Last week Bill Browder went before the Senate Judiciary Committee and provided testimony in regard to his former investigative attorney Sergei Magnitsky. Browder is the financier whose businesses in Russia were stolen from. He had hired Magnitsky to investigate. Unfortunately Magnitisky’s investigation hit to close for Putin’s comfort. He was arrested and died in prison after receiving a severe beating. Browder was one of the leading drivers of the Magnitsky Act and has been a consistent, vocal critic of Putin’s government, Putin’s activities, and the lack of effective institutional responses in both the UK and the US.
Browder’s outspoken criticism is important given both the number of Russians opposed to Putin who have died under strange and/or mysterious circumstances and the lack of effective institutional responses. Buzzfeed has done excellent reporting on this topic dealing with both the fourteen suspicious deaths in Britain, a suspicious death in the US, and the seeming cover ups in both jurisdictions. From Buzzfeed’s most recent report on the death of Mikhail Lesin, the founder of RT, in DC:
After an almost yearlong “comprehensive investigation,” a federal prosecutor announced last October that Lesin died alone in his room due to a series of drunken falls “after days of excessive consumption of alcohol.” His death was ruled an “accident,” and prosecutors closed the case.
But the two FBI agents — as well as a third agent and a serving US intelligence officer — said Lesin was actually bludgeoned to death. None of these officials were directly involved in the government’s investigation, but they said they learned about it from colleagues who were.
“Lesin was beaten to death,” one of the FBI agents said. “I would implore you to say as much. There seems to be an effort here to cover up that fact for reasons I can’t get into.”
He continued: “What I can tell you is that there isn’t a single person inside the bureau who believes this guy got drunk, fell down, and died. Everyone thinks he was whacked and that Putin or the Kremlin were behind it.”
For those that cannot or don’t want to watch Browder’s Senate testimony with Q&A (embedded below), as well as video of Browder testifying before the Home Affairs Committee of Britain’s Parliament, here is a link to the transcript of his prepared statement. I’ll highlight an important excerpt:
For a time this naming and shaming campaign worked remarkably well and led to less corruption and increased share prices in the companies we invested in. Why? Because President Vladimir Putin and I shared the same set of enemies. When Putin was first elected in 2000 he found that the oligarchs had misappropriated much of the president’s power as well. They stole power from him while stealing money from my investors. In Russia your enemy’s enemy is your friend, and even though I’ve never met Putin, he would often step into my battles with the oligarchs and crack down on them.
That all changed in July 2003 when Putin arrested Russia’s biggest oligarch and richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Putin grabbed Khodorkovsky off his private jet, took him back to Moscow, put him on trial and allowed television cameras to film Khodorkovsky sitting in a cage right in the middle of the courtroom. That image was extremely powerful because none of the other oligarchs wanted to be in the same position. After Khodorkovsky’s conviction the other oligarchs went to Putin and asked him what they needed to do to avoid sitting in the same cage as Khodorkovsky. From what followed, it appeared that Putin’s answer was, “Fifty per cent.” He wasn’t saying 50% for the Russian government or the presidential administration of Russia, but 50% for Vladimir Putin personally. From that moment on Putin became the biggest oligarch in Russia and the richest man in the world, and my anti-corruption activities would no longer be tolerated.
Doug!
I read this last week, and it was chilling.
Bill Browder’s book caused my formerly Putin-apologist father-in-law to admit Putin is a murdering asshole, for which I’m very grateful.
Jeffro
@Doug!: if more people read things like that or even just Gary Kasparov’s “winter is coming”, much less understood that Putin has co-opted/stolen from Russia to become the richest man in the world they might treat him with a little less reverence
scottinnj
It makes you wonder what Putin has on Trump. It has to be worse than the pee tape.
schrodingers_cat
@scottinnj: Something like evidence of money laundering, human trafficking, something that’s major league criminal. For the man has little to no shame.
Adam L Silverman
And a new breaking news post is also up. It is related to this post.
Quinerly
OT..Daily Caller reporting that Kellyanne Conway getting The Mooch’s job….Director of Communications.
