After the death of August III he supported the election of the new Wettin candidate and opposed the election of Stanisław August Poniatowski, who at that time received support from the Russian Empire. Eventually he was defeated by pro-Russian "familia"' faction. He opposed the Russian ingenerce in Polish politics and demanded the withdrawal of the Russian forces from the Commonwealth, but to no avail. He supported the actions of those who wanted to take military action against the Russian but few besides him offered real support (money and men) and the notion subsided. When he returned to his estate, he was arrested by Russian forces, imprisoned for several months and forced to rebuke of all his anti-Russian manifests. Released afterwards, for the next few years he tried working with the pro-Russian faction but eventually was disappointed by them again after the excesses of the Repnin Sejm.