This is
very funny. The Center for American Progress (Wikipedia) is a major
liberal foundation, basically, a front organization for the Clinton machine,
which is now searching for a reason to exist. Major funders include Bill Gates,
the Ford Foundation, and the United Arab Emirates. They have a news site,
ThinkProgress, which ran an 'investigation' headed by this intellectual
heavyweight, Casey Michel:
Casey writes a lot about how Russia is undermining US
democracy by 'infiltrating' American conservative networks, and
he's VERY worried about it.
He
quotes an 'expert' who says that homeschoolers are often 'Christofascists', and
cites me, whom he describes as 'rabidly anti-semitic', linking to a Daily Beast article.
He finds it alarming that I ran a favorable article about a big
pro-Christian homeschooling conference recently held in St. Petersburg. It was
written by Father Joseph Gleason,
the American editor of Russian Faith who homeschooled his 8
children. Michel frets that Russian Faith, which I
publish, is 'Kremlin linked', whatever that means.
Do read
all about this frightening development that threatens the very foundations
of our great Republic. Russian Christian homeschoolers are flourishing, and
networking with and benefiting from the experience of Americans who have
developed excellent Christian curriculums, books, and study materials. We can't
have that now, can we! Shut it down!
One of
our staff wrote an excellent informative article about
the phenomenon last February, and we did it without accepting millions of
dollars from Arabs. Michel worries about my good friend Alexey Komov, who
is homeschooling his 5 children, who set up a venture to translate American homeschooling materials
into Russian. Michel intones ominously that Alexey 'speaks
fluent English'! Sounds like a nefarious plot to me.
Alexey Komov (right) and homeschooling activist Michael Donnelly
plotting to destroy America – (link to website for pictures)
Incidentally,
if you dear reader, want to meet some of the people mentioned in this article;
Mr. Komov, Father Dmitry Smirnov (a wonderful man and one of the most
beloved figures in Russia - I've even been a guest on his popular TV show,
twice), Brian Brown, Father Gleason, and many others like Dr. Steve Turley, and
yours truly, then join us all at the World Congress of Families
Conference in Verona, Italy, March 29 - 31. You might even meet
Mr. Michel, who will no doubt be continuing his 'investigation'!
I hope
he interviews me, for I could tell him quite a few absolutely terrifying things
about how much American and Russian Christian conservatives have in common, and
how much they are talking. Turley recently discussed the conference at length on his
popular YouTube show, which I recommend highly. Come to think of it, Turley
homeschooled his 4 children too, and he's Orthodox!.
The plot
thickens! Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is the
headliner. Watch this space for more information about this fantastic
conference.
Michel's
article goes on in this vein at quite some length. Honestly Mr. Gates,
don't your have better things to spend your money on? I thought you were all
about making the world a better, not a dumber place.
I
reproduce the entire thing here for your reading pleasure. Take it away Casey!
The
latest front in Russian infiltration: America’s right-wing homeschooling
movement
This is the
latest connection between Russia and the American religious right.
WHY
IS AMERICA'S BIGGEST RIGHT-WING HOMESCHOOLING GROUP NETWORKING WITH SANCTIONED
RUSSIANS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES? ILLUSTRATION BY DIANA OFOSU
The
group and its origins sound innocuous enough. But the Home School Legal Defense
Association (HSLDA) — a right-wing group founded 36 years ago — has
deepened connections between America’s religious right and Russians even
as the latter have been sanctioned by the United States, according to a
ThinkProgress investigation.
By
networking with Russians, the HSLDA — now America’s largest right-wing
homeschooling association — has provided the Kremlin with a new avenue of
influence over some of the most conservative organizations in the United
States.
And while
investigations by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, intelligence organizations,
and congressional committees have focused on Russia’s efforts to influence U.S.
elections, Russian ties to groups like the HSLDA demonstrate
the Kremlin’s broader attempts to hold sway over American policies.
Other
ties between sanctioned Russia`ns and the American far-right are well
documented.
From Christian fundamentalists to white supremacists to secession movements to fascists in the so-called
“alt-right,” the links are as diffuse as they are damning. Not
only have these networks brought Russian agents into close contact with
higher-ups in the Republican party, but they’ve presented some of the primary
threads of the Kremlin’s efforts at upending and unwinding American democracy.
