Thread by @rgoodlaw

<thread> Why this photo is such a big deal.

Politico: Ukraine pol allegedly sent Kremlin-backed disinformation on Biden to Senators.

Sen. Ron Johnson's spokesperson says Johnson “never received nor would we ever collect information from this individual or individuals like him.”

2. The photo is of Andrii Telizhenko with Sen. Johnson posted to Telizhenko's FB account on July 11, 2019.

Who is Telizhenko?

NYT: FBI warned Sen. Johnson of the Bureau's concern that Telizhenko is "a conduit for Russian disinformation about the Bidens"

nytimes.com/2020/07/20/us/…

3. In 2019, Telizhenko told Washington Post "he met with Johnson (Wis.) for at least 30 minutes on Capitol Hill and with Senate staff for five additional hours...said discussions focused in part on 'the DNC issue.'"

(@eliseviebeck @DDaltonBennett report)
washingtonpost.com/politics/sen-j…

4. The Politico story is centered on Andrii Derkach — the Ukrainian pol who allegedly passed on packets of Kremlin-backed disinformation about Biden to the Senators.

(reporting by @NatashaBertrand @AndrewDesiderio @kyledcheney)
politico.com/news/2020/07/2…

5. Telizhenko and Derkach have reportedly been working as collaborators with two other Ukrainians.

@ChristopherJM has a deep dive on the group today.

"The operatives...share important similarities: troubles in their past and ties to Russia."

buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…

6. More background on Telizhenko:

The headline says it all: "A Giuliani ally offered cash to lobby US senators on behalf of pro-Russian TV stations"

(great reporting by @NdosSantosCNN, who obtained emails and Telizhenko's interlocutors on the record)
cnn.com/2020/03/14/eur…

7. Take home points:

What extraordinarily bad judgment of Sen. Johnson if he personally met with Telizhenko.

Johnson's hyper-political investigation appears to be active conduit for Kremlin political influence campaign to interfere with American voters' well-informed vote.