‘Moscow Mitch’ is refusing to protect elections from Russia after ‘bribe’ from oligarch: Intel expert

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is likely blocking election security bills because he received a "bribe" from a Russian oligarch, an intelligence expert explained on MSNBC on Friday.

"All In" host Chris Hayes interviewed Malcolm Nance about the latest developments in DC. Nance is the author of the 2018 book The Plot to Destroy Democracy: How Putin and His Spies Are Undermining America and Dismantling the West.

"On Tuesday, FBI Director Chris Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and said that Russia is still intent on interfering in our elections. On Wednesday, former special counsel Robert Mueller testified for about seven hours, largely about Russia’s sabotage of our campaign and election. And then yesterday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a stunning report on Russia’s 2016 election interference," Hayes reported.

"And then, following all that, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell blocked two election security bills yesterday," Hayes noted.

"Well, a lot happened this week, what do you make of Mcconnell’s maneuvering in the last day or two?" he asked.

"The only thing I can make of it is -- I have to go and look back at what precipitating event would make him not want to defend the United States from a Russian attack. I don’t like the word intrusion. What happened in 2016 was an attack, as Robert Mueller said, we’re still in an ongoing attack," Nance replied.

"And the only thing I can think of is that Oleg Deripaska, one of the oligarchs who was implicated in the 2016 election activities, has promised to open an aluminum smelting plant in the state of Kentucky, providing jobs in Kentucky," he explained.

"Anywhere else in any other point in history, that would be considered a bribe, especially when you consider the next immediate thing that he does is stops the United States from defending itself in cybersecurity and specifically stops to make it a crime not to report foreign contacts who are trying to impact our elections," Nance concluded.

Nance also said McConnell was earning his Moscow Mitch nickname.

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