But at
the same time that details — and criticism — of these links between Russia
and American right-wing groups were emerging, the HSLDA co-sponsored
a formal homeschooling conference in Moscow and St. Petersburg, ThinkProgress
found. One of the conference’s other sponsors was a foundation run by
sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. The event featured some
of the most outspoken anti-LGBTQ officials in Russia, and included a Russian
official who’s currently sanctioned by the U.S. for her role in stoking
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This Global
Home Education Conference, which hosted more than 1,000 attendees from
over 20 countries, provided a platform for these Russian officials and their
networks to work with leaders of America’s homeschooling movement — all of
it taking place as Russian links with the American far-right continue to spill
out elsewhere.
Sanctioning
homeschoolers
Since
its founding in 1983, the Virginia-based HSLDA has become America’s most
prominent homeschooling organization. The group, which advocates on behalf of
homeschooling families, has a right-wing religious bent. It describes its employees as “Christians who seek
to honor God” in their work. Its founder, Michael Farris, has described homeschooling
as “a way to obey God’s command to teach our children to love God.”
“HSLDA
has pretty much always existed… for the religious right to train up kids to
take over in politics.”
“[HSLDA]
is probably the major player who’s driven American homeschooling in the last 30
years, and they’ve always been a very far-right, religious-right organization,”
said Kathryn Brightbill, a legislative analyst with the Coalition for
Responsible Home Education, a nonprofit that advocates for accountability in
homeschooling. “HSLDA has pretty much always existed in part to create that
next generation of soldiers for the religious right to train up kids to take
over in politics,” she said.
As it
grew into the most prominent homeschooling organization in the U.S., it
attracted the attention of Russians leading efforts to build relationships with
the American far-right.
These
groups and individuals would help obscure the true nature of Moscow’s
kleptocratic dictatorship to Americans, especially to segments of the American
right. In 2014, the Kremlin pushed these relationships further: as U.S.-Russian
relations fractured following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that year, Russians
close to the Kremlin looked to propel themselves directly into the types of
groups and movements pushing “traditional values,” especially within the
American religious right.
One of
these groups, the World Congress of Families (WCF), played an outsize role
linking sanctioned Russian officials to the broader U.S. religious right. The
WCF, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a hate group,
is a joint Russian-American project that reportedly receives funding from
sanctioned Russian oligarchs like Malofeev and Vladimir Yakunin, the latter of
whom is the former head of Russian Railways and a close Putin confidant.
The
WCF took credit for helping pass a 2011 Russian law restricting abortion
access, and has likewise helped build an international coalition of anti-LGBTQ
forces. It boasts some 50 membership organizations who pay dues, including the
Alliance Defending Freedom and Family Research Council, which are also
designated hate groups by the SPLC. The WCF took credit for helping push
Russia’s 2013 “Anti-Propaganda Law,” which effectively demonizes the entire
LGBTQ community.
In
2014, the WCF announced it would host its annual conference in Moscow. (The
group’s most recent conference, which ThinkProgress covered, was held in
Moldova, and featured many of the same Russian figures who joined the HSLDA in
Russia last year.) After the U.S. began issuing sanctions on Russia in 2014 in
response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Russian funding for
separatists in Ukraine, the WCF announced it would no longer be organizing the
conference, citing concerns about potentially breaching those sanctions.
But
the conference was held anyway, and appeared almost identical to what the WCF
had originally planned. And while some American groups like the Concerned Women for
America decided to skip the conference, a number of Americans
showed up — including Michael Donnelly, the HSLDA’s director of global outreach.
The
HSLDA didn’t publicize Donnelly’s visit to Russia. (Other groups, like Texas
secessionists, have also traveled to Russia in recent years while refraining from posting anything
publicly about their visits.) But Brightbill, with the
Coalition for Responsible Home Education, discovered that
Donnelly followed through on his pledge to speak at the conference.
In a
series of Facebook posts that Brightbill uncovered, Donnelly
wrote that he “met with senior leaders of the [Russian] Orthodox Church.” As
Donnelly noted on Facebook, “[The] family conference I’m attending today is
being held at the Kremlin and says a lot at least on its face about the value
of family in Russian government.”
