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In 2015, Franklin Graham met privately with Vladimir Putin, securing an offer of help with a conference on the “persecution of Christians.” Later, Graham said Putin “answers questions very directly and doesn’t dodge them like a lot of our politicians do.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-republican-right-found-allies-in-russia/2017/04/30/e2d83ff6-29d3-11e7-a616-d7c8a68c1a66_story.html https://twitter.com/franklin_graham/status/1340341310415319040
In 2016, Franklin Graham said there was no Russian interference in the election, and claimed that it was God, not Putin, who helped Trump win: “There’s been a lot of discussion as to how Donald Trump won the election. I believe it was God. God showed up.” https://journalnow.com/opinion/columnists/richard-groves-franklin-graham-god-and-trump/article_6af2900b-e3c2-545e-9fed-472ea7d1e7d1.html
And Maria Butina, a Russian spy who pleaded guilty to conspiring against America, used the National Prayer Breakfast, founded in 1953 with help from Billy Graham, “as a back channel for contacts between Russian and American faith leaders and politicians.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/politics/maria-butina-guilty-plea/index.html
Franklin Graham is among evangelical leaders in America who have, “waxed enthusiastically about Russia’s laws against ‘gay propaganda.’” https://theconversation.com/why-putin-is-an-ally-for-american-evangelicals-101504
In 2019, Vice President Mike Pence signed off on yet another Russia trip for Franklin Graham, where he met with sanctioned Kremlin officials — even as U.S. investigations ramped up into Moscow’s election interference efforts. https://twitter.com/franklin_graham/status/1103453528817844225
And that “World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians” that Franklin Graham discussed with the Russians? Turns out the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association paid nearly $400,000 to host it at Donald Trump’s Washington hotel in 2017. https://wordandway.org/2020/09/28/trump-taxes-report-highlights-nearly-400000-payment-from-billy-graham-group/
