Was Polish scandal a Russian test for US election tampering?
Claims that Russia orchestrated a political scandal that helped bring Poland's right-wing government to power are getting revisited as the country prepares for another election.
Five years ago, unflattering recordings of Polish politicians secretly made at two Warsaw restaurants were leaked to newspapers. The resulting "Waitergate" scandal helped topple a pro-EU government in 2015.
An investigative Polish journalist and a formerly fugitive multimillionaire have recently provided fresh fuel for the idea that Waitergate was a prelude to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Reporter Grzegorz Rzeczkowski argues in a new book that Russian intelligence services bugged the restaurants on behalf of the Kremlin.
FILE - In this June 20, 2014 file photo, a man walks in front of the now-closed restaurant Sowa & Przyjaciele, where top Polish politicians and business people were secretly and illegally recorded over hundreds of hours in 2013 and 2014, in Warsaw, Poland. Five years after dozens of Polish politicians were secretly recorded at two Warsaw restaurants, claims that Poland’s “Waitergate” scandal was a prelude to Russian election interference in the United States are getting another look. A book by an investigative journalist and a pardon request from the Polish coal tycoon who was convicted of having restaurant VIP rooms bugged have fueled suspicions about Russia and the nationalist party that benefited when the scandal toppled a pro-EU government. (AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski, file)
The Russian Foreign Ministry dismisses claims of Kremlin involvement.
The Polish tycoon convicted as the plot's mastermind has threatened to expose ruling party members if he doesn't get a presidential pardon.
In this photo taken on Friday June 28, 2019, Grzegorz Rzeczkowski, an investigative reporter for the weekly Polish newsmagazine Polityka, poses with a book he has written about an eavesdropping affair that helped toppled a government, "In a Foreign Alphabet: How People of the Kremlin and PIS Played with the Eavesdropping," in Warsaw, Poland. Five years after dozens of Polish politicians were secretly recorded at two Warsaw restaurants, claims that Poland’s “Waitergate” scandal was a prelude to Russian election interference in the United States are getting another look. A book by an investigative journalist and a pardon request from the Polish coal tycoon who was convicted of having restaurant VIP rooms bugged have fueled suspicions about Russia and the nationalist party that benefited when the scandal toppled a pro-EU government.(AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
In this photo taken on Friday June 28, 2019, Grzegorz Rzeczkowski, an investigative reporter for the weekly Polish newsmagazine Polityka, poses with a book he has written about an eavesdropping affair that helped toppled a government, "In a Foreign Alphabet: How People of the Kremlin and PIS Played with the Eavesdropping," in Warsaw, Poland. Five years after dozens of Polish politicians were secretly recorded at two Warsaw restaurants, claims that Poland’s “Waitergate” scandal was a prelude to Russian election interference in the United States are getting another look. A book by an investigative journalist and a pardon request from the Polish coal tycoon who was convicted of having restaurant VIP rooms bugged have fueled suspicions about Russia and the nationalist party that benefited when the scandal toppled a pro-EU government.(AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
In this photo taken on Friday June 28, 2019, Grzegorz Rzeczkowski, an investigative reporter for the weekly Polish newsmagazine Polityka, poses with a book he has written about an eavesdropping affair that helped toppled a government, "In a Foreign Alphabet: How People of the Kremlin and PIS Played with the Eavesdropping," in Warsaw, Poland. Five years after dozens of Polish politicians were secretly recorded at two Warsaw restaurants, claims that Poland’s “Waitergate” scandal was a prelude to Russian election interference in the United States are getting another look. A book by an investigative journalist and a pardon request from the Polish coal tycoon who was convicted of having restaurant VIP rooms bugged have fueled suspicions about Russia and the nationalist party that benefited when the scandal toppled a pro-EU government.(AP PhotoCzarek Sokolowski)
FILE - In this May 17, 2016 file photo, Polish businessman Marek Falenta, left, in court in Warsaw. Polish prosecutors accused Marek Falenta, 43, of wiretapping of politicians and business people in Warsaw restaurants in 2013 and 2014 to punish the government for trying to block imports of Russian coal. He fled before starting a 2½ -year prison sentence. Claims that Poland’s “Waitergate” scandal was a prelude to Russian election interference in the United States are getting another look five years after dozens of Polish politicians were secretly recorded at two Warsaw restaurants. (AP Photo Stefan Maszewski, file)