Donnelly
confirmed he attended the conference, writing in a text message that
he was “there on official business.”
Donnelly’s
visit, Brightbill said, was “super hush-hush.” And for good reason: In 2014,
Americans’ ties to Russia were suddenly under U.S. scrutiny. Russia had
just invaded Ukraine and supplied separatists with weaponry that brought down
Malaysian Air Flight MH17, killing 298 people.
But
for those following Russian outreach efforts to the American far-right, that
2014 conference was a turning point. It marked a moment in which Russia “[took]
on the mantle of leadership of global social conservatism,” said scholar Chris
Stroop, an expert on links between between Russia and the American
religious right who received a doctorate from Stanford in Russian history.
Enemies of
America, friends of the HSLDA
By
2018, those ties between the HSLDA and networks of sanctioned Russians had
continued, and had deepened. One of the primary links between the HSLDA and
sanctioned Russian officials is Alexey Komov. A Russian national, Komov speaks
fluent English and has spent the past few years as the official Russian
representative to the WCF. He also works directly for
Malofeev — a man nicknamed “God’s oligarch” for his role in financing
religious-right ventures in Russia and abroad.
Malofeev is also currently under U.S. sanctions for
having helped fund separatists in eastern Ukraine.
ALEXEY
KOMOV AND ELENA MILSKAYA, BOTH OF WHOM WORK FOR SANCTIONED RUSSIAN OLIGARCH
KONSTANTIN MALOFEEV, HUDDLE AT LAST YEAR'S HOMESCHOOLING CONFERENCE IN RUSSIA.
CREDIT: GHEX
Komov
helped the HSLDA bring the annual Global Home Education Conference to Russia last
May — the first time the conference was hosted there. The decision effectively
represented the culmination of Russia’s efforts to liaise with the
American right-wing homeschooling movement. One of the outlets that promoted
the conference was a pro-Kremlin site called Russian Faith, which is
run by the rabidly anti-Semitic Charles
Bausman; another WCF adviser, Pavel Parfentiev, who claimed credit for
Russia’s ban on adoptions by LGBTQ couples, also spoke at the conference.
Donnelly
said the 2018 conference wasn’t specifically an HSLDA project, but that HSLDA
was simply one of the event’s co-sponsors. He also said that HSLDA provided no
direct financial support for the conference. “The conference is a project
supported by HSLDA, but it’s not HSLDA [as] the organization that actually did
the conference,” he told ThinkProgress. “We felt that [Russia] was a good place
to go — and it turns out it was.”
But it
appears the HSLDA played an important role in organizing the conference:
The official contact for
the conference is an HSLDA email address, and the conference’s official webpage was registered by the
HSLDA.
“[Komov]
was the primary organizer, Russian organizer, of this homeschooling event,”
said Allan Carlson, one of the WCF’s co-founders and a speaker at the
conference. “The chief American sponsoring group was the… HSLDA.”
Conferencing
with the Kremlin
The
conference, held in St. Petersburg and Moscow, billed itself as a “forum to
cultivate awareness about home education, its legal framework, social and
academic research, and practical experience around the world.” It was,
according to the official page, “hugely
successful.” Or as Carlson put it: “I think it was a very significant event.”
“[It]
makes sense that we would find the leaders of America’s Christofascist
homeschooling movement networking with Russians with whom they share ideological
affinity.”
And
that may have been true, in the context of homeschooling. But it was also a
coup for sanctioned Russians seeking to connect with the American right.
One of
the conference’s official co-sponsors, alongside the HSLDA and the far-right
Alliance Defending Freedom, was Malofeev’s St. Basil the Great Charitable
Foundation. And among the speakers — which included some of Russia’s most
well-known anti-LGBTQ figures, like Dmitri Smirnov — was Yelena Mizulina, a
Russian official sanctioned by the U.S. and widely credited for helping lead
Moscow’s lurch toward far-right social policies over the past decade.
As the
Obama White House announced when
sanctioning Mizulina in 2014, she was partly responsible for “contributing to
the crisis in Ukraine,” alongside Russian ultra-nationalists like Dmitry
Rogozin and Sergey Glazyev. The Trump White House has continued to sanction
Mizulina.
Donnelly
told ThinkProgress that the HSLDA has “no links with sanctioned Russian
officials and oligarchs.”
