Questions Surround Speaker Johnson’s Connections to Russia

Speaker Mike Johnson has concerning connections to Russia that raise national security questions as he pushes for President Biden's impeachment.

Johnson has long received donations from American Ethane, a company run by two Russians with direct Kremlin ties. American Ethane bankrolled Johnson for years to grease the wheels on getting approval for a proposed ethane terminal in Louisiana. Interestingly, while the firm is Russian-owned and named American Ethane, the exports were all destined for China.

Johnson's anti-LGBTQ advocacy also aligns closely with Russia's global anti-gay agenda. He has compared homosexuality to pedophilia and called it dangerous. His wife runs a Christian counseling service equating homosexuality with bestiality. In the 2000s, Johnson provided legal advice to Exodus International, a harmful conversion therapy group, as well as advocacy for an anti-gay "Day of Truth" in schools. At the time, Johnson worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which connected him to Russia's representative at the anti-LGBTQ World Congress of Families. The WCF authored Russia's severe anti-gay propaganda law.

Johnson's personal life also raises questions. He adopted a black son when he was 25, two years before meeting his wife. Yet few photos exist of Johnson's adopted son with the rest of the family. Johnson has been elusive in providing details about the adoption. In 2010, Johnson was dean of a failed Baptist law school embroiled in fundraising and child abuse scandals, which he conveniently omits from his resume.

With an impeachment of President Biden looming, Moscow may be applying pressure on Johnson through compromising materials obtained over years of Russian connections. The stakes could not be higher to determine whether the Kremlin is influencing the impeachment process through Speaker Johnson.