Here’s Sky News video of the arrival. There’s a much shorter clip of the arrest as the tram reaches the terminal in the first tweet below the YouTube embed.
?? — BREAKING: JUST IN: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was arrested just moments after landing in Moscow. pic.twitter.com/ET9xXdcPpA
— Belaaz (@TheBelaaz) January 17, 2021
A spokesperson for Alexi Navalny says his location is now unknown and Russian authorities are not sharing any information regarding his whereabouts or why he was detained. https://t.co/UubWTR4er2
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) January 17, 2021
When you think what likely awaits Navalny, these are heartbreaking photos. https://t.co/oxBdcpmRVI
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) January 17, 2021
I don’t have much more to add other than he and his family have real courage to continue to fight this fight.
Open thread!
Respite Open Thread: Kamala and Doug Sunday Morning Interview
trollhattan
“Vatt, you’re not dead? Then you now under arrest are!”
IDK why he was so determined to go back, knowing this would happen. Brave man.
OT Phil Spector died. His musical legacy lives on but there’s that whole murder thing, too.
Cervantes
Either courageous or insane. I don’t really see what he’s hoping to accomplish by putting himself in a dungeon or getting himself killed. Maybe he has a plan but I’m not seeing it.
Mike in NC
What did he expect, to be greeted with vodka and caviar?
Adam L Silverman
@trollhattan: Given the way Putin has the criminal justice system working in Russia, it would not surprise me to find that they charge him with wasting state resources because he did not die when Putin had him poisoned. And I wish I could say I’m joking.
Emma from FL
The man is a real honest-to-Captain-America hero. I haven’t seriously prayed for anyone since my mother died, but tonight I will pray for Alexei Navalny.
(added) it seems to be a Russian thing, to use one’s life as a weapon. Price no object.
debbie
Wish he’d stayed put.
germy
@Adam L Silverman:
Here’s a statement from six hours ago:
germy
OGLiberal
@trollhattan: Phil Spector was both a genius and a very, very bad man. Thanks for everything and fuck off.
@trollhattan:
germy
Gin & Tonic
For a guy who Putin says is unimportant and has very few supporters, they sure are devoting a lot of resources.
Cervantes
@OGLiberal: Indeed. In addition to the minor matter of murder, there’s this from Wikipedia:
According to Ronnie, Phil subjected her to years of psychological torment and sabotaged her career by forbidding her to perform. He surrounded the house with barbed wire and guard dogs, and he confiscated her shoes to prevent her from leaving.[33] On the rare occasions he allowed her out alone, she had to drive with a life-size dummy of Phil.[32] She began drinking and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to escape the house. She recalled that Phil installed a gold coffin with a glass top in the basement, promising that he would kill her and display her corpse if she ever left him.[34] In 1998, Ronnie testified that Phil had frequently pulled a gun on her during their marriage and threatened to kill her unless she surrendered custody of their children.[33] In their 1974 divorce settlement Ronnie forfeited all future record earnings because Phil threatened to have a hit man kill her.[33] She received $25,000, a used car, and monthly alimony of $2,500 for five years.[33]
trollhattan
@Adam L Silverman:
Sounds like billing the family for the execution bullet. The classics never die.
West of the Cascades
Might have been better for him to wait until Biden is President – although this would be a good way for Biden to break cleanly with the President-for-less-than-three-more-days by imposing sanctions on Moscow to force Navalny’s release.
Kent
Navalny has enormous cojones. He’s a smart guy. I hope he has this gamed out.
Kent
In other news, CNN is reporting a Trump-related pay for pardon scheme. Not Trump himself, but Trump-adjacent attorneys who were taking tens of thousands of dollars from desperate folks seeking clemency and selling their access and connections to the president with the promise of having their clemency requests elevated to the president’s ear.
They are ALL scum.
trollhattan
Pence (and Mother) out pretending he still has a jerb.
trollhattan
@Kent:
It puts the Blago pardon fully into the ironic category. “See, this is how it’s done, you mook.”
trollhattan
Adam, since you’re in the house any thoughts about this?
patrick II
if you haven’t seen this yet:
Leslie Jones:
The straight truth to republicans
zhena gogolia
@West of the Cascades:
I doubt that he’ll get involved.
