The FBI just declassified hundreds of documents. What they show is eyebrow-raising.
Because Barack Obama and Joe Biden were just implicated in a Russian collusion scheme.
Democrats’ Russian Roulette: Profiting from Moscow While Pointing Fingers at Trump
For years, Democrats hammered President Donald Trump with accusations of Russian collusion, spinning a narrative that painted him as a Kremlin puppet. Yet, when the dust settled, their own track record reveals a troubling pattern of cozying up to Russia for personal and political gain. While they cried foul over invented conspiracies, key party figures quietly enriched themselves through Moscow’s oligarchs and business deals, exposing a hypocrisy that undermines their moral posturing.
The Obama administration’s “Russian Reset,” launched in 2009, set the stage for this double-dealing. Aimed at easing tensions after Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia, the policy opened doors for American businesses to mingle with Russian interests. It was a move that, on the surface, promised mutual benefit but, in practice, lined the pockets of Democratic insiders while empowering Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, played a central role in this reset. Her pet project, Skolkovo—Russia’s attempt at a Silicon Valley—was sold as a way to foster innovation. But investigative reporter Peter Schweizer revealed a darker side in his 2015 book Clinton Cash. Clinton funneled U.S. investments into Skolkovo, which had already received $5 million from Moscow. Meanwhile, the Clinton Foundation raked in donations from Russian businessmen tied to the project.
One such donor was Andrey Vavilov, Chairman of SuperOx, part of Skolkovo’s nuclear research group. He gave between $10,000 and $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Viktor Vekselberg, head of the Skolkovo Foundation and a billionaire, also funneled money to the charity through his company, Renova Group. The overlap between Clinton’s diplomatic push and her family’s financial gains raises questions about whose interests she was truly serving.
Then there’s Bill Clinton, who cashed in on the reset with a $500,000 speaking fee from Renaissance Capital, a Russian investment bank. This windfall came as Hillary Clinton opposed sanctions on Russian officials—sanctions that later became the Magnitsky Act. The timing is hard to ignore: while Democrats now accuse others of foreign influence, the Clintons were profiting from Russia’s elite.
Joe Biden, Obama’s vice president, was no stranger to the reset’s benefits. In a 2009 speech at the Munich Security Conference, he declared, “The last few years have seen a dangerous drift in relations between Russia and the members of our Alliance. It is time—to paraphrase President Obama—it’s time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and should be working together with Russia.” His words signaled open season for business with Moscow.
Hunter Biden seized the opportunity. Starting in 2010, he and his business partners, including Devon Archer, chased Russian oligarchs for investments. Emails and bank records show their firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, planned a Moscow office and a real estate venture with a Russian oligarch that could have netted $1 billion. They even courted Ara Abramyan, a Putin ally, for a new real estate fund and discussed a “U.S./Russia Business Council Concept.”
These plans fizzled after Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, but not before Hunter pivoted to Ukraine’s Burisma Holdings, a move that later fueled corruption allegations. The ease with which he shifted from Russian to Ukrainian deals suggests a pattern of exploiting geopolitical shifts for personal gain—hardly the behavior of a family committed to confronting Russian aggression.
Implications For Democrats Today, The Corruption Runs On
Fast-forward to 2021, and President Joe Biden faced a test of his own Russia stance. Despite publicly calling Russia America’s “biggest threat,” he waived sanctions on the NordStream2 pipeline, a Russian project supplying gas to Germany. The decision baffled critics, especially since Biden had campaigned on a hardline Russia policy. Coincidentally, Richard Burt, a former U.S. ambassador and lobbyist for NordStream2, donated $15,000 to Biden’s 2020 campaign. The optics are damning.
The NordStream2 waiver didn’t just weaken U.S. leverage; it enriched Russia’s energy sector at a time when Putin was gearing up for his 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Biden’s choice to prioritize relations with Germany over sanctions foreshadowed the pipeline’s eventual sabotage, a murky episode that left allies scrambling. For a president who vowed to stand firm against Moscow, the move reeked of expediency over principle.
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ obsession with Trump’s alleged Russia ties unraveled spectacularly. The FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which fueled years of collusion claims, was exposed as a house of cards. Newly declassified documents, released last week by FBI Director Kash Patel under a Trump executive order, show the probe relied on unreliable informants and a discredited dossier by Christopher Steele, who leaked it to the media.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, after years of scrutiny, concluded that it “did not establish” any criminal collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Special Counsel John Durham went further, stating, “neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.” The witch hunt collapsed, but not before Democrats milked it for political capital.
Contrast this with their silence on Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea or their muted response to Putin’s early aggressions. When Russia invaded Ukraine again in 2022, Democrats were quick to condemn Putin—yet their earlier dealings suggest a selective outrage. They profited from Russia’s elite when it suited them, only to pivot to sanctimonious rhetoric when the cameras rolled.
This hypocrisy isn’t just a historical footnote; it’s a warning. Democrats’ willingness to exploit Russia for gain while accusing others of betrayal erodes trust in governance. Their reset empowered Putin’s energy dominance, their investments bolstered his oligarchs, and their silence on early aggressions emboldened his invasions. The same party that decried Trump’s “Trojan Horse” ties to Russia, as Hillary Clinton put it, built its own bridges to Moscow’s elite.
The declassified FBI documents should prompt soul-searching, but don’t hold your breath. Democrats have shown they’re more adept at deflecting blame than owning it. Their Russian dalliances—whether through Skolkovo, speaking fees, or pipeline waivers—reveal a party more concerned with power than principle. The real scandal isn’t Trump’s phantom collusion; it’s the Democrats’ very real profiteering.
As voters weigh the future, they’d do well to remember this: those loudest about betrayal often have the most to hide. The Democrats’ Russian roulette—spinning from enrichment to accusation—proves they’re not above playing dirty. If they’re serious about confronting foreign influence, they might start by looking in the mirror.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
