The Full Belmonte, 1/24/2023
Russia-Ukraine War Several Top Officials Fired Amid Corruption Crackdown in Ukraine
The firings come amid a ballooning corruption scandal involving military purchases.
“KYIV, Ukraine — Several top Ukrainian officials were fired on Tuesday, including the governors of several Ukrainian regions, amid a ballooning corruption scandal. The move marked the biggest upheaval in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government since Russia’s invasion began 11 months ago.
Ukraine’s cabinet ministry, which announced the firings on the Telegram social messaging app, provided no details about the reason, but it followed reports that Ukraine’s military had agreed to pay inflated prices for food meant for Ukrainian troops.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said that Viacheslav Shapovalov, a deputy minister, had ‘asked to be fired’ following the reports. The ministry said in a statement that relieving Mr. Shapovalov of his duties would ‘preserve the trust’ of Ukrainians and the country’s international partners.
The dismissals appeared to reflect Mr. Zelensky’s goal of reassuring Ukraine’s allies — which are sending billions of dollars in military aid — that his government would show zero tolerance for graft as it prepares for a possible new offensive by Moscow.
While there was no sign that the procurement scandal involved the misappropriation of Western military assistance, Mr. Zelensky’s actions appeared designed to reassure Ukraine’s foreign partners, whose aid now accounts for nearly half of Ukraine’s budget.
In addition to the officials named on Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky’s own deputy, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, tendered his resignation. Mr. Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential office, was well known domestically and internationally, often tasked with providing updates on the war. But Ukrainian journalists had raised questions about his lavish lifestyle and use of government resources.
In particular, he had been criticized for zipping around in an expensive SUV that General Motors had donated for use in humanitarian missions.
Ukraine was struggling to get control over flourishing corruption long before the invasion. But for many Ukrainians the sense of common struggle and unity throughout the war makes the idea that top officials might be undermining the country’s collective effort for their own gain particularly galling, especially if the corruption involves the military.
Over the weekend, a Ukrainian newspaper reported that the Ministry of Defense had purchased food at inflated prices, including eggs at three times their cost. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov called the allegations ‘absolute nonsense’ and the product of ‘distorted information.’
In its statement on Tuesday, the ministry emphasized that the ‘voiced accusations are unfounded and baseless,’ but called Mr. Shapovalov’s request for dismissal ‘a worthy act in the traditions of European and democratic politics, a demonstration that the interests of defense are higher than any cabinets or chairs.’
That it took three days for Mr. Shapovalov to step down raises serious questions about the Ministry of Defense’s commitment to rooting out corruption, said Vitaliy Shabunin, the director of operations for the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a Kyiv-based nongovernmental organization.
‘A new social contract emerged during the war between civil society, journalists and the government: We will not criticize you like we did before the war, but your reaction to any scandal and ineffectiveness must be as tough as possible,’ Mr. Shabunin said. ‘The position of the defense minister has broken this agreement.’”
— Michael Schwirtz, Maria Varenikova and Cassandra Vinograd [New York Times]
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna took questions from reporters in Monterey Park, Calif., on Sunday.
PHOTO: IMAGE OF SPORT/ZUMA PRESS
An 11th person died from injuries sustained in Saturday's shooting in Monterey Park, Calif.
“The victim’s identity wasn’t disclosed. Three others are still hospitalized, one in serious condition and two recovering, according to Los Angeles County Health Services. Investigators are looking at a troubled romantic relationship as a possible motive for the dance hall massacre, according to law enforcement officials briefed on the matter. The 72-year-old suspected gunman, Huu Can Tran, who took his own life Sunday morning, was the oldest mass shooter in the U.S. in at least the past half century, according to the non-partisan research organization Violence Project.” [Wall Street Journal]
Jeff Chiu/AP
“A gunman killed seven people at two landscaping nurseries yesterday in Half Moon Bay, Calif., about 30 miles south of San Francisco. The suspect, a 67-year-old man believed to be a worker at either one or both locations, has been arrested.
