Scott Walker is mum on Russia in the Trump era, but he vilified Russia and Putin in 2015

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker these days carefully avoids talking about Russia, but in 2015 he frequently discussed the threat the country poses to the U.S.

Then, he was running for president and eager to portray Democrats as too soft in their handling of Russia. Now, he’s seeking a third term as governor and refuses to say what he thinks of President Donald Trump’s attempts to establish friendly relations with Russia.

It’s the latest example of Walker passing on criticizing a president who is beloved by the GOP base and quick to fire off angry tweets at critics.

“That’s not in my jurisdiction,” Walker said Monday in passing on what he made of Trump downplaying Russian attempts to influence U.S. politics as he stood alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Walker sidestepped that question just before it was revealed that he had been photographed in 2015 with a Russian official and a Siberian woman now accused of attempting to interfere with American politics to help Russia.

While Walker won’t talk about his views on Russia now, he took an aggressive stance when he was seeking the presidency.

“Russia poses the greatest security challenge to Europe since the Cold War. It's time to respond with much-needed American leadership,” Walker tweeted in June 2015.

Walker adviser Brian Reisinger wouldn’t say this week whether Walker still held that view, but said the governor is "focused on delivering results for hard-working families to keep moving Wisconsin forward."

Walker tweeted about Russia nearly 20 times in 2015 and 2016, writing that President Barack Obama was being “outplayed by Putin” in Syria.

He wrote that Hillary Clinton, Obama’s former secretary of state and the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, had made it possible for Russia to hack U.S. secrets. He accused Russia of downing a Malaysia Airlines plane and criticized Putin for invading Ukraine.

“Under the @BarackObama @HillaryClinton doctrine Putin has found nothing but mush,” Walker tweeted in September 2015.

Now, Walker is not saying whether Trump is being tough enough with Putin.

For months, Walker has been loath to criticize Trump. He has declined to say whether he believes women who have accused the president of groping them or what he thinks of Trump’s immigration policies.

At a White House event this week, Trump called Walker “a favorite of mine,” even though he has mocked him in the past, such as in 2016 when he said Walker looked like “a little tough guy” when he rode his motorcycle.

In recent days, it has been a difficult issue for Walker to dodge because of the arrest and indictment of Maria Butina, who is accused of conspiring to interfere with U.S. politics to influence policies on Russia without registering with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gov. Scott Walker is pictured in 2015 with Alexander Torshin and Maria Butina. Butina was charged in July 2018 with attempting to help Russia interfere with U.S. politics.

Walker had his photo taken with Butina and her patron, Russian central bank deputy governor Alexander Torshin, at a 2015 National Rifle Association convention in Nashville, Tenn.

Walker has said his talk with the pair was brief and similar to ones he has with supporters who approach him at events. He has said he has not been contacted by authorities about the matter.

REALTED:Scott Walker had photo taken with woman now charged in Russian plot during his presidential bid

In online posts at the time, Butina wrote that Walker — who took a semester of Russian at Marquette University — said “hello” and “thank you” to her in Russian. Walker aides posted the photo of him with Butina and Torshin on the website of his political group, Our American Revival, just as they did with others Walker met at the time.

“We talked about Russia, I did not hear any aggression towards our country, the president or my compatriots,” Butina wrote in one post, according to an online translation from Russian.

Walker does not recall anything like that, according to Reisinger.

Butina attended the launch of Walker's presidential campaign in Waukesha, according to a report this May from Mother Jones magazine that included a photo of an online post by Butina from the event.

In his public comments during that period, Walker routinely took a stand against Russia and Putin.

“Hillary Clinton tried to appease Vladimir Putin with a reset button,” Walker said during an August 2015 speech at the Citadel military academy in South Carolina. “Sensing weakness, Putin today is redrawing the map of Europe with loaded guns. He is dismembering Ukraine, trying to destroy NATO and threatening to use nuclear weapons.”

His criticism of the “reset button” became a refrain for him — one that got him applause at small gatherings in early-primary states and at well-attended events such as the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Days after Walker’s photo was taken with Butina and Torshin, Our American Revival received $250,000 from Access Industries, a company founded by Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik.

Blavatnik, who has U.S. and U.K. citizenship, previously was part owner of a Russian oil company.

Democrats have seized on the donation in an attempt to draw links between him to Russians and Ukrainians, just as Walker downplays his encounter with Butina and Torshin by saying it was just a photo-op and not a meeting.

"The timing of this quarter-million dollar contribution sure looks like Scott Walker's non-meeting meant something to somebody,” said Joanna Beilman-Dulin, research director for the liberal group One Wisconsin Now.

But Reisinger, the Walker adviser, said Walker's team had been in touch with Blavatnik months before the NRA conference and Walker's encounter with Butina.

“From protests to the recall to these latest shameful tin-foil-hat theories, the far left of the Democrat Party is showing it will stop at nothing to attack Scott Walker and derail his reforms," Reisinger said in a statement. "No matter how much hate and anger they throw at him — or how much the media buys their sham accusations — the governor remains focused on delivering results for hard-working families to keep moving Wisconsin forward."

Months after the Our American Revival donation, Access Industries gave $1.5 million to a super PAC supporting Walker’s presidential run. The super PAC returned $1.2 million of that sum after Walker dropped out.