Is this Rockefeller heir the 2nd unnamed American who helped Maria Butina infiltrate the NRA?

Is reclusive George O'Neill the second unnamed American in last week's NRA-Russia indictment?

CASEY MICHEL
JUL 26, 2018, 10:10 AM

Twelve days after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th American president, a small group of Russian and American figures huddled at the ritzy Bistro Bis restaurant on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

On one side of the table, according to a TIME piece from March 2017, sat a gaggle of prominent Americans. There was Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) — “Putin’s favorite congressman,” as he’s known — and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). There was Paul Erickson, the GOP lobbyist now accused of helping Russian nationals infiltrate the National Rifle Association (NRA). There was an editor from The National Interest, and even, as Bloomberg reported, a Hollywood director.

On the other side of the table sat their Russian guests. It’s unclear how many were in attendance, although one report noted that “current and former Russian officials” joined in the four-hour feast.

Two of the Russian nationals present that night, however, have become familiar names in the past few months, and are now tied to the clearest attempt yet seen at Russian infiltration of American social conservatives: Alexander Torshin, who has since been sanctioned by the U.S., and Maria Butina, the subject of a recent DOJ indictment for infiltrating the NRA to further Russia’s interests.

https://thinkprogress.org/george-oneill-maria-butina-and-the-russia-nra-scandal-afb79da4ef9a/


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And that may yet be the case. But between his writings and recommendations, as well as his willingness to host unregistered Russian agents and Russian officials who would later be sanctioned — all under the guise helping Trump’s “bold peace initiative” — O’Neill’s potential role in Butina’s and Torshin’s operations prompts a new slew of questions.

Nor did O’Neill’s efforts apparently end with last year’s dinner. As the Rockefeller scion wrote to a reporter last year inquiring about the February 2017 dinner, “I plan to continue these private interactions.”




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