29 April 2017 — 2037 mdt
Come on, Montana Democrats — GG is not the KGB
Greg Gianforte, reports the Guardian, is worth $65–315 million. Of that, $242,400 — less than one-tenth of one percent — is in Russian equities:
According to a financial disclosure filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives, the Montana tech mogul owns almost $150,000 worth of shares in VanEck Vectors Russia ETF and $92,400 in the IShares MSCF Russia ETF fund. Both are indexed to the Russian equities market and have significant holdings in companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft that came under US sanctions in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of the Crimea.
That’s not a big deal, let alone a BFD. It’s not a little deal. It’s not even chicken feed. It’s simply proof that Gianforte diversified his holding, a practice that even most Democrats think makes good sense.
But for some Montana’s Democrats, and for Rob Quist’s campaign, Gianforte’s pissant Rooskee holding are hot smoking proof he may be in cahoots with, or possibly in thrall to, Vladimir Putin and remnants of the old KGB, of which Putin once was a part.
…Tina Olechowski, a spokesman for Gianforte’s opponent, Democrat Rob Quist, used the investments to attack the Republican candidate. “Montana voters deserve to know why Greg Gianforte held on to his shady Russian investments after Putin invaded Ukraine, and again when Russia was accused of interfering in the presidential election,” said Olechowski. “Instead Gianforte kept his Russian ties secret during his failed run for governor last year.”
Come on, Tina, et al. There’s no bowl of borscht here. Gianforte’s a hard right capitalist, not a communist or a Russian spy or dupe. It’s his willingness to take capitalism to cruel extremes that threatens Montana’s hard working middle class, not his minuscule holdings in Russian equities. If elected to Congress, he’ll caucus with the Republicans — and either support friend of the rich and enemy of the poor Paul Ryan, or join with the tea party zealots who think Ryan is a pink-tinged liberal. That’s why voting for Rob Quist is in the enlightened self-interest of middle-class Montanans. Take your eye off the Kremlin and get it back on the ball.