GOP congressman plans Russia trip to ‘work with the Duma’

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican ally of President-elect Donald Trump and a longtime enthusiast of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Wednesday that he is planning to lead a congressional delegation to Russia next month and expects to meet with Russian officials to discuss “how we can work with the Duma.”

“We’re going to look at certain goals we can set with our Congress and the Duma,” the Russian legislature, Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said in an interview. “What could we actually set in the legislature of Russia and in Congress? Could we work together, for example, and cooperate on space activities?”

Rohrabacher went on to list the rise of the Islamic State and President Obama’s latest round of sanctions against Russia as additional agenda items that he expects to come up during the talks in Moscow.

Rohrabacher, a former White House speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan who represents Orange County, said Russian leaders are eager to meet with U.S. lawmakers to talk directly about the sanctions and many other lingering political tensions.

“We’ll go within a month of the inaugural,” the lawmaker said of the timing. “It’s going to be an official trip of my subcommittee.”

Rohrabacher, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and emerging threats, was coy when asked whether his group would meet with Putin.

“I really can’t say that,” he said after a pause and a half-smile. “It’s possible.”