MisterForkbeard
@trollhattan: This is really frustrating. Installing a GOP operative TWO DAYS before the inauguration is the ultimate in bad faith and a real emblem for the entire corrupt administration.
Kristine
@trollhattan:
I’m so old that I can remember when folks thought he’d run for president after his eight years as Trump’s veep.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
My first order if I were Biden would be to block the Russian Federation, Byelorussia and Cyprus from SWIFT transactions. Lock ‘em out of international commerce as a transnational criminal state.
laura
He reminds me of Mario Savio and he will live beyond his life.
There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@trollhattan:
Ellis will be on the shortest of leashes if this happens.
Another Scott
Navalny is a continuing example of selfless courage in the face of tyranny. He called the people who tried to kill him and talked with them while being recorded. He refuses to back down.
The Russian people need to know that he’s willing to give his life for them.
He’s an example for all of us. Resistance is the only way to defeat tyranny. I hope he, and the sensible people of Russia, succeed sooner rather than later.
I suspect that Biden’s people will be watching this very carefully. Here’s hoping Navalny and his supporters have a large show of international support very quickly.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mike in NC
Washington Post: “Trump to flee Washington and seek rehabilitation in a MAGA oasis: Florida”
The entire crime family is planning to resettle in the Palm Beach area, where other scumbags like Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin reside. Just because they’re seeking rehabilitation doesn’t mean they’re likely to find it. The lawsuits are going to be epic and unstoppable.
Gin & Tonic
Baud
@patrick II:
He had a nice voice.
Baud!/Straight Talking White Dude Dressed in Black! 20XX!
Cheryl Rofer
@trollhattan: Ellis has been a lawyer to Devin Nunes. He was nominated to be chief lawyer at NSA a month or so ago. I’m glad they’ve delayed him this far. His assignment most likely has to do with documents – destroying them, removing them, or possibly the declassification that Trump rants about from time to time, thinking the declassified documents will show that all his phonecalls were perfect and Hillary has been persecuting him.
Hopefully the bureaucracy is skilled enough to delay this for (looks at watch) 70 more hours. Christopher Miller, Acting Secretary of Defense and Trump Operative, has been tasked to put Ellis into this job, although it’s not within his legal purview.
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
She continues to impress.
trollhattan
@Cheryl Rofer:
Thanks Cheryl.
Not planning on a good night’s sleep until [checks notes] Thursday at the earliest.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Navalny is a very brave man and I respect him for standing up to Putin. I hope he turns out ok.
zhena gogolia
@patrick II:
Excellent.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Y’know on reviewing the video footage of the seditious insurrection put up by the New Yorker and the Washington Post, I think about “the forgotten ones”, the white working class Trump voters that we’re supposed to be so compassionate for and that have anger over being forgotten.
Upon reflection, my inclination is to not give a fuck what happens to them. I want them to be miserable, to starve, to quit reproducing. Burn their filthy culture to ash – they’re irredeemable.
I know I’m not supposed to be that way, but cannot deny that they’re inspiring some horrific ugliness in me.
zhena gogolia
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Navalny is not a knight in shining armor. With all due respect to him, of course.
Gin & Tonic
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Navalny is Russian, not American. Stop trying to fit him into your worldview.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Plus, no one here thinks he government should have banned Trump. It’s still a purely private decision.
Betty Cracker
@Cheryl Rofer: CNN makes it sound like a fait accompli.
debbie
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Pity is never what they needed.
They remind me of the parable (fable?) of the Tortoise (more accurately, Turtle) and the Scorpion. It’s in their nature.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gin & Tonic:
My point was why would he comment on something he doesn’t seem to understand? I don’t see how that’s “trying to fit him into my worldview”?s
prostratedragon
@Adam L Silverman: That “information retrieval charges” thing was based on the actual practices in some places.
Gin & Tonic
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He understands Twitter *as it is used against him.* His view of censorship and the power of the state is different than yours.
