Maxine Waters touts Trump connections to Russia, but has some of her own

California Rep. Maxine Waters has been relentlessly pointing fingers at President Donald Trump and his administrations ties to Russia. Waters is such a fan of the accusation, that she has even recently speculated that Rep. Jason Chaffetz's departure from his seat was due to his own connections with Russia; a conspiracy that she has admitted to having no evidence of.

Due to these alleged connections, Waters has been banging the drum for Trump's impeachment daily on any or show rally that will have her on. She has even taken to social media to promote the idea of forcing Trump out.

Due to this, Waters, who has been in office since 1990, has seen her star rise considerably on the left. CNN noted this as Waters "having a moment."

However, as Heat Street has recently discovered, for all of Waters' finger pointing at Republicans and the Trump administration for having connections to Russia, Waters has some quiet ties of her own. This comes in the form of her relationship with the pro-Russian, anti-American communist group known as the Workers World Party.

The Workers World Party is reportedly a militant left-wing group that sympathizes with many enemies of the U.S., including North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. It also supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and is a fan of Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

The Workers World party's stances are often carried by Russia's state news organization, Russia Today.

From Heat Street:

The opinions of the Workers World Party and its sister groups are often broadcast by  RT (formerly Russia Today), a Kremlin propaganda arm. For instance, Richard Becker of a group named ANSWER (Act Now to End War And Racism), an organization started by the Workers World Party, once said on RT air that “Russia is not threat to the US, but to its domination”.

According to Heat Street, they have identified several instances where Waters had not only worked alongside the Workers World Party, but had been given an honorary position during their proceedings.

Heat Street has identified at least three instances in which Waters directly or indirectly participated in the Workers World Party’s activities. Back in 2004, the congresswoman participated in a rally organized by the International Action Center, an offshoot organization of the Workers World Party that opposes any use of military force by the United States. The event’s leaflet inviting people to attend the rally lists Rep. Waters as the top guest.

In 2005,  Rep. Waters sent her aide April Lawrence to the party’s “Peace Conference” where Lawrence addressed the participants on the topic of social justice.

More recently, in 2009, the Congresswoman was a speaker at an event organized by the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, a group whose board of members includes Abayomi Azikiwe, an organizer for the Workers World Party. Azikiwe also chaired the event.

Waters' affiliation to the Workers World Party should come as no surprise, as her economic values align with the group.

In 2009, Waters told the CEO of Shell Oil John Hofmeister that she wanted the government to take over and run their companies. Waters told Hofmeister that she wanted to "socialize" before catching herself, and taking a moment to rethink her statement before saying "basically taking over, and the government running all of your companies."