No member of Congress has been more shameless in trying to build inroads with extremist world leaders than Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
The Florida congresswoman — of the supposedly “America First” Republican Party — has been busy deepening her ties to far-right figures abroad. Earlier this month, she staged a photo op with a pro-Russian Romanian lawmaker at the Kennedy Center, where they celebrated President Donald Trump’s threats to acquire Greenland through force. She also was the honorary chair for a “sovereignty” conference hosted recently by Turning Point USA, which was basically a gathering in Washington for far-right lawmakers and activists from around the world.
And just last week, Luna and four House colleagues hosted several U.S.-sanctioned Russian officials for a private tour of the Capitol and a brief stop at the Trump-commandeered U.S. Institute of Peace — while Russia continues its deadly invasion of Ukraine. The bizarre meetup also came amid a host of Russia-friendly concessions the president has made as his war with Iran rages on.
As The Hill noted, Luna’s meeting has faced bipartisan backlash:
‘Russia is an adversary,’ said Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Luna’s colleague on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. ‘Obviously, we are — and this administration — is supporting the Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine. … I would have questions about what the objectives are.’
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), a hawkish supporter of Ukraine, told The Hill he equates a meeting with members of the Duma ‘to having visitors of the Third Reich,’ referring to the Nazi regime in Germany between 1933 and 1945.
‘I don’t know her personally,’ he said of Luna. ‘I just disagree that working in any way with the Putin regime, they have every intent to promote the Iranian goal of death to America, death to Israel.’
The Hill also reported on backlash from multiple Democrats and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding to know how and why the sanctioned Russians were allowed to enter the country.