Gin & Tonic
Biden’s National Security Adviser-designate:
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Have you heard of the internet?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gin & Tonic:
Sure, I get that. But then he tried to apply that understanding to Trump’s banning; to American politics. The difference between Trump and Navalny is that Trump is an actual criminal that betrayed his government and oath to office. Further, his continued access to social media presented a threat because his followers have been incited by his words before
Another Scott
(And it’s a BIG bear.)
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
Good!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
lol, point taken
WaterGirl
@trollhattan:
What is a jerb?
sixthdoctor
Attending the Indoguration. It’s cute and silly, they showed a video package of puppy Major being adopted and now a montage of the dog selfies people submitted…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: It’s a four letter word, like job.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gin & Tonic:
Excellent! This is exactly the kind of talk that has been sorely missing from America’s foreign policy lately
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: UrbanDictionary elaborates:
It’s yet another SouthParkism, isn’t it?
Cheers,
Scott.
Subsole
@Adam L Silverman:
A chekist is always a chekist.
Would it not have been better for Navalny to stay out of Russia, set up some sort of gov’t in exile sort of deal?
I mean, from my lofty perch in the land of ignorance, all going back seems to accomplish is getting arrested.
Then when people protest the arrest, the security services scoop them up too. It just seems tailor made to decimate and demoralize any opposotion to Putin. Or at the very least tip sympathizers’ hands.
What am I missing here?
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: No wonder google couldn’t tell me what it meant. thanks.
Subsole
@Cervantes: Jesus. That is…just…all sorts of something.
rikyrah
The man is just all kinds of brave.????? for him
chopper
@Another Scott:
well “jorbs” is originally from homestar runner.
Captain C
@Cheryl Rofer: Given this guy’s proximity to Nunes doesn’t that make him a huge security risk? Can he lose (or not get) the clearances necessary for this job once the Biden Administration comes in?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Exactly. It’s not the same thing as Putin’s government censoring Nalvany
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@trollhattan: This feel like some weird act on Pence’s part to remind Trump of what a president is an establish Pence for 2024.
Sister Golden Bear
@Another Scott: As a bear, I thoroughly approve of the right to feed bears. <opens Yogi Bear pic-a-nic basket>
Also, as if I couldn’t love Betty White more. <swoons>
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I’m not sure it’s going to work. Pence has no gravitas and if many Trump supporters see Pence as a traitor and stay activated, then he’s got no shot at the nom imo
The Moar You Know
He knew this would happen. I don’t know what his endgame is here, but I hope he doesn’t end up as dead as I suspect he will.
Cheryl Rofer
@Captain C: My guess is that he’s out on his ass on January 21, if not sooner
ETA: I sure would like to know more about Devin Nunes’s other business associates.
Captain C
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: A Pence Presidential bid will make those of Dan Quayle and Sanctimonious Joe Lieberman look like resounding successes.
Captain C
@Cheryl Rofer: If I we’re department IT I’d find a way to slow walk any accounts and access to email and data. “Sorry, sir, you need to fill out these papers. They will be processed…soon.”
Cheryl Rofer
@Betty Cracker: That’s what Politico is saying too.
Perhaps the Biden administration can find a nice office for him in the sub-basement with no internet.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@The Moar You Know:
Killing Navalny would be a mistake on Putin’s part as all it would do is piss off the rest of the world more and add further sanctions. The Dems have the trifecta now. Not that I’m saying Putin won’t, but it wouldn’t be in best interests imo. That statement issued above by Biden’s chosen Nat Sec Advisor is evidence that the Biden Admin won’t be as lax as Trump’s was
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
Just wait for him to commit treason. Biden’s guy will be in by the end of the month.
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
Assign him to process FOIA requests.
sdhays
@Captain C: Did Dan Quayle actually run for President? I must have missed it.
Gin & Tonic
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Yeah, cause Boris Nemtsov’s murder really changed things.
Cheryl Rofer
NYT:
[Looks at watch: 68 more hours]
Patricia Kayden
The Moar You Know
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): You have no idea what this guy Navalny even is, do you?
