Рорабейкер

[tijd]

Республиканский конгерссмен из Калифорнии Дейна Рорабейкер (Dana Rohrabacher) известен своими пропутинскими взглядами. В 2014 он без стеснения поддерживал оккупацию Крыма, а в 2016 боролся за отмену закона Магнитского.

When Russia invaded and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March, Rohrabacher warned fellow conservatives against settling into a familiar foreign policy worldview. “The Cold War is over,” he said. “Putin is not Satan.”
That month, he was one of just 23 House members to vote against a $1 billion aid package to the wobbly Ukrainian government. The following week, he voted “present” on a resolution condemning Russia’s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, a measure that earned the backing of 402 House members.
“Starting with our own American Revolution, groups of people have declared themselves, rightfully, to be under a different government or a government of their choosing,” Rohrabacher said, comparing the Russian-backed thugs who took control over the Crimean peninsula to America’s founding fathers. American sanctions on Russia, he said, were an “abomination of hypocrisy.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/20/meet-the-putin-loving-congressman-who-s-worried-about-fluoride-in-our-drinking-water

New York Times сообщает, что ещё в 2012 ФБР официально уведомило Ропабейкера, что он является объектом вербовки российских спецслужб в качестве "агента влияния".

In a secure room at the Capitol, an F.B.I. agent told Mr. Rohrabacher in 2012 that Russian spies were trying to recruit him as an “agent of influence” - someone the Russian government might be able to use to steer Washington policy-making, former officials said.
Mr. Rohrabacher said in a telephone interview on Thursday that the meeting had focused on his contact with one member of the Russian Foreign Ministry, whom he recalled meeting on a trip to Moscow. “They were telling me he had something to do with some kind of Russian intelligence,” Mr. Rohrabacher said. He recalled the F.B.I. agent saying that Moscow “looked at me as someone who could be influenced.”
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/dana-rohrabacher-russia-spies.html

Судя по его дальнейшему поведению, вербовка прошла успешно.



Имя Рорабейкера всплыло на днях в связи с публикацией записи разговора между республиканскими конгрессменами летом 2016. Kevin McCarthy, лидер республиканского большинства, (по его словам) пошутил, что Путин проплачивает двух людей - Рорабейкера и Трампа. После чего Пол Райан пошутил, что присутствующие должны держать эту информацию в секрете.

“There’s . . . there’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, drawing some laughter. “Swear to God,” McCarthy added.
“This is an off the record,” Ryan said.
Some lawmakers laughed at that.
“No leaks, all right?,” Ryan said, adding: “This is how we know we’re a real family here.”
“That’s how you know that we’re tight,” Scalise said.
“What’s said in the family stays in the family,” Ryan added.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/house-majority-leader-to-colleagues-in-2016-i-think-putin-pays-trump/2017/05/17/515f6f8a-3aff-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html



Интереснее другое. Так же, как Майкл Флинн одно время серьёзно рассматривался в качестве кандидата на пост вице-президента, Дейна Рорабейкер одно время серьёзно рассматривался на пост госсекретаря. Кому пришло это в голову?

Rohrabacher’s sympathy for Putin seems to have resonated with some of Trump’s aides, as the 14-term California congressman - an outspoken Trump enthusiast before the election - has been mentioned as a dark-horse candidate for secretary of state.
“Some people seem to be looking at me, that's all I know,” Rohrabacher said of the rumors.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/putin-congress-rohrabacher-trump-231775

В декабре 2016, пока рассматривалась его кандидатура в госсекретари, Рорабейкер дал одно из своих самых фееричных интервью.

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