of course, that is partly our fault too – acting in good faith, we have created a mechanism that enables kleptocrats from Russia to launder their money and reputations and become part of our societies. Most of them have become valuable assets to the Kremlin and Putin, influencing their new homelands' political scenes from within. The question now is, what can we do about this problem? Let me know what you think. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/21/2159576/-Spies-Reminiscent-of-Us Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/