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Jill Stein defends attending Moscow gala with Flynn

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Stein said that, to her knowledge, neither she, nor her campaign, nor her party have taken money from Russian entities.D. Ross Cameron

Jill Stein, the Lexington resident who was the Green Party candidate for president, has defended a trip to Moscow in which she ended up at the same banquet table as former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Stein told Politico she was accompanied by a single aide and her campaign paid for the travel. She said that, to her knowledge, neither she, nor her campaign, nor her party have taken money from Russian entities.

She also said she would be glad to testify before Congress about the December 2015 trip.

Some Democrats are also still angry about what they see as Stein's siphoning votes from Democrat Hillary Clinton, who lost to Republican Donald Trump.

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Asked whether she had any regrets, Stein told Politico, "I don't think so."

She sounded a defiant note Wednesday on Twitter, responding to the Politico article.

She also retweeted a post from someone else wondering, "What's with round of attack pieces against @DrJillStein from media? Which Dem PR people are pushing this?"

An April 20 post on her campaign website that said it was republished from Dec. 15, 2015, acknowledged that Stein had sat at Putin's table. It described Stein as appearing as part of a panel of foreign policy experts organized by the state-backed RT network. Stein criticized the United States' Middle East policy, saying it was built on a futile quest for military and economic domination, the post said.

Stein didn't immediately return a telephone message Wednesday afternoon.

Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser on Feb. 13 after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump administration officials about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

He is under investigation for a variety of issues. Among other things, questions have been raised about his appearance at the Moscow banquet. Flynn, who sat next to Putin, delivered a speech and was paid about $45,000 by RT.

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