The Senate Intelligence Committee is looking into Jill Stein’s 2016 presidential campaign for possible ties to Russia, it announced on Monday.
Stein, a physician from Massachusetts, ran on the Green Party ticket last year and scored less than 5% of the vote. There have been reports that Stein was the beneficiary of Russian-bought political ads on Facebook, but the real point of interest here seems to be a gala dinner she attended in Moscow in 2015.
The event was hosted by Russian state-sponsored media outlet RT, a channel that hosted Stein multiple times during her campaign. Also present at the dinner were Russian President Vladimir Putin and Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser who was pushed out of the Administration amid the Russia collusion scandal.
Earlier this month, Flynn admitted lying to the FBI about contacts he had with the Russian government during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Other reasons to suspect Stein include a 2015 meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and her suggestions that Russia was entitled to invade Ukraine and that the overthrow of former Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych was a CIA coup.
According to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), Stein isn’t the only former presidential candidate his panel is looking into for suspected collusion with Russia. “I think it’s safe to say we have two other campaigns we are just starting on,” said Burr.
Author’s Note: This investigation is beyond ridiculous. The Russians are not stupid. If they really wanted to influence an election they would go where the power is. Jill Stein had no power; why would the Russian even talk to her? And why would she talk to them, and risk losing what little influence she has?