The shooting comes fewer than 48 hours after a gunman killed 11 and wounded nine at a Chinese-owned ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, Calif.
The Half Moon Bay shooting suspect and the Monterey Ray shooting suspect have something in common. At 62 and 72 respectively, they're older than most mass shooters.” [NPR]
Oath Keepers Members Found Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy in Jan. 6 Riot
The rarely charged crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison
Members of the Oath Keepers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.PHOTO: MANUEL BALCE CENETA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“A jury on Monday found four Oath Keepers members guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, handing down the latest criminal convictions against the far-right group.
The verdict from a Washington, D.C., federal jury came nearly two months after Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and another member of the militia group, Kelly Meggs, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, a rarely used charge with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. In that earlier trial, three other members of the Oath Keepers were found guilty of lesser charges.
In the latest trial, federal prosecutors secured convictions against all four defendants—Edward Vallejo, Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett and David Moerschel—on the seditious-conspiracy charge. The jury also found them guilty of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and of conspiring to destroy federal property.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ordered home detention for the defendants until their sentencing hearings, which haven’t been scheduled. The jury deliberated for about 12 hours over three days.
The jury reached its verdict as five members of the Proud Boys, another far-right group, are facing trial on seditious conspiracy charges in Washington federal court. Earlier on Monday, another jury convicted an Arkansas man who posed for photographs with his feet on a desk in the office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the riot at the Capitol.
For the Justice Department, the closely watched seditious-conspiracy trials have carried both legal and symbolic significance in the wave of hundreds of criminal prosecutions stemming from the assault on the Capitol. Prosecutors argued in both cases that the Capitol assault resulted in part from a deliberate plan to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to President Biden following the 2020 election….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Former FBI Agent Charged With Taking Payments From Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Prosecutors say former counterintelligence agent Charles McGonigal accepted payments from Mr. Deripaska for work he did investigating a rival oligarch
“A former high-level FBI agent was indicted on charges he violated U.S. sanctions by accepting secret payments from Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska for work he did investigating a rival oligarch.
Charles McGonigal, who retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2018 after serving as special agent in charge of counterintelligence in its New York field office, was arrested Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport, federal prosecutors said.
The arrest, which occurred alongside that of a former Russian diplomat, represents an about-turn for Mr. McGonigal, who previously supervised investigations into Mr. Deripaska and other Russian oligarchs. He also had been involved in a multiyear investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The indictment of Mr. McGonigal is a rare such legal action against a former senior law-enforcement official. His prosecution comes as the Justice Department seeks to step up its efforts to investigate lawyers and others who assist Russian oligarchs, as part of the Biden administration’s pressure campaign against President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.
A lawyer for Mr. McGonigal didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Deripaska, a raw-materials magnate who founded Russian aluminum giant Rusal, has been a focus of prosecutors. Long suspected by the U.S. of ties to Russian organized crime, he has spent lavishly over the years to try to burnish his reputation in the West, and to obtain permission to travel to the U.S., specifically.
Mr. Deripaska has denied having links to organized crime. In Washington, he hired high-price consultants, including the late former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, and in the past threw well-attended parties at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
His efforts ran into headwinds. Though courted by some FBI agents as a possible source, the U.S. State Department repeatedly declined to issue him a visa. This year, Mr. Deripaska and other Russian oligarchs were absent from the Davos conference.
Mr. McGonigal first came into contact with an employee of Mr. Deripaska in 2018 while still at the FBI, according to an indictment unsealed Monday. After leaving the agency, he was retained by a law firm to assist in an unsuccessful effort to lift the sanctions placed on Mr. Deripaska that year.
In 2021, Mr. McGonigal and the former Russian diplomat, Sergey Shestakov, began negotiating with Mr. Deripaska’s agent about working for the oligarch without the involvement of the law firm, prosecutors say. In conversations with the agent, the two men avoided naming Mr. Deripaska, referring to him instead as “the big guy” and “you know whom,” according to the indictment.
