Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., was caught in an embarrassing lie in March when she claimed she had never “ever” met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
She had, and in fact she’d even tweeted about it.
The senator’s easily debunked claim looks even sillier this week following reports that a foundation funded entirely by her family once donated to the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation, of which Kislyak is a sitting member of the board of directors.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the Shepard Family Foundation donation:
The $873 contribution was part of an intended $1,000 donation on behalf of former Missouri Rep. James Symington, and was reduced when McCaskill and her husband paid for their own meals at a November 2015 dinner at the Russian embassy because of the foundation’s rules, she said.
McCaskill said she attended the dinner because Symington, a mentor, was being honored as someone who has long been involved with efforts to improve cultural relations between Russia and the United States.
Symington sits on the group’s board along with Kislyak.
The $873 donation was dug up by the Republican-connected Senate Leadership Fund, which is characterizing its findings ahead of the 2018 elections as further proof of the senator’s dishonesty.
McCaskill, for her part, told the Post-Dispatch that she didn’t speak with Kislyak at the 2015 dinner. She also stressed the donation was more the work of Symington than herself and that both Democrats and Republicans have supported the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation in the past.
“They’d better call George Bush and the list of all the Republicans that have been involved in this over all the years,” the senator said, adding that the story about the donation “is just [opposition researchers] trying to be nasty.”
The donation amount is indeed small, and it seems like a little thing. It is humorous, however, given McCaskill’s shoddy attempt in March to stir up intrigue and controversy with her bogus claim she had never “ever” met with Kislyak as she insinuated that there was something sinister in her then-Senate colleague, Jeff Sessions, meeting him in his office.
Sessions responded to the developments by recusing himself from parts of the investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Just before he announced that, however, McCaskill tweeted, “I’ve been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years. No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com.”
This is not true.
On Jan. 30, 2013, McCaskill said on social media, “Off to meeting w/Russian ambassador. Upset about the arbitrary/cruel decision to end all US adoptions, even those in process.” Later, on Aug. 6, 2015, the senator tweeted, “Today calls with British, Russian, and German Ambassadors re: Iran deal.”
McCaskill clarified later that she had, in fact, met with Kislyak. However, she explained, it was never a “one-on-one.” She also blamed Twitter’s character limit for prohibiting her from being more precise.
“Again, As senior member of Armed Serv, never received call or request from Russian Amb for meeting. Never met one on one w/him,” she said on social media. “[Four] years ago went to meeting of many Senators about international adoptions. Russian Amb also attended.”
“The Russian ambassador never called me. The Russian ambassador has never asked for a meeting with me … you cannot say that having a one-on-one meeting with the Russian ambassador was a common thing to occur,” she added.
Well, OK then.
