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Issa aide collaborates with Ukrainians
Carlsbad's Tracy Slepcevic, Warrior Mom, and her ties to RFK, Jr.
A top aide to GOP House member Darrell Issa has reported getting a free tour to the besieged country and related stops the last week of September, paid for by the controversial non-profit Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
Warrior junket
With the fate of United States military backing for Ukraine cast into doubt by November’s election of Republican Donald Trump for president, a top aide to GOP House member Darrell Issa has reported getting a free tour to the besieged country and related stops the last week of September, paid for by the controversial non-profit Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
Issa Foreign Policy Advisor Mark Erste, Jr. took off from Washington with a group of fellow House staffers on September 28, returning October 5, according to an October 16 filing by Issa with the Clerk of the House. Besides Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine, the journey included stops in Krakow and Rzeszow, Poland, per the filing. “Erste is a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to a senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its Europe Subcommittee,” says the document.
Darrell Issa: staying up to date on Ukraine, thanks to Erste’s aid.
“Meeting with key Ukrainian stakeholders will rapidly advance Mark’s understanding of Ukraine’s security situation and anticorruption efforts, and the impact of U.S. support, which are major issues before the Committee.” The tab for Erste’s transportation was $9100, along with $857 for lodging and $317 for meals. A security detail, including a close protection officer, for the staffer ran another $1600. Events included a “Meeting at Victims Hub” with participants including “Yuriy Belousov, Head of the War Crimes Department; Veronika Plotnikova, Head of the Victims and Witnesses of War Crimes Coordination Centre; and victims of the war.”
The Victim and Witness Coordination Center seen by the group was “established by the Ukrainian government to conduct interviews and provide comprehensive assistance to survivors,” says the document. Then it was off to the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, with hosts Plotnikova, Belousov, and Father Andriy Halavin for a “briefing on the atrocities following the start of the war.”
A subsequent stop included a meeting with principals in SAVE Ukraine about “how the organization is working to rescue and restore children and families affected by war.” A “working dinner” with Elizabeth Hoffman, director of Congressional and Government Affairs and Fellow, [Center for Strategic & International Studies ] that evening included a “Discussion on Russia’s human rights violations and the ways in which the U.S. Government is supporting organizations working on documentation.”
The Center for Strategic and International Studies has been controversial ever since an August 7, 2016 New York Times expose cited the think tank for attempting to influence government officials on behalf of La Jolla-based drone-maker General Atomics, one of the non-profit’s donors. “C.S.I.S. set up confidential meetings at its headquarters with company representatives, inviting top officials from the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the State Department and the office of the defense secretary, according to emails and other documents obtained by The Times through open records requests,” the Times account says.
“As a think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies did not file a lobbying report, but the goals of the effort were clear.” Adds the account, “The think tank insisted that its efforts to influence administration policy were not lobbying. ‘C.S.I.S. will not represent any donor before any government office or entity, including congressional lawmakers and executive branch officials,’ Mr. Hamre, the chief executive, said in his statement to The Times. ‘We do not lobby.’ One thing is clear: The result was a victory for General Atomics.”
In February, 2015, the story continues, “the State Department announced a clarification of its rules, easing final approval that month for General Atomics’s long-planned sale of unarmed Predator drones to the United Arab Emirates, the first such sale to a non-NATO nation.” The Center’s website current lists General Atomics as one of the non-profit’s 16 donors of $250,000 or more. Other financial supporters on the list include the formerly San Diego based military contractor Science Applications International Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Northrop Grumman.
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, listed as a co-sponsor of the Erste trip, set up by the son of billionaire Warren Buffett, has been a key backer of the Ukrainian government. “Every time I leave Ukraine to return home, I ask myself the same question: If we do not stand with Ukraine as they fight to defend their freedom, then what value do we place on our own freedom?” wrote Howard Buffett in the foundation’s 2023 report, as cited by a September 14 Associated Press dispatch.
Carlsbad connection
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Donald Trump’s designated Secretary of Health and Human Services, has close ties to San Diego pure food entrepreneur Tracy Slepcevic, who with husband Steve threw a fundraiser at their North County mansion for Kennedy, then an independent candidate for president, back on March 23. “The event will include a private sunset reception for Premier donors followed by cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres, a fireside chat, Q&A, a photo opportunity for all,” says an announcement of the event on Kennedy’s presidential campaign website.
Tracy Slepcevic wants to help make America healthy again.
“PUR Health is an integrative health and wellness business based out of San Diego that educates individuals on the incredible effects that nutrition and lifestyle choices have on your happiness and ability to lead the life you deserve to live,” says the website of Tracy’s Carlsbad venture. “Last year, Tracy Slepcevic published a book called Warrior Mom about her years raising a son with autism,” reports Mother Jones in an unfriendly April 4 online profile. “The Kennedy campaign sells signed copies of the book for $150 a pop.
Tracy has been an ally of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vax nonprofit that Kennedy ran before entering the 2024 contest. In November, she spoke at CHD’s annual conference in Savannah, Georgia, where she hawked her book and palled around with Kennedy, a longtime peddler of Covid and vaccine misinformation.” A blurb for Slepcevic’s book says, “After Tracy’s son regressed from a vaccine injury in 2006, Tracy embarked on a journey to heal Noah with biomedical intervention. She is educated in the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and has dedicated over 14 years to researching various treatments and therapies for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.” If she gets an HHS gig from Kennedy, Slepcevic could be at the center of a great national debate over healthy food. “As a child, I was raised eating packaged and processed foods every day. I grew up snacking, eating fast food and drinking soda without any understanding of what a healthy, whole-food diet really was,” she says on PUR Health’s website.
— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Issa aide collaborates with Ukrainians
Carlsbad's Tracy Slepcevic, Warrior Mom, and her ties to RFK, Jr.