Messrs. McGonigal and Shestakov were eventually retained to assist in an investigation into a rival of Mr. Deripaska, with whom the oligarch was contesting control over a large Russian company, prosecutors said. They used shell companies and other means to hide Mr. Deripaska’s payments and involvement in the work, they said.
The former FBI agent hired subcontractors to complete his investigation of Mr. Deripaska’s rival, an effort that led to the identification of a trove of files on the dark web that Mr. McGonigal believed would be of value to his client, prosecutors said. His investigation ended abruptly in 2021 when the FBI seized his personal devices, said prosecutors.
The indictment unsealed on Monday charges Messrs. McGonigal and Shestakov with violating and conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions imposed on Mr. Deripaska in 2018, as well as with related money-laundering charges. Mr. Shestakov, a U.S. citizen who retired from his diplomatic post in 1993 and worked as an interpreter in U.S. courts, was also charged with making material misstatements to the FBI.
A lawyer for Mr. Shestakov didn’t respond to a request for comment. Both men pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court during appearances on Monday….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Jan. 6 Rioter Richard Barnett, Who Put Feet on Desk in Nancy Pelosi’s Office, Convicted on Eight Counts
The Arkansas man is scheduled to be sentenced in May
Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett arrived at the courthouse for jury selection in his trial earlier this month. PHOTO: WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES
“WASHINGTON—A jury on Monday convicted an Arkansas man who posed for photographs with his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
After three hours of deliberation, the jurors convicted Richard Barnett on all eight of the charges he faced, including interfering with a police officer, obstructing an official proceeding and remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
Mr. Barnett, who has adopted the nickname “Bigo,” drove from his home in rural Gravette, Ark., to attend then-President Donald Trump’s rally on Jan. 6 near the White House. He brought with him to Washington a “Hike n’ Strike,” a hiking stick containing a 950,000 Volt stun device with spike electrodes.
Widely viewed videos made clear that, while in the Capitol building, Mr. Barnett propped his feet on a desk in Mrs. Pelosi’s Capitol suite, took an envelope from the California Democrat’s office and left her a note stating: “Nancy, Bigo was here bitch.” The envelope Mr. Barnett took was addressed to another member of Congress and contained Mrs. Pelosi’s digital signature….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Ukraine war: Poland asks Germany for permission to export tanks
Image caption, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under pressure to allow Kyiv a supply of the Leopard 2 tank - pictured here last year
By Antoinette Radford
BBC News
“Poland has officially asked Germany for permission to export a host of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine in a move which raises pressure on Berlin to make a decision on the thorny issue.
The German government told the BBC it had received the request to export 14 German-made tanks on Tuesday.
But it has insisted the final decision lies with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Ukraine sees the tanks as vital for breaking through Russian lines and to beat an anticipated counter offensive.
The Leopard 2 tanks were specifically designed to compete with the Russian T-90 tanks, which are being used in the invasion. But export laws mean any country that wishes to send the tanks require Berlin's permission.
Poland's prime minister Masteusz Morawiecki said he hoped Germany would quickly respond to the request, and accused Germany of ‘delaying, dodging, acting in a way that is difficult to understand’.
He also said Poland would ask the European Union to compensate the cost of the tanks it wants to send to Ukraine.
Germany has been hesitant to send the vehicles, or allow other nations to do the same, with one of its concerns being the fear that a sudden move on the issue could further escalate the conflict with Russia.
On Tuesday Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorious said Berlin had given allied nations the green light to train Ukrainians to use Leopard 2 tanks, but did not commit to sending their own.
Mr Pistorious said a decision about supplying the tanks would be made soon. The military's Chief of Staff added that any decision would be tacked at a political level.
‘We are encouraging our partners if they want to, and if they have the opportunity, to start training Ukrainian forces on these Leopard vehicles,’ Mr Pistorious said in a news conference with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
Allied nations have become frustrated at what they perceive as German reluctance to send the armoured vehicles in recent days.
