[Vision2020] The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin XIV: What Trade Missions To Russia?

[Saundra Lund]

The Atlantic

The Daily Dish

Andrew Sullivan

19 Oct 2008 04:20 pm

 

The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin XIV: What Trade Missions To Russia?

 

This lie has already been documented
<http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-odd-lies--
6.html>  by the Dish, but the invaluable Anchorage Daily News adds a new
detail <http://www.adn.com/palin/story/542833.html> . Not only has Palin
never gone on or received a trade mission from Russia, she actually spurned
such an offer from Russia:

In an interview last week with CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Palin suggested
that her contact was more than just awareness of Russia's nearness. When
Couric asked Palin if she'd "ever been involved with any negotiations, for
example, with the Russians," the governor replied, "We have trade missions
back and forth." 

But Steve Smirnoff, the Russian Federation's honorary consul in Anchorage,
said Palin never accepted his invitation to open a dialogue with Alaska's
neighbor.

 

When Palin took office in December 2006, Smirnoff says, he sent her a letter
suggesting "she could be instrumental in reviving relationships between
Alaska and Russia, and the rest of the world." 

Smirnoff said he'd met Palin years before, when they both worked on
then-Gov. Frank Murkowski's campaign. Smirnoff had hoped for some rapport,
but "I never received a response," he said. "I don't know if it was taken to
heart or thrown in the trash basket." Patricia Eckert, who works in the
governor's Office of International Trade, confirmed that Palin had not held
meetings with Russian officials during her term. The closest interaction she
cited was when the Seattle-based Russian consul general attended a reception
for the diplomatic corps that Palin hosted in Fairbanks.

 

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-odd-lies--1
.html

 

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