{"id":7768,"date":"2026-04-04T00:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/7768\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T00:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:21:14","slug":"bipartisan-senators-probe-kremlin-linked-delegations-meetings-with-us-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/7768\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan senators probe Kremlin-linked delegation&#8217;s meetings with US officials"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan pair of top-ranking senators want to know why sanctioned Russian officials were in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/washington-dc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Washington, D.C.,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Washington, D.C.,<\/a> and given access to the Capitol and meetings with administration officials as wars in Iran and Ukraine rage on.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/executive\/national-security\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:counterintelligence concerns;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">counterintelligence concerns<\/a> over the recent visit of a delegation of Russian Duma members, all of whom are sanctioned for &#8220;conduct deemed to be harmful to U.S. national security.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The delegation came onto U.S. soil for one purpose: to advance the Kremlin\u2019s strategic aims \u2014 including gathering additional useful intelligence,&#8221; the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/marco-rubio\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Marco Rubio;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Marco Rubio<\/a> and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/trump-eyes-next-attorney-general-144742175.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Trump Eyes Next Attorney General As Key Gop Senator Signals Potential Roadblock;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Trump Eyes Next Attorney General As Key Gop Senator Signals Potential Roadblock<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Split of Roger Wicker and Jeanne Shaheen\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1242\" height=\"699\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/c7fb88911ca632f40bd671f29b2d1be1.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jeanne Shahenn, D-N.H., raised counterintelligence concerns with the recent visit of a delegation of Russian officials to Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p> (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They did not come to engage in dialogue or pursue democratic aims,&#8221; they continued.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers argued that Duma members &#8220;include Kremlin subordinates who have committed numerous cyber and ransomware attacks on Americans and have facilitated war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS\/mvaj7wvj\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Read On The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Remarkably, they are now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/russia-allegedly-sharing-satellite-intelligence-100002359.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:helping Iran target U.S.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">helping Iran target U.S.<\/a> military and diplomatic personnel across the Middle East,&#8221; Wicker and Shaheen wrote.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/senate-trump-intel-leaders-iran-130103148.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Senate To Question Trump Intel Leaders On Iran War After Top Official Quits In Protest;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Senate To Question Trump Intel Leaders On Iran War After Top Official Quits In Protest<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Russian President Vladimir Putin\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1242\" height=\"699\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f6a0cd502135cbe9a01e7d0a8f078fe5.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Moscow-appointed head of Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, Yevgeny Balitsky, during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Nov. 18, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Several members of the Russian Duma visited Washington, D.C., late last month on a trip organized by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. She was joined by Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, for a meeting with the delegation.<\/p>\n<p>Luna later gave them <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HelloLauraKelly\/status\/2037279403676201431\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:a tour of the Capitol;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">a tour of the Capitol<\/a> after posing for photos outside the United States Institute of Peace.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As representatives of the world\u2019s two greatest nuclear superpowers, we owe our citizens open dialogue, the exchange of ideas, and open lines of communication,&#8221; Luna said on X following the meeting. &#8220;We will continue to foster this dialogue and push for peace in support of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/education\/administration\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:this [administration\u2019s] efforts,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">this [administration\u2019s] efforts,<\/a> as well as economic opportunity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/graham-says-russia-sanctions-bill-never-going-back-shelf-after-trump-backs-push\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Graham Says Russia Sanctions Bill &#039;Never Going Back On The Shelf&#039; After Trump Backs Push;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Graham Says Russia Sanctions Bill &#8216;Never Going Back On The Shelf&#8217; After Trump Backs Push<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wicker and Shaheen noted that the Duma members were &#8220;far from innocent participants in a cultural exchange.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It included Vyacheslav Nikonov, who in 2023 referred to the United States and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/nato\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:North Atlantic Treaty Organization;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">North Atlantic Treaty Organization<\/a> as the \u2018Fourth Reich\u2019 on Russian television. Mikhail Delyagin has advocated for destroying Ukraine\u2019s energy sector. Boris Chernyshov once claimed that Russian retaliatory strikes were \u2018an expression of our hatred [of Ukraine],\u2019&#8221; they wrote.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click Here To Download The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wicker and Shaheen demanded that Rubio and Bessent explain why sanctions were waived for the Russian officials\u2019 visit, what meetings the delegation had with Trump administration officials, what counterintelligence assessments were conducted on the visiting Russians, and provide a complete manifest of who traveled from the Russian Federation.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers wrote that the delegation\u2019s visit came &#8220;at a time when Russia\u2019s intentions are unambiguously clear.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Numerous public reports have cited Russian support for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/conflicts\/iran\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Iran\u2019s military targeting;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Iran\u2019s military targeting<\/a> of American service members in the Middle East,&#8221; they wrote. &#8220;European intelligence agencies have reported that Russia intends to attack NATO member states in the coming years. And [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has made it clear that peace in Ukraine is a mirage. His singular ambition for Ukraine is to erase its existence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Original article source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/bipartisan-senators-probe-kremlin-linked-delegations-meetings-us-officials\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bipartisan senators probe Kremlin-linked delegation&#039;s meetings with US officials;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Bipartisan senators probe Kremlin-linked delegation&#8217;s meetings with US officials<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan pair of top-ranking senators want to know why sanctioned Russian officials were in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[7511,1174,7513,2779,1796,7515,5792,7514,34,5892,2700,186,7509,7512,7510,3580,328,739],"class_list":{"0":"post-7768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vladimir-putin","8":"tag-administration-officials","9":"tag-anna-paulina-luna","10":"tag-armed-services-committee","11":"tag-counterintelligence","12":"tag-d-c","13":"tag-delegation","14":"tag-derrick-van-orden","15":"tag-duma-members","16":"tag-iran","17":"tag-jeanne-shaheen","18":"tag-kremlin","19":"tag-marco-rubio","20":"tag-roger-wicker","21":"tag-russian-duma","22":"tag-russian-officials","23":"tag-scott-bessent","24":"tag-vladimir-putin","25":"tag-washington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116343582470687640","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}