I am posting this article from Think Progress to show how insidious and
crazy this anti-Russia thing has gotten. We all know that the Russian
Orthodox Church is unfriendly to gay and lesbian people. Many Russians, poor
and wealthy, powerful and not so powerful, have these attitudes. So do a lot
of Christian groups in the US and in other countries. So do a number of
Muslim theocracies. Think Progress is funded by powerful folks in the
Democratic Party. It also receives money from some other countries. Given my
failing memory, I can't be sure which ones, but I think that one of them may
be Saudi Arabia. If so, this would make this situation rather ironic. So the
point of this article is to make a link between the American right wing
anti-LGBT American Christians and Russian Oligarchs in order to stoke the
fires of anti-Russian feeling among a majority of Americans. It's
disgusting.
See below.
Miriam
Here Are the Americans Speaking at a Hate Group Friendly With Sanctioned
Russian Oligarchs
By Casey Michel, ThinkProgress
04 March 19
Clarence Thomas's former clerk and a megachurch pastor leading Bible study
groups in Washington decide to join the World Congress of Families.
The World Congress of Families (WCF), a notorious anti-LGBTQ group that's
reportedly received funding from sanctioned Russian oligarchs, is hosting
its annual conference in Verona, Italy next month. And a number of Americans
have decided to join them.
Among the Americans slated to speak at the WCF conference are John Eastman,
former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and now a professor
at Chapman University, and megachurch pastor Jim Garlow. According to the
WCF's roster, they will also be joined by Mike Donnelly, a higher-up at the
right-wing Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), and Sean O'Hare,
the chairman of one of the most prominent anti-abortion groups aimed at
American youth.
Donnelly confirmed to ThinkProgress that he would be speaking at the WCF
conference next month. O'Hare, Garlow, Eastman, and Chapman University did
not respond to ThinkProgress' request for comment.
There's nothing illegal about these Americans attending the upcoming
conference, which will be hosted at the end of March. But WCF is currently
the most prominent group linking the American religious right and sanctioned
Russian oligarchs, and just a few months ago, the group hosted a Russian
official sanctioned by both the Trump and Obama administrations.
The WCF - which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate
group - is a joint Russian-American project dating to the mid-1990s. It has
reportedly received funding from sanctioned Russian oligarchs like
Konstantin Malofeev and Vladimir Yakunin, the latter of whom is a close
confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Multiple media outlets, and
even WCF's own promotional material, have all linked Yakunin to the group,
but a representative for Yakunin denied to ThinkProgress that Yakunin has
funded the group.)
Just last year, the WCF, which did not respond to ThinkProgress's questions,
also hosted Yelena Mizulina as a speaker at its annual conference in
Moldova. Mizulina is a member of the Russian Duma and has been sanctioned by
both the Obama and Trump administrations. She also spoke at a homeschooling
conference in Russia last year - an event hosted by Donnelly's homeschooling
organization in partnership with Malofeev's foundation.
The WCF's official Russian representative, Alexey Komov, has a history of
praising fascists and anti-Semites, according to emails made public by the
Russian hacking outfit Shaltai Boltai. In the emails, Komov referred to one
Italian neo-fascist as a "friend" and the anti-Semitic "Russia Insider"
outlet, run by an American named Charles Bausman, as a "good site." (Komov
has commented on those emails to say that the "information in the
attachments does not properly reflect reality.") Just last month, Bausman
returned Komov's praise, referring to him as a "good friend." Komov also
works directly for Malofeev, an oligarch sanctioned by the U.S. for his role
in helping Russia try to break up Ukraine in 2014. WCF President Brian Brown
recently said on Twitter that he "love[s]" Komov.
For good measure, the upcoming conference will also feature CitizenGO - an
anti-LGBTQ Spanish group that includes Komov as part of its board.
And just last week, a bombshell investigation from Italy's L'Espresso found
that Komov was reportedly a key player in a financial scheme to funnel
Russian money to Italian nationalists. Komov has yet to comment on the
report.
Americans abroad
Next month's WCF conference will feature speakers from a number of countries
outside the U.S. and Russia, including representatives from as far as Malawi
and Nigeria. A handful of politicians are expected to speak, including
Moldovan President Igor Dodon and Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo
Salvini.
However, given the history of the Kremlin's election meddling in the U.S.,
the ongoing standoff between Moscow and Washington, and the fact that the
U.S. has sanctioned the oligarchs reportedly involved with the WCF, the
Americans' presence is perhaps the most notable.
Eastman, Justice Thomas' former clerk, has worked closely with WCF head
Brian Brown in the past, including at the vociferously anti-LGBTQ National
Organization for Marriage, where Eastman works as the chairman.
Garlow, the megachurch pastor scheduled to speak at the WCF conference, is
also well-known in religious right circles, especially for his role in
promoting California's anti-LGBTQ Proposition 8 measure a decade ago. He
recently stepped down from working at California's Skyline Church, but
apparently hasn't fully retired from public life. Rather, as Garlow told the
Christian Post reported in September, he "recently launched a Bible study
within a federal agency" in Washington. Garlow did not reveal which federal
agency it was, but said that he was hoping to expand his teaching to at
least three federal agencies in total.
Garlow also recently held Bible study sessions at the United Nations, with
former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) providing help, according to the
Christian Post. He even attended a White House dinner in August, joining
some 100 other evangelical figures.
"It's not surprising to see someone like Garlow, who is not a household name
like Franklin Graham but is only one tier or so down in terms of being a
serious evangelical influencer," said Chris Stroop, who received a doctorate
from Stanford in Russian history and has studied links between the Kremlin
and America's religious right. "He's exactly the kind of person that WCF
would want to hear from and promote. Garlow may be able to share anything
that he's learned about lobbying for the Christian Right's agenda, and he
may pick up some strategies from other people at this year's WCF
[conference] as well."
O'Hare is among the WCF's youngest speaker. He's the current chair of
Students for Life, and describes himself on his website as a "young, dynamic
and influential speaker" with "business interests including manufacturing,
restaurants and cyber security."
There are no sanctioned Russian speakers currently slated to attend, despite
the WCF's previous history with Malofeev, Yakunin, and Mizulina. The most
notable Russian national appears to be Archpriest Dmitri Smirnov, who once
compared LGBTQ people to murderers and bank robbers.
At last year's WCF conference in Moldova, which ThinkProgress attended,
Brown pledged that the WCF would continue to act as a bridge between
Washington and the Kremlin.
"In the United States right now we have an investigation into the president
over connections with Russia - and some want to use this to try and divide
us," Brown said. "Well, I wanted to tell everyone here that we know [that]
what we're doing leads to peace. We know that what we're doing - in creating
friendships of trust - is in the best interest of the family. And we know
what we're doing - there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. The attempts to
muddy the water are simply attempts to stop us from creating a more
powerful, more global, unity around the family.
"The depths of our friendships will make it through."
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