Speaking of useful idiots of treasonous inclination, my favorite is Cyrus S. Eaton, the Canadian-American investment banker who helped fund Pugwash conferences during the Cold War. In February 1964, Eaton travelled to Moscow to meet with Nikita Khrushchev. He had a great idea.
The Soviet Union, Eaton told Khrushchev, should secretly buy shares of @nytimes in order to use the newspaper for pro-Soviet propaganda. The shares would be bought in his, Eaton's, name.
This was just the beginning. The next step was to buy the @washingtonpost, and also @Newsweek. Eaton proposed that the Soviet also buy @ABC and Columbia Broadcasting.
Khrushchev "answers, with a smile, that this is of course very attractive." Eaton emphasised secrecy and said that no one would know other than him about such an investment. No one in the US would have reasons to suspect anything because everyone knows that Eaton is a rich man.
Obviously, this didn't go anywhere. But what ambition. Call it an unsolicited offer from a friendly American.
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