hr taub
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</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/disgraced-rhode-island-republican-illegally-sought-help-from-russian-intelligence-fec/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/disgraced-rhode-island-republican-illegally-sought-help-from-russian-intelligence-fec/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. David Cicilline enjoyed a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/rhode-island-house-district-1-cicilline-taub" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">landslide reelection</a> when he defeated Republican challenger H. Russell Taub by 29% in Rhode Island’s 1<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">st</span> Congressional District. But that defeat was the least of Taub’s problems: <b>Taub, in 2019, was sent to prison for defrauding donors and committing wire fraud. And now, the Federal Election Commission is saying that Taub illegally sought help from <a href="https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2022/02/21/rhode-island-republican-candidate-h-russell-taub-sought-russian-assistance-2016-election-cicilline/6881067001/?utm_source=providencejournal-News%20Alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alerts&utm_term=news_alert&utm_content=RHODEISLAND-PROVIDENCE-NLETTER01" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Russian government intelligence</a> during his 2016 campaign.</b></font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Providence Journal’s Alex Kuffner reports, “A few months before the November 2016 general election, Taub sent a direct message to a Twitter account known to be used by the GRU, Russia’s main intelligence agency, according to a recently released <a href="https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7207/7207_45.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">FEC filing</a>. In the message to Guccifer 2.0, Taub asked for a list of Republican donors.”</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Taub, Kuffner adds, “later received a dossier that included opposition research reports, polling data and other information about his incumbent Democratic opponent in the 1st Congressional District race.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>According to the FEC, Taub violated federal campaign law “by knowingly soliciting, accepting or receiving a prohibited in-kind foreign national contribution in the form of opposition research related to the candidate’s opponent.”</b></font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Taub, now 33, was 30 when, on </span><a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ri/pr/former-candidate-sentenced-fraud-and-campaign-finance" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">July 24, 2019</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that he had</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> been sentenced to three years in federal prison for defrauding donors — a crime he pled guilty to along with wire fraud.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Under federal campaign finance law, campaign donations must be used for campaigns, not personal expenses.<b> But Taub admitted to using more than $1 million in campaign money for everything from strip clubs to clothes to cigars.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Taub was released from prison on January 13, according to Kuffner.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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