In the politics of most of the world, it’s never a mistake to kill off the guy who wants to replace you.
West of the Rockies
@MisterForkbeard:
Can he be UNINSTALLED?
patrick II
When you look at the arrest of Navalny with horror, remember the arrest of Biden is exactly what Trump wanted Barr to do.
Omnes Omnibus
@patrick II: I tend to look at Trump with horror as well. Notice though, the arrest of Biden did not happen.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Hell, Hillary still walks free. She even has a podcast.
Yutsano
@Cheryl Rofer: It’s also a holiday weekend. So that gives GEN Nakasone one extra day to do jack squat. And honestly there is little to nothing to keep from stalling this until 1201 Wednesday.
EDIT: Didn’t know he had an official title. Bad, my is.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Cheryl Rofer:
“Mike, things are out of control in Barrow, we need a guy like you to set things right…. No, no, we need you up there this week, before February 1”
I hope that’s right.
Cheryl Rofer
One of the lawyers on Twitter who follows such things says there is a SES (Senior Executive Service, the rank Ellis will get) job open in Alaska.
Cheryl Rofer
In better news,
Cheryl Rofer
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
Photogenic.
West of the Rockies
Trump fired a bunch of US attorneys as soon as he took office, but, what, Biden is handcuffed?
Baud
@West of the Rockies:
US attorneys don’t have civil service protection. This position does.
Yutsano
@Cheryl Rofer: i know everyone is all into Major it seems. I’m a Champ guy meself.
Kent
Different rules for politically-appointed US Attorneys running DOJ offices and civil service attorneys in Federal agencies. But fuckit, the bureaucracy should be able to delay this for 2 days. Just lose the paperwork, or send it back for points of clarification and such. One good trick is to lose it on someone’s desk inbox who happens to be out of the office.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@The Moar You Know:
He’s his main political opponent, I know that. I’m just saying it’s going to have repercussions. There’s no need to be rude
@Gin & Tonic:
You didn’t have to be so snide about it
Sister Golden Bear
@Captain C:
As a far as running out the clock, Monday is a holiday, and in D.C. Wednesday is also a holiday. Methinks a number people will mysterious fall ill with a 24-hour cold on Tuesday.
“Sorry, I meant to get to your paperwork, but I was out sick you see.”
burnspbesq
Trump is watching and saying “damn, why can’t I do this to Pelosi?”
Baud
@Sister Golden Bear:
“Sorry, sir, I can’t access my computer until Windows finishes updating.”
Kent
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: As I recall, the Trump Administration sent some insufficiently MAGA top diplomats to the basement of the State Department to be in charge of processing FOIA requests in the archives.
There are infinite number of ways that unrepentant Trumpers can be quarantined away.
burnspbesq
@Baud:
Dude, I had no idea you were that fucking cruel.
Yutsano
@Kent: My understanding is he still requires a polygraph test. Unless that’s scheduled for Tuesday morning, that ain’t gonna happen in time. And then the test needs to be interpreted and the official report written. This is gonna go slooooow.
Baud
@Yutsano:
Plus, he’ll fail the polygraph test.
Captain C
@sdhays: I think in ‘96 or maybe 2000. He crapped out at least as quickly as Lieberman did in 2004.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano:
Pourquoi pas les deux?
burnspbesq
Send his ass back to Fresno. There are plenty of make-work positions at the IRS Service Center.
Another possibility: a few months ago, DOJ was advertising openings in the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York. In Plattsburgh.
Matt McIrvin
@Kent: I hope what we’re about to see is like Teapot Dome times a thousand, after Harding keeled over. Bring it all out in the open.
burnspbesq
@Kent:
Traditionally, all 88 U.S. Attorneys submit their resignations at the change of administration, and the new AG decides which ones to accept.
citizen dave (aka mad citizen)
@Matt McIrvin: After listening to the recent audiobook on Teapot Dome, Yes! I guess a big overall scandal would be the Russia-Trump connections, money laundering, etc.; and how much other R’s knew. Aside from that one, there are probably a few hundred “minor” scandals spread throughout the administration–who knows if they will see the light of day.
