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Title: US marine attending wedding taken hostage in Russia
Source:
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URL Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar ... ted-Russia-spying-charges.html
Published: Jan 2, 2019
Author: Sara Malm For Mailonline
Post Date: 2019-01-02 08:47:54 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 43
Comments: 2
'Putin wants a hostage for leverage': Kremlin foe Bill Browder raises suspicion after American is arrested for espionage in Russia for being 'on a spy mission' US citizen has been arrested in Moscow by Russian security service agents Paul Nicholas Whelan is accused by Russia of 'carrying out an act of espionage' A criminal investigation into espionage has been opened, the FSB said US State Department has been notified of arrest and requests consular access Kremlin foe Bill Browder, who calls himself Vladimir Putin's 'Enemy Number One', has raised suspicion after an American was arrested for espionage in Russia. Browder, an American-born British financier who spearhead the Magnitsky Act - which punishes Russian human rights violators - took to Twitter to express his concerns on Monday morning following the arrest of Paul Nicholas Whelan. 'Russia Detains US Citizen in Moscow on Suspicion of Espionage. Looks like Putin wants a hostage for leverage purposes,' he wrote. 'Generally countries kick out suspected foreign spies, not arrest them.' Kremlin foe Bill Browder, who calls himself Vladimir Putin's 'Enemy Number One', has raised suspicion after an American was arrested for espionage in Russia Kremlin foe Bill Browder, who calls himself Vladimir Putin's 'Enemy Number One', has raised suspicion after an American was arrested for espionage in Russia Browder, an American-born British financier who spearhead the Magnitsky Act, took to Twitter to express his concerns on Monday morning following the arrest of Paul Nicholas Whelan The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) revealed that Whelan was arrested on Friday, claiming he had carried out 'an act of espionage'. 'The US Embassy in Moscow was informed in a timely manner of the detention in accordance with the bilateral consular convention,' the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Monday. A criminal investigation into espionage has since been opened. If he is charged with espionage and found guilty, Whelan could be facing 10 to 20 years in prison. No other details about the allegations against Whelan were immediately available. Details about Whelan's background and the reason he was in Moscow also remained unclear, as his name is a common one. An individual named Paul Whelan, who is an executive with Match Accommodation 2018, has appeared in Russian news reports regarding tourism for the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, but the Hill Reporter obtained confirmation that he is not the same individual who has been arrested. Internet speculation also centered on an individual named Paul Whelan who worked as a manager of global security and investigations for staffing firm Kelly Services. A spokeswoman for that company told DailyMail.com that a person by that name worked for Kelly Services until February 2016, but she was unable to confirm or deny whether that Paul Whelan was the same individual arrested in Moscow. The FSB revealed on Friday that Whelan had been arrested. Pictured above are the State Historical Museum (left) in Moscow and the towers of the Kremlin (right In a statement to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said: 'We are aware of the detention of a U.S. citizen by Russian authorities. We have been formally notified of the detention by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.' 'Russia’s obligations under the Vienna Convention require them to provide consular access. We have requested this access and expect Russian authorities to provide it,' the statement continued. Citing privacy considerations, the State Department declined to comment further. Russia is currently embroiled in a number of spy scandals with the West, from the alleged poisoning by Russian agents of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK, to the US conviction of Russian Maria Butina for acting as an illegal foreign agent. Butina pleaded guilty to joining a conspiracy on behalf of the Kremlin to cultivate sources inside the Republican party before the 2016 presidential election earlier this month. Russian citizen Maria Butina pleaded guilty to joining a conspiracy on behalf of the Kremlin to cultivate sources inside the Republican party before the 2016 presidential election The 30-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of 'conspiracy against the United States' when she appeared at federal court in Washington D.C. Butina said she acted at 'the direction' of a Russian official, who was not named in court, but previously has been identified as Alexander Torshin, a Russian politician close to Vladimir Putin and who is now subject to U.S. sanctions as well as being an alleged mafia money-launderer. Butina appeared in federal court on Thursday 20th December, and is awaiting sentence Butina appeared in federal court on Thursday 20th December, and is awaiting sentence Together they worked on what was called the 'Diplomacy Project' using her boyfriend, conservative political operative Paul Erickson, 56, to help her as she tried to use his ties with the NRA to set up the back channels. She managed to meet Donald Trump Jr., ask his father a question at an NRA-linked event, pose for pictures with top Republicans including Rick Santorum and Scott Walker, and organized a Russian delegation to the national prayer breakfast in