Once again we find Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet entwined with Russian money, this time through environmental groups that congressional Republicans say get funding in a backdoor scheme to oppose natural gas and fracking in the U.S.
Coloradans deserve to know why @MichaelBennet is taking Russian money from Russian backed @NRDC_Action. Shouldn’t we leave Russian influence out of American politics or is that just for fabricated witch hunts? https://t.co/JFGzMpfg9T #COPolitics #COSen @colo_politics https://t.co/84fwOQFaQn
— Gino Campana (@gino_campana) March 17, 2022
That’s a valid point, we do deserve to know.
PeakNation™ will recall we have reported extensively on the scandal that was part of a congressional investigation into the San Francisco-based Sea Change Foundation.
Now, House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans are asking those groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and League of Conservation Voters to disclose their ties to the organization, reports Fox News.
A letter signed by Republican leaders and panel members called on the environmentalists to disclose the funding they have received from Sea Change, and whether they were aware it was a conduit for Russian funding.
“Provided the public reporting of Putin’s dark money influence in Europe and the concerns surrounding similar efforts in the United States, we write today to explore your connections with Sea Change,” the Republicans stated in the letter. “Any action by President Putin, the Russian government, or Putin’s allies to undermine American energy security must be addressed.”
In addition, the Republicans asked the groups if they have received funds or took a particular action after a request “from the Russian government or anyone connected with the Russian government.”
From the Letter:
In separate statements, the groups denied any connection to Russia or China and called the claims a smear campaign, but they did not answer whether they had taken funding from the Sea Change Foundation, which is the whole freaking point.
Bennet has also reportedly received a campaign donation from a lobbyist with connections to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Bennet should have returned these campaign donations long ago, it’s not as though he’s hurting for money.
One would think with all the sanctioning on Russia that’s affecting Coloradans —whether it’s gas prices, wheat prices, even our manure supply, that Bennet could share in some of our pain and return campaign donations tainted by Russia.
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper should also return his donations from those environmental groups, as should Mr. and Mrs. State Sen. Brittany Pettersen, and state Sen. Kerry Donovan, just to name a few.