If there’s an American left that’s not sick to death of hearing about Russia, chances are they work at CNN or NBC. Myself, I’m loathe to delve into the topic again at any level. After months of exhaustive research, endless testimony and multiple investigations, we have nothing to show any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But it hasn’t all been a wasted effort. I did reacquaint myself with a little known, but clear case, of collusion between an American presidential candidate and the top levels of Russian government.
The year was 1983. Democrats were eager to find a vulnerability with an emerging political icon in Ronald Reagan. Easier said than done. At this point in history, the Democrats were known to lean heavily on the sole remaining Kennedy brother, Senator Ted Kennedy. Richard Nixon once shockingly disclosed that he found Ted to be the most talented and serious politician of the Kennedy family. So much so, that Nixon requested a Secret Service plant on young Ted Kennedy’s exploratory presidential run in ‘72. Nixon was confident they could exploit the infamously promiscuous proclivities of the Kennedy clan. This is notable, as ten years later, Kennedy was well on his way to establishing his leadership role in the Democratic Party. And much like his brother Bobby did during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Ted found it prudent to send a back channel message to the Soviets; except this time it wasn’t to prevent war, but to achieve a political objective.
You may remember a dust up last year involving Fox personality Greg Gutfield citing a meeting Ted Kennedy had with the KGB in order to beat Reagan in 1984. The liberal “fact checkers” went on a frenzy to discredit the assertion. Gutfield got his facts in a blender, but the ingredients were accurate. The story was unearthed in 1991 by London Times reporter Tim Sebastian. He spent a great deal of time rifling through Soviet archives that were made available by Boris Yeltsin. In there, was a stunning memo crafted by Victor Chebrikov, the head of the KGB. It was addressed to the head of the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov. The memo itself was never discredited, nor denied by Kennedy’s office. Though the middle man in this game, Kennedy’s old law school buddy and one-time Senator John Tunney, long has denied the content of the memo; at least in part
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I think it’s worth revisiting this little piece of criminally under-reported history. John Tunney, on behalf of Kennedy, made a trip to Moscow and met with KGB head Chebrikov. This alone, is noteworthy. Tunney took no pains to deny this. The subject of the exchange was not up for much debate, either. In a bold fashion, naked in its political ambition, Kennedy had a message relayed to the Soviets that he was looking to help them undermine Reagan’s “militaristic policies” in exchange for political support in his bid for the presidency, which he identified as an opportunity for 1988. This stunning revelation casts an enormous shadow over any academic assertion that Trump attempted anything an iota close to this type of espionage.
Kennedy’s emissary went on to assert that the senator would line up favorable news coverage on all major networks for Andropov, as well as provide assistance in improving their messaging and propaganda to appeal directly to the American people. This unseemly quid pro quo skirts the bounds of good taste and splashes into the muddied waters of a conspiracy against the United States government. It’s fair to say this isn’t a narrative that the alphabet networks want to talk about. After all, this wasn’t a one time gambit. Tunney took multiple trips to Moscow to meet with the KGB to relay Kennedy’s messages. A private US citizen, cavorting with Soviet counter-intelligence leaders at the height of the Cold War, as early as 1980. Wow. I’m beginning to wonder what the standards really are for “collusion?” My, how we’ve moved the goal posts on this one. The line between poor taste, betrayal and treason get pretty darn blurry in this story.
Kennedy never did run for President in 1984, nor 1988, ceding to the feckless candidates of Mondale and Dukakis, respectively. That fact doesn’t change his willingness to undermine a sitting president and endanger our nation at a time of high nuclear tensions. It also puts into perspective how ludicrous this ongoing Mueller investigation has become. It seems the blood thirsty Democrats, like in the 80’s, have no worthy political leaders and still embrace a public detestation of American strength. Their vaudevillian snipe hunt on Trump and his team is paying off for Putin like a bad slot machine. Russian propaganda was a joke until the Democrats made it legitimate as a campaign issue. Putin and the FSB could not have drawn it up any better, even if they had drawn up it all; which they didn’t.
Ted Kennedy sold out his country for political traction. It’s a dark and sordid cautionary tale for any ambitious politician. Liberals will call it “old news,” but I call it a wake up call. The Mueller investigation is a sham and an affront to any logic-loving American. There is not a whiff of collusion, nor obstruction of a crime that never occurred. To assert otherwise is an exercise in perverse anti-intellectualism; serving only to embolden our enemies and lionize a house cat in Vladimir Putin. If you’re hellbent on finding Russian collusion, stop fabricating facts and start looking into the KGB archives. There, you will find all the collusion you could ever want evidenced in the light of day.
If not, and this Mueller charade continues, there will be one very happy man in Russia, sending his love…
Adam Gingrich
Founder of Wick Media Productions. Worked for Donald Trump's Campaign, overseeing the Pennsylvania region, Adam has been a Political Consultant for most of his adult life.
Jeff Sessions is a good man. He’s a capable lawyer, and his pedigree goes far deeper in respected conservative legal circles than most realize. None but the most partisan would argue otherwise. It’s not a stretch to opine that Sessions is currently holding his dream job as Attorney General; a cosmic and drastic career turn for a partisan US Senator a few decades removed from being refused a federal judgeship in an ugly confirmation battle. His political gamble to back Trump early in 2016 paid off with the ultimate prize, but the strings attached formed a web of tangled loyalties and chaos. Things Jeff Sessions never saw coming…
Ellsberg, Rosenberg, Rodino, etc. The names are different, but the games are the same. Congressman Drinan was every bit the crackpot moron in 1973 that Maxine Waters is today. The semblance is only shattered by the persistence of a single James Brown-esque wig. Like Trump, Nixon was also riddled with issues within his own administration. Henry Kissinger routinely violated Nixon’s trust by running to the NY Times, leaking information to undermine Nixon and raise his own profile. Ever wonder how Kissinger has maintained his beloved media status, despite being entrenched in clandestine planning to bomb Cambodia and dispatch false narratives about ending the Vietnam War for political purposes? Well, I’ll tell you: He earned his keep by leaking to the media. A practice to this day he espouses. My word of caution to President Trump, don’t trust that your conversations with the aging and manipulative Kissinger are confidential. And the cantankerous news reporter Dan Schorr, remember him? He swore before Congress that Nixon was deliberately undermining the press and challenging the credibility of the media. He bemoaned this was dangerous to the 1st Amendment. Phooey. Where have I heard that line recently? What is old is new again.
For Donald Trump, the application of pressure and time is not a foreign concept, but dealing with a recalcitrant and unyielding adversary like Congress is something new. After all, he can’t simply walk away from the negotiating table, not without surrendering his entire agenda. Indeed, we are outnumbered and outflanked on all sides by an enemy who has had 30 years to fortify their defenses. Our march will not be unabated, our plan of attack will not be static, and our gains will be hard fought. Ignore anyone who tells you otherwise.