Washington D.C in 2017. She emailed her boyfriend that they were 'coming to establish a back channel of communication' - and he emailed another unnamed person saying that 'reaction to the delegation's presence in America will be relayed DIRECTLY' to Vladimir Putin. Denial: Putin has denied that Maria Butina worked for his government and has rejected claims that Moscow interfered in the 2016 elections When she got senior members of the NRA to come to Moscow she emailed her handler: 'We should let them express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later.' Who is Bill Browder and what are his dealings with Russia and Putin? Bill Browder - who dubs himself 'Putin's enemy number one' formally fell foul of the Russian authorities in 2005. But his family is steeped in the history of the country. His grandfather was Earl Browder - the leader of the US Communist Party who twice ran for President. And his father Felix was a maths prodigy and graduate from MIT - but could not find work during the McCarthyite purges of the 1960s. Bill Browder was born in Chicago in 1964 and carved out a career in fund investments. He set up Hermitage Capital Management in Russia in 1996, when the country's markets were opening up to capitalist investment following the fall of Communism. He was once Russia's biggest foreign investor and earned hundreds of millions of pounds from his funds. But he fell foul of the Kremlin in 2005 and was black listed from Russia, while many of his assets were seized. He has spent the following decade exposing Russian officials for corruption and plundering many millions from Russian businesses. Browder chronicled his battle against Russian corruption in a book about his career titled Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice. And he has travelled the world pressing governments to pass the Magnitsky Act. The law is named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who was jailed , beaten and died in custody after exposing corruption. It intends to punish the Russian officials responsible for his death. It was passed in the US but while some MPs support it Britain has not passed it. The agent faces up to five years in prison and deportation from the U.S. although she will not be sentenced until well into 2019, with her next hearing scheduled for February. Putin, who claims Butina did not work for his government, has long denied Moscow meddled in the presidential campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies found Russia interfered. Meanwhile, the investigation by Special counsel Robert Mueller into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia, and whether S President Donald Trump has obstructed said investigation, continues. The evidence so far shows a broad range of Trump associates had Russia-related contacts during the 2016 presidential campaign and transition period, and that several lied about the communication. There is also evidence that some people in the president's orbit were discussing a possible email dump from WikiLeaks before it occurred. American intelligence agencies and Mueller have said Russia was the source of hacked material released by WikiLeaks during the campaign that was damaging to Clinton's presidential effort. Trump has repeatedly slammed the Mueller investigation as a 'witch hunt' and insisted there was 'NO COLLUSION' with Russia. On Saturday morning, the Trump took to Twitter to blast the Russia probe, calling it the 'greatest Hoax in the history of American politics' [sic], and boldly claiming that the Department of Justice and the FBI colluded with Moscow under the Obama administration. The irate president tweeted: 'The Russian Collusion fabrication is the greatest Hoax in the history of American politics. The only Russian Collusion was with Hillary and the Democrats!' He then went further in his allegations, tagging Fox News' Jesse Watters in his tweet, adding: 'It turns out to be true now, that the Department of Justice and the FBI, under President Obama, rigged the investigation for Hillary and really turned the screws on Trump, and now it looks like in a corrupt & illegal way. The facts are out now. Whole Hoax exposed. @JesseBWatters.' 'NO COLLUSION': President Donald Trump has called the probe into whether his campaign coordinated with Russia the 'greatest Hoax in the history of American politics' [sic] 'NO COLLUSION': President Donald Trump has called the probe into whether his campaign coordinated with Russia the 'greatest Hoax in the history of American politics' [sic]
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#1. To: All (#0)
(CNN) A US citizen and corporate security director detained in Russia on accusations of spying is a retired Marine who was in Moscow for a wedding, his twin brother said Tuesday. Paul Whelan, 48, of Novi, Michigan, was arrested Friday in Moscow on suspicion of carrying out an act of espionage, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has said. His family rejects the accusation. Apparently he took a picture of the FSB building which happens to be across the street from his hotel
If they weren't both involved in the actual hit on Seth Rich, they are obviously involved in the conspiracy to obstruct justice, tamper with evidence, and coverup a murder plot.
#2. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
American intelligence agencies and Mueller have said Russia was the source of hacked material released by WikiLeaks during the campaign that was damaging to Clinton's presidential effort.
"After tomorrow those SOB's will never embarrass me again. That’s not a threat. That’s a promise.” – LBJ to his mistress Madeleine Brown on the eve of JFK assassination 
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