Colleen Reasor

Opinion contributor

Recently three Kentucky legislators, including Rocky Adkins, a recent Democratic primary candidate for governor, wrote the Courier Journal expounding the opportunity Braidy Industries will bring to an economically depressed area of Kentucky. These are also three of the legislators who voted unanimously to use $15 million of Kentucky taxpayers’ money for a project that they knew nothing about other than having Gov. Matt Bevin’s assurance it would benefit Kentucky.

It was learned later that this investment was a first for Kentucky: using taxpayer money to purchase stock in a private company whose CEO is a friend of the governor.

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Given a recently released report from the Pentagon (Russian Strategic Intentions, May 2019), which outlines Russian strategies to politically infiltrate susceptible countries, Kentucky is now the gateway for a U.S. democracy-destroying Trojan horse.

Oleg Deripaska an oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin and Russian Intelligence, is being welcomed to purchase a 40% ownership, with a $200 million investment in Braidy Industries. This Trojan horse opens the gates to allow Putin to legally infiltrate and provide avenues for Russia to manipulate the U.S. economy.

Similar investments are already being dangled to eight other states in the country that also have economically depressed areas. With the establishment of job-providing industries in a one-factory town, Russia will be able to leverage American jobs to achieve its insidious goals to influence our politics and manipulate our economy.

How can such a Trojan horse be so easily rolled past our American defenses? That happened when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell intervened and allowed the lifting of Russian sanctions that would have prevented these investments and further interference in our elections.

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According to the report, the infiltration of this Trojan horse:

Opens legal pathways for possible laundering of illegally gained Russian mafia money

Gives Russia avenues to legally invest in U.S. political campaigns

Permits Putin expanded access to the U.S. economy and policy-making through control of American labor, industries, and politicians

Will undermine our national security

Instead of Rocky and our legislators claiming a Russian dominated aluminum plant coming to the commonwealth as a “valuable investment that will bring back the types of jobs our people need and deserve,” he should be decrying Kentucky’s vulnerability being targeted to allow this Trojan horse to infiltrate our country and its democracy via a Kentucky aluminum plant.

Our legislators deserve our disdain, not our congratulations. They failed to thoroughly vet Bevin’s secret project and have allowed money and the state’s need for jobs to cloud their judgment. Kentucky workers definitely deserve good quality jobs, but they don’t deserve to be used as pawns in Russia’s plan to undermine our economy and destroy our democracy.

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Colleen Reasor is a member of Indivisible Kentucky.