Thread by @DrRadchenko

Trump's pardon of #MichaelFlynn reminds me to post bits and pieces of an interesting document I recently unearthed in the Russian archives, which tells a remarkable story of corruption and treason. The dramatis personae are Nikita Khrushchev and Cyrus S. Eaton.

Cyrus S. Eaton (1883-1979) was an American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was known for critical views of the US posture in the Cold War, and helped organise the first Pugwash Conference. He even received the Lenin Prize from the USSR in 1960.

In February 1964 Eaton travelled to the USSR where, on February 16, he met Nikita Khrushchev. They had a lengthy discussion of world affairs - not unlike many other conversations Khrushchev would have with visiting politicians and public figures. Until all of a sudden...

Eaton changed the subject of conversation. He remarked that US politicians were often afraid to speak their minds because of domestic repercussions. He added that he wanted to create a different political atmosphere in the US, one that would support friendship with the USSR.

Cyrus then recounts how back in 1952 he helped defeat Robert A. Taft's nomination for President by purchasing the @enquirer. Not sure if this story is true but it doesn't really matter. Here's a little newspaper article summarising what happened to the Enquirer.

The whole point of this lead-up was to propose to Khrushchev a deal. The Soviet Union, Cyrus said, spent millions of dollars in the Third World, recently building a major steel plant in India, for example (at the price of nearly $300 million).

Why not, he said, instead invest money in American newspapers, which would then afford the USSR the needed influence in the United States. Why not start with @nytimes, Cyrus said.

The Soviet Union, he said, would need about $5 million to buy into @nytimes and for a such a big country, this is just "a grain of sand." American corporations, he said, spend hundreds of millions on advertising and what is the USSR if not the biggest corporation in the world?

But buying the @nytimes was only the first step for the Soviet Union. The next step was buy the @washingtonpost, and also @Newsweek. Hell, why stop there: Eaton proposed that @ABC and Columbia Broadcasting should also be purchased.

Then Eaton underscores that such investments would be necessary to change the political atmosphere in the US, especially during the elections, to convince the American people and their politicians that the US should strive to be the Soviet Union's friend.

Then we get to the most interesting bit. How are these marvellous investments to be made? Why, through Cyrus Eaton of course. This is "both profitable and reliable."

Khrushchev "answers, with a smile, that this is of course very attractive." Eaton emphasises secrecy and says 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.

Khrushchev says that he "will have to think about it."

To sum up, what we have here is a prominent US businessman and public figure at the height of the Cold War *soliciting* Soviet cash to buy major US newspapers and media companies.

Tells us a lot, I think, about issues like corruption (who exports it, and in which direction), about patriotism, and about power.