Less than 72 hours now.
MisterForkbeard
@West of the Rockies: I’m afraid we’ll just have to reformat the entire NSA. So sad.
debbie
@Captain C:
I heard that as of 1/21, he can be reassigned anywhere. Maybe some nearby broom closet?
debbie
@Yutsano:
I feel very badly for Champ. I hope he doesn’t develop some sort of complex.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gin & Tonic:
I admit I’m not very knowledgeable about Eastern European affairs and I apologize if I’ve come across as an ass
zhena gogolia
@Cheryl Rofer:
Oh, great, I’ll watch that instead of the movie about the Novocherkassk massacre I’m supposed to watch.
zhena gogolia
@burnspbesq:
Yes, he is. That’s the trouble. Has been for 4 years.
zhena gogolia
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
It’s okay. I speak Russian and have been there many times but I have a very hard time getting a read on exactly who Navalny is. I’m not a political scientist.
J R in WV
I like the idea of the Plattsburg NY assignment. I don’t even know where that is… so how much trouble could he cause there?
Then in a few weeks after he settles in there, transfer him to Alaska working on FOIA requests regarding the gold mine permitting process, for the rest of the winter …
Then transfer him to an advisory position in Panama City, Panama, at the embassy there, working on legal issues relating to the exposure of potentially illegal bank accounts at Panamanian banks. For the summer…
Then post him to Helsinki, Finland, to review communications intercepts from the Administration of Russian Vodka Storage and Transportation. For that winter.
Of course, best to just revoke his security clearance and fire him for being a Russian mole. Quicker. But transferring him to hot places for summer work and cold places for winter work sounds amusing~!~
Sebastian
WaPo on Bellingcat and how they proved it was Russia:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/bellingcat-navalny-russian-data-capitol-investigation/2021/01/08/e96ab9e8-449b-11eb-a277-49a6d1f9dff1_story.html
ballerat
I can think of a few reasons as to why he went back. The obvious soviet shitpile mobster one: they told him they would wipe out his family if he didn’t even if they got him first; and two perhaps he believed they would eventually get him; I would think living helplessly in constant fear of certain death can eventually break down even the strongest person’s resolve.
Maybe it just came down to exercising the only agency he had left over his life: choosing to die by bullet than by polonium.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@zhena gogolia:
Thanks. I’ll have to do some more reading up on him
Another Scott
@Sister Golden Bear: Downtown DC is basically on lockdown until 0600 on Thursday 1/21 and federal government agencies are being urged to give people who work in downtown DC leave. It would be very, very easy to slow-walk this.
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Here’s a 60 Minutes interview with him from a few years ago.
karen marie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: How was he selected as part of a “competitive” process?
karen marie
@J R in WV: Why, so he can warn the criminals?
burnspbesq
@J R in WV:
I don’t even know where that is
It’s across Lake Champlain from Burlington, VT. Very long, very cold winters. Closer to Montreal than Albany.
Procopius
I’ve gotta say, his choice to return to Russia just reinforces my belief he does not think he was poisoned by the Russian government. It even makes me think he does not believe he was poisoned at all. Of course, this isn’t sufficient evidence to prove he wasn’t poisoned. It’s possible he thinks he’s safe because of the worldwide publicity he was given, so the Russian government wouldn’t dare kill him now. His story and that of the Skripals are so full of contradictions that it’s hard to swallow them.
greenergood
Maybe Navalny finally just said fuck it-I want to be in Russia when I die. According to bellingcat link in post 115, the Russians have been tracking him on airplane flights for years, trying to figure out how best to kill him. Maybe you just make a stand, and if it fails, you fail in the place you wanted to be. I also feel sorry for his partner (wife?) who is also in danger and will also probably suffer retribution of some sort, and probably death. It will be a miracle if they both survive the month.
Gin & Tonic
@Procopius: Then why would the Germans have publicly announced he was poisoned, and with what?
Another Scott
@Procopius: Eh?
Read the Bellingcat reporting.
He talked to the people who poisoned him.
Cheers,
Scott.