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| Ibid. 295 Neil MacFarquhar, ‘‘Right-Wing Groups Find a Haven, fora Day, in Russia The New York Times, Mar. 22, 2015. 296 Ibid. 297 Tom Porter, ‘‘Charlottesville’s Alt-Right Leaders Have a Passion for Vladimir Putin News- week, Aug. 16, 2017; Laura Vozzella, White Nationalist Richard Spencer Leads Torch-Bearing Protesters Defending Lee Statue The Washington Post, May 14, 2017. 298 See Luke O’Brien, The Making of an American Nazi The Atlantic, Dec. 2017. paper, have organized conferences that included delegates from Germany’s neo-Nazi NPD party, Bulgaria’s far-right Ataka party, the far-left KKK party in Greece, and the pro-Kremlin Latvian Russian Union party.’’ 292 Another such conference took place in March 2015, when the leaders of some of Europe’s most controversial and fringe right- wing political organizations—as well as some from similar groups in the United States—met in St. Petersburg for the first International Russian Conservative Forum. The event was organized by Russia’s nationalistic Rodina (Motherland) party, and its objective was clearly stated to unite European and Russian conservative forces in the context of European sanctions against Russia and the United States pressure on European countries and Rus- sia.’’ 293 Speakers reportedly urged white Christians to reproduce, referred to gays as perverts, and said that murdered Russian opposition activists were resting in hell. 294 They also decried same-sex marriage, globalization, radical Islam, immigration, and New York financiers, while consistently praising Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for upholding and protecting conservative and masculine values. A British nationalist speaker showed a picture of a shirtless Putin riding a bear, and declared Obama and America, they are like females. They are feminized men. But you have been blessed by a man who is a man, and we envy that.’’ 295 James Taylor, an American who runs a white nationalist website, spoke at the event, where he called the United States the greatest enemy of tradition everywhere.’’ 296 In the United States, many extreme right-wing groups, including white nationalists, lookup to Putin—a self-proclaimed champion of tradition and conservative values. At a protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, against the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, white nationalists repeatedly chanted Russia is our friend.’’ 297 Andrew Anglin, the publisher of the Daily Stormer, the world’s biggest neo-Nazi website, apparently spent much of 2015 and 2016 running his website from inside of Russia, from where his content was promoted by a suspected Russian bot network. 298 In addition, the Kremlin has cultivated ties with organizations that promote gun rights and oppose same-sex marriage. For example, Kremlin-linked officials have also cultivated ties with groups in the United States like the National Rifle Association (NRA. Alexander Torshin, a former senator in Putin’s United Russia party who allegedly helped launder money through Spain for Russian mobsters, developed a relationship with David Keene when the latter was the VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 52 299 Estaban Duarte et al., Mobster or Central Banker Spanish Cops Allege This Russian Both Bloomberg, Aug. 9, 2016; Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger, Guns and Religion How American Conservatives Grew Closer to Putin’s Russia The Washington Post, Apr. 30, 2017. Tim Mak, Top Trump Ally Met with Putin’s Deputy in Moscow The Daily Beast, Mar. 7, 2017; US. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Issuance of a New Ukraine-Related Executive Order Ukraine-related Designations Mar. 17, 2014. Steve Benen, Franklin Graham Sees Putin with Moral High Ground MSNBC, Mar. 19, 2014. Southern Poverty Law Center, Brian Brown Named President of Anti-LGBT World Congress of Families June 2, 2016; Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger, Guns and Religion How American Conservatives Grew Closer to Putin’s Russia The Washington Post, Apr. 30, 2017. Southern Poverty Law Center, World Congress of Families Suspends Russia Conference Mar. 25, 2014. Peter Kreko et al., Political Capital, From Russia with Hate The Activity of Pro-Russian Download 0.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
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