The Salty Live

Thank you to everyone who joined my Live yesterday with the incredible Andy Ostroy. If you don’t already follow his podcast, The Backroom with Andy Ostroy, wherever else you get your podcasts, you should. He is whip smart and always has interesting guests.

Andy had some great insights into the Trump-RFK Jr. relationship and why he thinks our Secretary of Health and Human Services may not necessarily be long for this cabinet. Check that out — and so much more — above.

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Thank you to everyone who tuned into this week’s Active Measures Substack Live with Olga Lautman!

This week, Olga and I discussed this week’s chapter of Active Measures, which delves into the convergence of the Russian and American neo-Nazi movements and the political rise of Donald Trump. If you missed our newsletter on this topic on Monday, you can catch up on it below.

Thanks for supporting our Active Measures series, which describes how the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 Election. If you missed any part of it, you can catch up here.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saltypolitics.substack.com/subscribe

Thanks to so many of you for tuning into this week’s episode of Pax Americana with Olga Lautman and me this morning.

A few housekeeping items:

* Join us for this week’s episode of Active Measures at 2:30 PM ET. As I mentioned on the show today, I was out of town earlier this week, which is why we are doing this week’s episode today. We will be back next Tuesday at our regularly scheduled time of 12:30 PM ET.

* If you have not yet signed up for our Disinformation and How to Counter It Seminar, which launches on September 17 at 3:00 PM ET, please check out the post below and consider joining us. This seminar is open to paid subscribers only of either this Substack or Olga’s (or both). We hope to see you there.

Here are some of the stories we covered today:

The New York Times: 2 Weeks After Trump Talks, Russia Bombards Kyiv, Killing at Least 18

The Washington Post: Trump, Gabbard fired top CIA Russia expert days after Alaska summit

The Wall Street Journal: Tulsi Gabbard Blindsided CIA Over Revoking Clearance of Undercover Officer

The Wall Street Journal: Exxon Held Secret Talks With Rosneft About Going Back to Russia

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Thank you to everyone who joined Olga Lautman and me on Thursday to discuss the debacle that was the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

If you missed it, please check it out above.

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Thank you to so many of you who joined Olga Lautman and me today for our ongoing conversations today about Russian interference in the 2016 election. If you missed it live, you can watch it here or on YouTube. For more information, be sure to read and follow the entire Active Measures series and check out yesterday’s newsletter on how the Kremlin infiltrated the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency.

Olga very helpfully curated a timeline and a list of people involved in the Russian plot to infiltrate American evangelical circles, which you can see below.

Before you get to that, a request: the mainstream media refuses to cover this story and has largely ignored Trump’s narrative that Russian election interference was a “hoax.” If you have followed our series, you know that this is a lie — and that the Kremlin is engaged in ongoing efforts to interfere in our elections again. Please read our series and send it to as many people as you know, so that we fight back against Trump’s lies and against a complacent legacy media that has become a transcription service for this administration.

Timeline of Russia’s Evangelical Operations

2008–2009: Patriarch Kirill enthroned; ROC begins intensified outreach.

2010–2011: Malofeev opens St. Basil Foundation; Komov becomes WCF representative

2012: Franklin Graham praises Russia’s Christian values.

2013: Russia passes “gay propaganda” law; UN “traditional values” resolution.

2014: Malofeev sanctioned for funding Russian operations; WCF Moscow rebranded.

2015: Tsargrad TV launched; Torshin and Butina attend Prayer Breakfast.

2015: Graham meets Putin and Patriarch Kirill; Evangelical media echo Kremlin propaganda.

U.S. Evangelical Leaders and Organizations Engaged with Russia

Franklin Graham — Met with Putin and Patriarch Kirill in Moscow (2015) and praised Putin’s defense of Christian values.

Brian Brown (NOM/WCF) — Championed Russia’s “family values” laws and partnered with Alexey Komov; elected WCF president in 2016.Larry Jacobs (WCF) — Publicly defended Moscow’s role in hosting and promoting WCF conferences.Allan Carlson (WCF co-founder) — Co-created WCF with Russian allies, promoting U.S.–Russia cooperation on traditional values.National Prayer Breakfast — Attended by Russian Orthodox and WCF-linked delegations facilitated by Torshin and Butina.

Russian Media Targeting U.S. Evangelicals / MAGA

RT (Russia Today) / RT America – Pushed narratives of U.S. decline, moral corruption, and deep state conspiracies.

Sputnik – Amplified divisive cultural content and “Christian persecution” framing to conservative audiences.

Tsargrad TV – Orthodox-nationalist, Fox-style media exporting Kremlin “values” discourse.

Russia Insider (Charles Bausman) — English-language propaganda for far-right audiences, casting Putin as a defender of Christianity and echoing themes that appealed to evangelicals.

Katehon (Malofeev think tank) – Blended geopolitics, Orthodoxy, anti-liberalism for an international audience.

Geopolitika.ru (Dugin) – Ideological hub for Eurasianist narratives, Orthodox values, anti-West propaganda.

Political & Intelligence-Linked Operatives

Alexander Torshin — Russian Central Bank official and longtime senator; cultivated NRA and National Prayer Breakfast ties; sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018.

Maria Butina — Protégé of Torshin; infiltrated the NRA and National Prayer Breakfast; pled guilty in 2018 to acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

Elena Mizulina — Duma member; author of the 2013 “gay propaganda” law, centerpiece of Kremlin’s “traditional values” arsenal.