SANCTIONED
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL YELENA MIZULINA, SEEN HERE AT LAST YEAR'S WCF CONFERENCE IN
MOLDOVA, HAS BEEN SANCTIONED BY THE U.S. SINCE 2014. CREDIT: CASEY MICHEL
But in
an interview with Pravoslavie, a website focused
on Russian Orthodox affairs, Donnelly specifically pointed to Mizulina —
who’s now in her fifth year under American
sanctions — as a model partner for the HSLDA. “I think that
Russia has a bright future in the field of family education,” Donnelly said.
“[Russia has] official and very influential people who support this idea. For
example, Yelena Mizulina.”
Brightbill
noted that Mizulina’s support for homeschooling appears to be part of a broader
Russian playbook, especially when it comes to building alliances with American
far-right groups. “That probably plays a big part in what they were doing with
Russia, and how they became so easily played by Russia, since Russian officials
are telling them that they are on board with this idea of homeschooling as a
human right,” Brightbill said.
Some
of those who spoke at the conference, such as the WCF’s Carlson, tried to
downplay the significance of sanctioned Russian officials’ and oligarchs’
involvement. “The thing just happened,” Carlson said.
MIKE
DONNELLY SPEAKS AT LAST YEAR'S HOMESCHOOLING CONFERENCE IN RUSSIA, WHICH HOSTED
AT LEAST ONE SANCTIONED RUSSIAN OFFICIAL. CREDIT: GHEX
“[It]
makes sense that we would find the leaders of America’s Christofascisthomeschooling
movement networking with Russians with whom they share ideological affinity,
even though homeschooling, like gun ownership, is uncommon in Russia,” Stroop
said, using a term to refer to fundamentalist Christian ideas used in pursuit
of totalitarian rule.
Donnelly
said the HSLDA’s Russian partners made the decision to host Mizulina. “We
didn’t invite her, the locals invited her,” he said. “It was a global
event, but the locals had some control over who got to come. They wanted her
there because of her support of homeschooling and because she’s very
influential.”
But
Brightbill doesn’t buy it. “HSLDA has acted as a clearinghouse for all these
international homeschool organizations for years, so for them to say
— ‘Oh, this isn’t them, they’re not the ones who are involved’ — it’s
giving them distance and plausible deniability,” she said.
Honored to be
speaking at the Global Home Education Conference in St. Petersburg.
Homeschooling taking off in Russia. Great people; great conference. On to
Moscow now. Spasibo! #homeschool
Donnelly
said that it doesn’t necessarily matter that Mizulina is sanctioned, so long as
she continues to back homeschooling.
“I’m
very supportive of having people who are in power in a country speaking
favorably about home education,” he said. “Mizulina, she’s on the sanctions
list, but she’s obviously very influential in the Russian Duma. And so if the
homeschooling movement in Russia is going to survive and thrive, they need to
have support from influential people. And so [the U.S.] may not like Yelena
Mizulina as a country for whatever reason, but in Russia she’s very
influential, and she’s very interested [in] and supportive of home education.”
Homeschool
infiltration
Donnelly
added that no American officials have asked him why the HSLDA participated
in the 2018 conference, or why the HSLDA co-sponsored an event that featured a
sanctioned Russian official like Mizulina.
“If
you want to get me in trouble, go ahead and make that the focus of your
article.”
“No
one’s knocked on my door [to ask why HSLDA co-sponsored an event with
Mizulina],” he said. “Maybe they will if you start publicizing it. If you
want to get me in trouble, go ahead and make that the focus of your article.”
ALEXEY
KOMOV (BACK-CENTER) APPEARS WITH OTHERS AT LAST YEAR'S HOMESCHOOLING CONFERENCE
IN RUSSIA. CREDIT: FACEBOOK
While
Donnelly said he has no plans to return to Russia in the foreseeable future,
Russians who have been making inroads with the American religious right
appear eager to continue their work.
“Our
movements have the same issues, the same challenges, and as parents we really
want what’s best for children,” Donnelly said in a 2017 video with Komov. “Would
you agree that that’s what’s motivating Russian homeschooling?”
“Absolutely,”
Komov responded, smiling beneath falling snow. “I think we have very similar
issues — and we should be close together.”
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