TenguPhule
And Speaking of Russia.
Shit just got more real.
Joy in FL
Adam, thank you for another helpful piece on current affairs. You and other BJ writers help me find some balance between the false shelter of ignoring what is happening and being bludgeoned and overwhelmed by it.
I truly thank you for taking time to make posts like this.
Kay
The best part of the whole thing is they are still leaking. No one in the whole Trump administration can shut up. They talk and talk and talk.
Maybe they all hate him and that’s why they leak every horrible thing he does. Maybe it isn’t about “discipline”- they won’t shut up because they can’t stand him and want to hurt him.
Adam L Silverman
@Joy in FL: You’re welcome. Sorry I couldn’t get to it in real time last week.
You all come through the tropical storm okay?
efgoldman
@scottinnj:
Or has to be something Peach Pustule thinks is worse. Maybe that he really doesn’t have any money.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Their greatest and hopefully fatal flaw which brings it all crashing down.
Cheryl Rofer
Adam, thanks for this. I’ve had his prepared statement up as a tab for at least a week. I’ll read it now.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: I’ve said it here before: they are loud, they are clumsy, and the telegraph everything.
Mike J
Only 4 people voted against the Magnitsky act. Which holier than thou presidential candidate do you think was among them?
Villago Delenda Est
I wonder if Putin has something on Greenwald to compel him to be such a useful idiot.
scottinnj
@efgoldman: Or that the small hands really does, well, you know
TenguPhule
@Villago Delenda Est:
I think he just pays him.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: You’re welcome.
Kay
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s crazy how much they talk. It has to be malicious. It’s been going on for months and it always hurts Trump yet they do it over and over.
These are his “trusted” people! They screw him over once a week. Imagine working in that nuthouse.
schrodingers_cat
@Mike J: You don’t say. Wonder what Comrade Putin has on Comrade Sanders.
Gin & Tonic
@Mike J: He also was on the losing end of the 98-2 vote for increased sanctions.
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: We have seen how much loyalty he exhibits towards his “allies”.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Like the third rate boxer you schedule your up-and-comer against to build a nice record of wins. Except they somehow won.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: It provides an opportunity. Let’s not squander it.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep.
Also, those are often the best prize fights.
Kay
@Quinerly:
Oh, good choice. She’s a shameless liar. She’ll be great at the job.
Mike J
@Gin & Tonic: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Just voting against one or the other would be bad enough, but a constant record of protecting them over and over again begins to smell like enemy action.
Kay
@schrodingers_cat:
I just love how everyone acts as if “no one knows” who these leakers are. Trump’s most trusted advisers can’t shut up about how much he sucks. The people he hires. Probably also his son in law and daughter.
Hey Donald! These “leakers”- these are the people who supposedly support you.
Anne Laurie
@schrodingers_cat:
Putin doesn’t pay for what he can get free.
Sanders, to be fair, says he voted against the sanctions package because he didn’t agree with the penalties against Iran. Which is consistent with his earlier comments.
Miss Bianca
@Mike J: Ted Cruz? Or…He Who Must Not Be Nymed?
zhena gogolia
@Joy in FL:
Yes, I don’t know what I’d do without it. I just shred the NYT into little bitty pieces now, I simply can’t read it after what they did during the campaign.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
who was the other one?
Anne Laurie
@zhena gogolia: Rand Paul, IIRC. For Glorious Libertarian FREEDUMB!
You hear about the Horseshoe Theory of politics? I keep meaning to do a post…
Adam L Silverman
@zhena gogolia: Rand Paul.
Gvg
For some time now, I have been wondering if it could be all the little people, important Trump people don’t notice, like secretaries and janitors. Regular politicians and professional staff would never screw up like that but these clowns might. It amuses me to speculate this. Probably not possible, but I like it for justice reasons.
Joy in FL
@Adam L Silverman: Yes. I’m about 30 minutes northwest of Tampa. A bit of wind, some rain and no problems : )
Joy in FL
@zhena gogolia: Yes : ) Pets and pertinent politics– this is a good community.