Issa aide collaborates with Ukrainians
Carlsbad's Tracy Slepcevic, Warrior Mom, and her ties to RFK, Jr.
A top aide to GOP House member Darrell Issa has reported getting a free tour to the besieged country and related stops the last week of September, paid for by the controversial non-profit Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
Warrior junket
With the fate of United States military backing for Ukraine cast into doubt by November’s election of Republican Donald Trump for president, a top aide to GOP House member Darrell Issa has reported getting a free tour to the besieged country and related stops the last week of September, paid for by the controversial non-profit Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
Issa Foreign Policy Advisor Mark Erste, Jr. took off from Washington with a group of fellow House staffers on September 28, returning October 5, according to an October 16 filing by Issa with the Clerk of the House. Besides Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine, the journey included stops in Krakow and Rzeszow, Poland, per the filing. “Erste is a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to a senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its Europe Subcommittee,” says the document.
Darrell Issa: staying up to date on Ukraine, thanks to Erste’s aid.
“Meeting with key Ukrainian stakeholders will rapidly advance Mark’s understanding of Ukraine’s security situation and anticorruption efforts, and the impact of U.S. support, which are major issues before the Committee.” The tab for Erste’s transportation was $9100, along with $857 for lodging and $317 for meals. A security detail, including a close protection officer, for the staffer ran another $1600. Events included a “Meeting at Victims Hub” with participants including “Yuriy Belousov, Head of the War Crimes Department; Veronika Plotnikova, Head of the Victims and Witnesses of War Crimes Coordination Centre; and victims of the war.”
The Victim and Witness Coordination Center seen by the group was “established by the Ukrainian government to conduct interviews and provide comprehensive assistance to survivors,” says the document. Then it was off to the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, with hosts Plotnikova, Belousov, and Father Andriy Halavin for a “briefing on the atrocities following the start of the war.”
A subsequent stop included a meeting with principals in SAVE Ukraine about “how the organization is working to rescue and restore children and families affected by war.” A “working dinner” with Elizabeth Hoffman, director of Congressional and Government Affairs and Fellow, [Center for Strategic & International Studies ] that evening included a “Discussion on Russia’s human rights violations and the ways in which the U.S. Government is supporting organizations working on documentation.”
The Center for Strategic and International Studies has been controversial ever since an August 7, 2016 New York Times expose cited the think tank for attempting to influence government officials on behalf of La Jolla-based drone-maker General Atomics, one of the non-profit’s donors. “C.S.I.S. set up confidential meetings at its headquarters with company representatives, inviting top officials from the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the State Department and the office of the defense secretary, according to emails and other documents obtained by The Times through open records requests,” the Times account says.
“As a think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies did not file a lobbying report, but the goals of the effort were clear.” Adds the account, “The think tank insisted that its efforts to influence administration policy were not lobbying. ‘C.S.I.S. will not represent any donor before any government office or entity, including congressional lawmakers and executive branch officials,’ Mr. Hamre, the chief executive, said in his statement to The Times. ‘We do not lobby.’ One thing is clear: The result was a victory for General Atomics.”
In February, 2015, the story continues, “the State Department announced a clarification of its rules, easing final approval that month for General Atomics’s long-planned sale of unarmed Predator drones to the United Arab Emirates, the first such sale to a non-NATO nation.” The Center’s website current lists General Atomics as one of the non-profit’s 16 donors of $250,000 or more. Other financial supporters on the list include the formerly San Diego based military contractor Science Applications International Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Northrop Grumman.
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, listed as a co-sponsor of the Erste trip, set up by the son of billionaire Warren Buffett, has been a key backer of the Ukrainian government. “Every time I leave Ukraine to return home, I ask myself the same question: If we do not stand with Ukraine as they fight to defend their freedom, then what value do we place on our own freedom?” wrote Howard Buffett in the foundation’s 2023 report, as cited by a September 14 Associated Press dispatch.
Carlsbad connection
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Donald Trump’s designated Secretary of Health and Human Services, has close ties to San Diego pure food entrepreneur Tracy Slepcevic, who with husband Steve threw a fundraiser at their North County mansion for Kennedy, then an independent candidate for president, back on March 23. “The event will include a private sunset reception for Premier donors followed by cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres, a fireside chat, Q&A, a photo opportunity for all,” says an announcement of the event on Kennedy’s presidential campaign website.
Tracy Slepcevic wants to help make America healthy again.
“PUR Health is an integrative health and wellness business based out of San Diego that educates individuals on the incredible effects that nutrition and lifestyle choices have on your happiness and ability to lead the life you deserve to live,” says the website of Tracy’s Carlsbad venture. “Last year, Tracy Slepcevic published a book called Warrior Mom about her years raising a son with autism,” reports Mother Jones in an unfriendly April 4 online profile. “The Kennedy campaign sells signed copies of the book for $150 a pop.
Tracy has been an ally of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vax nonprofit that Kennedy ran before entering the 2024 contest. In November, she spoke at CHD’s annual conference in Savannah, Georgia, where she hawked her book and palled around with Kennedy, a longtime peddler of Covid and vaccine misinformation.” A blurb for Slepcevic’s book says, “After Tracy’s son regressed from a vaccine injury in 2006, Tracy embarked on a journey to heal Noah with biomedical intervention. She is educated in the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and has dedicated over 14 years to researching various treatments and therapies for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.” If she gets an HHS gig from Kennedy, Slepcevic could be at the center of a great national debate over healthy food. “As a child, I was raised eating packaged and processed foods every day. I grew up snacking, eating fast food and drinking soda without any understanding of what a healthy, whole-food diet really was,” she says on PUR Health’s website.
— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
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