Edward Lozansky — Expat organizer in Washington; ran “Russia House” and the World Russia Forum; created access points for Kremlin officials, GOP lawmakers, and U.S. faith leaders.

Vladimir Yakunin – Ex–Russian Railways chief; sanctioned 2014; backed Orthodox initiatives, far-right outreach, and ran the “Dialogue of Civilizations” forum.

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Thank you to everyone who joined Olga Lautman and me for our latest episode of Pax Americana. I’ll have more on this tomorrow but if you want a curtain raiser on Putin’s summit/humiliation of Trump, please check out our conversation above.

Catch us next week at our usual time: Thursdays at 11 AM ET for another episode of Pax Americana.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saltypolitics.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Mnera, john king (MY HUMBLE OPINION), Kevin Paquette, Jay Corvan, and many others for tuning into my live video with Frederic Poag!

We had so much fun talking Trump’s newest TACO move (this time on tariffs) and even more fun talking about how men and women approach dating and relationships.

Most of all, it’s great to take an hour out of the crazy news cycle just to talk about life. I hope you’ll check it out.

Julie

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Thank you to everyone who joined my Live with Olga Lautman today about the third installment in our Active Measures series, which details how Russia infiltrated the 2016 presidential election to help elect Donald Trump.

If you missed yesterday’s newsletter about this topic, you can read it below.

And if you want to check out the whole series, you can check it out here.

Join us again next Tuesday at 12:30 PM ET for our newest episode of Active Measures, where we will explore how the Kremlin infiltrated the evangelical movement to sway the 2016 election.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saltypolitics.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to everyone who joined Frederic Poag and me for Taco Tuesday a few days ago. I was remiss in posting this earlier but Frederic and I had a wonderful discussion about Trump’s victim complex (with a few mentions of Plato’s Republic and the Allegory of the Cave, because that’s how we roll).

Have a great weekend. Stay Salty!

Julie

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Thank you to so many of you for tuning into my live video with Olga Lautman today. The show notes are below. In the meantime, join us on Tuesday at 12:30 PM ET for another episode of our new series, Active Measures. We’ll see you back here next Thursday at 11 AM ET for Pax Americana.

Show Notes (courtesy of Olga)

* Trump-Putin Meet

Trump’s shady real estate associate Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow yesterday. The Kremlin announced a potential Trump-Putin summit as early as next week, with Trump floating the idea of including Zelenskyy. Earlier today, the White House pushed back, saying no meeting will happen. Regardless, Trump continues buying time for Russia as it escalates its genocidal war. Source: CNN and ABC News for today’s update

* Russia Launched Record 6,129 Drones Against Ukraine in July

Russia launched a record 6,129 Shahed-type drones on Ukraine in July, surpassing June’s 5,337. Daily swarms now hit up to 728 drones, devastating civilian areas and causing mass casualties—an enormous escalation from 423 drones in July 2024. Ukrainian officials warn the true count may be higher as Russia ramps up drone production. Source: Kyiv Independent

* Lithuania Requests NATO Help Boost Its Air Defenses After Second Drone Crosses Border

Lithuania has formally asked NATO to deploy additional air defense resources, including experimental systems, after a Russian drone carrying explosives entered from Belarus and crashed in a military training zone. This marks the second such incident in July, with officials warning these incursions are likely to continue. Source: Politico

* Russia Moves Jamming Systems Closer to NATO Border, Estonia Says

Estonia revealed that Russia has deployed additional electronic warfare systems near the Estonian border, specifically in the area around Kingisepp—just 12 miles from NATO territory. These jamming systems, used in Ukraine to disrupt drones and GPS signals, are now interfering with civilian aviation and maritime navigation in the Baltic region. Source:Bloomberg

* Russia's sending kidnapped Ukrainian children to front line’

Ukraine’s government says Russia is conscripting abducted Ukrainian children into its military. An estimated 35,000 children have been stolen since 2014 (though Russia claims over 700,000), and some are being forced to fight against Ukraine. Zelenskyy’s chief of staff confirmed that the bodies of former stolen children have been found on the battlefield, and Yale researchers are investigating what they describe as a growing "conscription-to-combat pipeline." Source: The Times

* Russia’s Hybrid War on Moldovan Democracy

With Moldova’s September 28 parliamentary elections approaching, Russia is already executing a full-scale hybrid interference operation to destabilize the pro-European government of President Maia Sandu. Tactics include mass vote buying via an app, AI-generated fake news, paid protests, and cyberattacks—while pro-Kremlin oligarchs like Ilan Shor and Vladimir Plahotniuc orchestrate efforts from abroad. Source: Reuters

* Durham’s Debunking of the ‘Clinton Plan’ Emails, Explained

Trump allies pushed a declassified claim that Hillary Clinton orchestrated the Russia probe to smear Trump. But Special Counsel John Durham concluded the so-called “Clinton Plan” emails were likely Russian fabrications and created by Russian intelligence—assembled using info from real hacked emails to appear authentic and mislead U.S. intelligence. Source: New York Times

* NY Times reported John Durham found the “Clinton Plan” emails were likely created by Russian spies. Right-wing media are running with them as legitimate.

John Durham’s Russia probe revealed that so-called “Clinton Plan” emails were likely fabricated by Russian intelligence. But right-wing media are pushing the documents as “proof” that Clinton plotted to frame Trump, calling it a “soft coup” and demanding prosecutions. Source: Media Matters

* Active Measures Chapter One

* Active Measures Chapter Two

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