Pelosi: Some Pro-Palestinian Protesters May Be Backed by Russia

Lawmaker wants FBI to investigate financing
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 29, 2024 12:30 AM CST
Pelosi: FBI Should Probe Pro-Palestinian Protesters
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi talks with reporters after a news conference to address sea level rise along the city's waterfront in San Francisco, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Nancy Pelosi wants pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war to be investigated by the FBI. During an interview on CNN Sunday, the former House speaker suggested (without evidence, as the New York Times notes) that some of the protesters could be Russian plants. "For them to call for a ceasefire is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's message," Pelosi said. "Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It's about Putin's message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia."

Asked to clarify her position, she said, "I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that." The national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations decried Pelosi's comments, saying they illustrate "the negative impact of decades of dehumanization of the Palestinian people by those supporting Israeli apartheid." In a follow-up statement provided to CNN, a rep for Pelosi said the congresswoman is "informed by three decades on the House Intelligence Committee" and "acutely aware of how foreign adversaries meddle in American politics to sow division and impact our elections." Meanwhile, during a Sunday appearance on NBC, Pelosi's colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the protests show that "young people are appalled at the violence and the indiscriminate loss of life" in Gaza. (More Nancy Pelosi stories.)

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