Speaking on Tuesday, Poland's Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said he was appealing to Germany to ‘join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks’.
‘This is our common cause, because the security of the whole of Europe is at stake!’ he added.
On Tuesday Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda said he believed Poland was determined to send their tanks to support Ukraine after meeting with the Polish president Andrezej Duda.
‘It is a pity that at sometimes there is a completely unnecessary delay as we could have made decisions sooner. The Polish side is very keen to provide such support,’ Mr Nauseda said.
But Mr Pistorious defended German chancellor Olaf Scholz against criticism that he was dragging his feet on sending the vehicles to Kyiv.
‘Taking the lead does not mean blindly going ahead,’ he said. ‘And if the decision takes another day or two, then that's just the way it is.’ [BBC]
“Japanese premier warns birth rates put country at brink. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has warned that Japan’s declining birth rate is threatening the country’s ability to function, and that it is a case of ‘now or never.’ It is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 births last year. Japan now has the world’s second-highest proportion of people over 65-years-old (behind Monaco). Japan’s neighbor, China, finds itself in a similar situation, with the population declining for the first time in six decades.
Writing in the Financial Times, writer Yuan Yang offered one explanation: ‘like women the world over, Chinese women are no longer so willing to birth and bring up children.’” [Foreign Policy]
“EU ministers sanction Iran. European Union ministers announced sanctions on more than 30 individuals and groups, deeming them responsible for ‘brutal’ repression of protesters. Some units and individuals in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were targeted, but not the IRGC as a whole, despite the wishes of some European governments. According to Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, however, that can only happen if a court in an EU country found the IRGC guilty of terrorism.” [Foreign Policy]
“Lavrov in Africa. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in South Africa Monday, where, in a press conference in Pretoria, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor defended the joint military exercises South Africa will hold with Russia and China next month, saying, ‘All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide.’ Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, on her own African tour, stressed the importance of restructuring Zambia’s debt burden with China.” [Foreign Policy]
“Babis backpedaling. Former Czech Prime Minister and current presidential candidate Andrej Babis has found himself on the defensive in the last few days before Friday’s presidential runoff. During a debate Sunday night, Babis, perhaps trying to differentiate himself from his opponent, former army chief Petr Pavel, said he would refuse to send Czech troops if NATO allies Poland or the Baltic states were attacked. ‘I want peace, I don’t want war. And in no case would I send our children and the children of our women to war,’ he said in remarks that were broadcast on state television.
This inspired some pointed responses. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Monday, ‘If ever Czech freedom, sovereignty & territorial integrity were challenged by an outside force, Lithuanians would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Czech people.’ Babis later backtracked, saying his statement was ‘distorted.’ Pavel is currently leading in the polls.” [Foreign Policy]
How do you scheme up an ankle?
Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today
“This weekend, one man’s ankle could decide which team goes to the Super Bowl. It’s possible no strategy or motivation tactic matters more than Patrick Mahomes’ high ankle sprain.
The presumptive MVP plans to play, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said yesterday. Reid described Mahomes as doing ‘OK,’ which doesn't quite diminish the drama in KC's looming Bengals matchup.
How do you prepare to defend the injured Mahomes? It’s not as simple as you think, writes Ted Nguyen. The story is worth a read, but I pulled some fascinating tidbits:
This isn’t Mahomes’ first time playing injured. In the second half of the Chiefs’ win over the Jaguars, he led two scoring drives on the bum ankle. And against the Raiders in 2019, he threw four touchdowns with a high ankle sprain.
What’s even more incredible: As the Jaguars ramped up pressure Sunday, forcing a gimpy Mahomes to move, he got better. He posted an EPA per dropback of 0.45, which would’ve ranked ninth among quarterbacks this season against the blitz.
Nguyen also details the copious scheme options Reid has available to help protect Mahomes. But don’t discount Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who drew up creative ways to pressure Josh Allen last weekend.” [The Athletic]