Thread by @cjcmichel

NEW: Franklin Graham had a one-on-one meeting with a sanctioned Russian official in Moscow earlier this year—and the only reason we know about it is the Russian government. thebulwark.com/franklin-graha…

Franklin Graham didn't post, share, or announce anything about his meeting with a sanctioned Russian official. We only know about it from a Duma readout.

In a new statement, Graham said the meeting with his sanctioned counterpart was "excellent."

thebulwark.com/franklin-graha…

Franklin Graham has now become the highest-profile American meeting with a Russian official directly sanctioned by the U.S.—and he's done so multiple times the past few years.

After meeting with a sanctioned Russian official, Franklin Graham also sat down for a half-hour interview with the Russian propaganda outlet RT.

During the interview, Graham declined to say the 2020 election was conducted fairly.

This is the second time in as many months in which a leading American Evangelical figure has met with someone directly sanctioned by the U.S.

Last month, Mike Pence hobnobbed with a genocide denier directly sanctioned by Washington.

thebulwark.com/why-was-mike-p…

In addition to meeting with sanctioned Russian officials, Franklin Graham has an outsized history of praising Moscow's anti-LGBTQ policies in recent years, and calling for the US to "ally" with Russia against "Islamic terrorism."

Franklin Graham's meeting with a sanctioned Russian official is the latest in a years-long campaign out of Moscow to target the American Religious Right.

And the meeting(s) with Graham are the highest-profile contacts yet.

politico.com/magazine/story…

Franklin Graham has also been meeting with higher-ups in Moscow since at least 2015, a year after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine:

https://twitter.com/Franklin_Graham/status/849245272991559680?s=20