Former Governor and Board Chairman of Russian Bank Gets Involved with O’Dea Campaign

Joe O’Dea continues to showcase a flawed campaign as he accepts the endorsement from Bill Owens, a Republican establishment politician who’s been long involved with Russia. The endorsement highlights O’Dea’s grave mistake of including images of Russian fighter jets when talking about supporting the U.S. military in one of his first TV ads.

The former Governor was the Chairman of the supervisory board for the Credit Bank of Moscow, one of Russia’s largest banks, and resigned after Russia invaded Ukraine. Owens had been involved with the bank since 2012 and it was subject to debt and equity restrictions when President Biden imposed sanctions on Russia. According to his bio listed in GreenbergTraurig, Owens “has been actively involved in the Soviet Union and Russia since the 1980s.”

After weeks of having to apologize for including Russian jets in a TV ad, O’Dea is shrugging it off and touting the endorsement of a politician with undeniable connections to Russia.