Documentation on Russian Money on Capitol Hill

In my last couple of posts, I have written about a Russian oligarch funding lobbyists on Capitol Hill to spread false narratives about Ukraine. This is a quick guide to the documentation.

Russian money on Capitol Hill is behind the message also being propagated by Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and others.

Robert Amsterdam is a lawyer who is employed by Russian/Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Novynskyi to spread the false narrative on Capitol Hill that Ukraine is persecuting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the branch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Almost 100 clergy from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are on trial for espionage related crimes assisting the Russian military. This only scratches the surface. Ukraine Freedom Project polling shows that hundreds of thousands of former UOC parishioners left the church because they had seen clergy do things to aid the Russian war effort or say things that were anti-Ukraine.

Reigning in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a national security issue for Ukraine, not a religious issue. The WSJ gave a good primer on the national security implications. Here is a deep dive I wrote about the Russian money behind Marjorie Taylor Greene’s message.

On August 23 of last year, Amsterdam & Partners issued a press release on their website announcing their retainer by Novynskyi.

Amsterdam fails to note that Novynskyi is a Russian oligarch granted Ukrainian citizenship in May 2012 by pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich. Yanukovich also gave Novynkyi a seat in the Ukrainian parliament. Novynskyi is known as “Putin’s Whip” for his role in the Ukrainian parliament of championing pro-Russia legislation. Novynskyi is currently a deacon in the Russian Orthodox Church in Zurich.

According to Congressional records, Amsterdam is paying $200,000 a year to Nelson Mullins, the largest law firm in South Carolina, to spread the false Novynskyi/Amsterdam message on Capitol Hill that Ukraine is persecuting Christians.