McCain, Graham sneak in provision to ban RT from US

Passed by the US Senate earlier this week, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2018, contains provisions that have little to do with US national defense.

This is an often-used ploy by US lawmakers to ‘piggy-back’ legislation which would have little hope of adoption as a stand-alone bill.

Buried in the list of amendments is No 1096, which aims to “prohibit multichannel video programming distributors from being required to carry certain video content that is owned or controlled by the Government of the Russian Federation”.

The duo, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and John McCain (R-Arizona), included the provision stating that a distributor working in a US jurisdiction “may not be directly or indirectly required” to carry video content funded, even in part, by Russia.

It means that American cable and satellite networks broadcasting RT content, will no longer be protected by US federal law after this amendment is signed into law by President Donald Trump. Currently such channels face legal repercussions if they drop RT’s programming, as they have signed contractual obligations.

Despite factual errors and no evidence, a declassified US intelligence community report on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, was taken at face value by mainstream US media outlets and certain politicians.

“There is an obsession on Capitol hill and in the mainstream media with RT, because RT is effective and because RT is watched. But also because RT carries perspectives that are not available on the mainstream media,” Daniel McAdams, Executive Director for the Ron Paul Institute, told RT in response to the proposed provision.

“The fact of the matter is that John McCain and Lindsey Graham, the people behind this amendment, the Atlantic Council and the others that are trying to silence RT – they are the totalitarians, they are the enemies of free speech, the enemies of the First Amendment.”

McCain’s as well as Lindsey Graham’s financial association with the globalist billionaire George Soros dates back to 2001, according to a report by OpenSecrets.org. In 2001, McCain founded the Reform Institute as a vehicle to receive funding from George Soros’ Open Society Institute as he was facing financial ruin.

The Reform Institute regularly has supported McCain in various legislative efforts, including on “comprehensive immigration reform,” efforts widely opposed by the Republican party’s conservative base.

David Horowitz’s DiscoverTheNetworks.org website and Michelle Malkin’s blog have revealed the Reform Institute’s funding ties.