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Russia pushes back after Alexei Navalny's Putin 'palace' probe
January 21, 2021
Russian prosecutors warned supporters of Alexei Navalny on Thursday against staging demonstrations, after his probe into President Vladimir Putin's alleged "palace" became the Kremlin critic's most-watched YouTube investigation.
Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Thursday that the two-hour video report into an opulent Black Sea property allegedly owned by Putin had been viewed more than 41 million times since its release Tuesday.
<p>The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner published the investigation into "the world's most expensive palace" days after his arrest in Moscow on arrival from Germany.</p><p>Navalny in the video urged his supporters to take the streets on Saturday to protest Putin, who had ruled over Russia for two decades.</p><p>Prosecutors responded on Thursday by warning Russians who called for "illegal mass protests" and demanded a ban on websites promoting Saturday's demonstrations.</p><p>"Law enforcement agencies have been advised to take preventative measures and take administrative action against violators," the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.</p><p>State communications watchdog Roskomnadzor later warned social media platforms including TikTok against encouraging minors to participate in the rallies, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>"Administrative action will be taken against internet platforms," the watchdog said adding that failure to remove "banned information" could result in fines of up to 4 million rubles ($54,000).</p><p>Following Navalny's arrest and latest graft report, many Russians took to social media -- including TikTok, a video app popular among teens, and even dating app Tinder -- to voice support and urge a large turnout on Saturday.</p><p>A number of public figures including actors, musicians and athletes have in recent days spoken out in support of the jailed opposition figure.</p><p>The retired former captain of Russia's national football team Igor Denisov said on Thursday that although he was never interested in politics, Navalny "should be freed".</p><p>- Calls for Navalny's release -</p><p>In a video message on the sports.ru website, Denisov said he had "great respect" for Navaly -- an unusual step for Russian athletes who usually toe the Kremlin line.</p><p>Navalny's allies are planning to stage protests in around 65 cities across the country despite coming under police pressure to cancel demonstrations.</p><p>Navalny in recent years has released a series of investigations into the alleged wealth of Putin's allies, but Tuesday's report was the first time he has targeted Putin in a lengthy expose.</p><p>His 2017 video into the alleged wealth of former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has been viewed 38 million times and sparked mass protests on its release.</p><p>The "Putin's palace" report alleges that the 17,691 square metre mansion sits on a property 39 times the size of Monaco and features a casino along with a theatre and a hookah lounge complete with a pole-dancing stage.</p><p>The Kremlin has denied the mansion belongs to Putin and urged Russians not to send their money to "crooks".</p><p>Navalny's team has received 10 million rubles ($136,000) in donations from supporters since the report's release, Yarmysh told AFP on Thursday.</p><p>Navalny returned to Russia on Sunday from Germany where he had been recovering from a near-fatal poisoning by the Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok in an attack he blamed on Russian security services and Putin.</p><p>His arrest drew widespread Western condemnation, with the United States, the European Union, France and Canada all calling for his release.</p><p>A hastily organised hearing on Monday ordered Navalny jailed for 30 days and his aides fear several pending cases against him are a pretext to silence his work.</p><p>© 2021 AFP</p>
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Ex-Oath Keeper terrified FBI is tailing him after calling for protesters to invade DC 'armed in large groups'
January 21, 2021
On Thursday, The Daily Beast profiled Sam Andrews, a former member of the right-wing paramilitary group the Oath Keepers, who called for the Capitol protesters to arm themselves ahead of the insurrection — and now is trying to distance himself out of fear that the FBI could come after him.
"Andrews was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, but says he did not enter the building," reported Kelly Weill. "Following Donald Trump's election loss, Andrews appeared in a widely shared video that called on the right to converge on D.C. 'armed, in large groups," as The Washington Post previously reported. Those groups, he said, should show up 'en masse in D.C., armed, demanding, not asking, that we get a peaceful resolution on these voter corruption issues.'"
<p>Now, fearing retribution from federal agents, he is walking back all of this.</p><p>"Now separate from the Oath Keepers, Andrews has focused his efforts on a Lebanon, Missouri, shooting range, where he said he often trains law enforcement," said the report. "Shortly after speaking to The Daily Beast, Andrews suggested on Facebook that journalists were calling him on the FBI's orders to somehow make him implicate himself in a crime."</p><p>The assault on the Capitol, which left five people dead, has shocked the nation and left experts fearful that it <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/15/capitol-attack-could-have-crippled-american-government-column/4160081001/" target="_blank">could have been much worse</a>. Already, dozens of people have been arrested in connection with the incident by state and federal authorities, and face a wide range of charges.</p>
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AOC smacks down Ted Cruz after he says Paris Climate Agreement is about the ‘citizens of Paris’
January 21, 2021
'Senators Should Be Competent'
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) blasted U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday after he criticized newly-sworn in President Joe Biden for rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement hours after taking office.
<p>The embattled Texas Senator tried to pay homage to former President Donald Trump in a tweet suggesting that the historic accords were simply about "the views of the citizens of Paris," instead of "the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh." Trump used that false argument when he withdrew from the Agreement.</p><p>197 countries have signed the Paris Agreement, nine – including the U.S. under Trump – have pulled out or are no longer following it. The only countries that are not part of the agreement but considered significant emitters of greenhouse gasses are the U.S. and Iran.</p><p>"By rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden indicates he's more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh," Cruz tweeted Wednesday. "This agreement will do little to affect the climate and will harm the livelihoods of Americans."</p><p>Cruz is <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2021/01/watch-viral-video-calls-for-ted-cruz-and-josh-hawley-to-be-prosecuted-for-aiding-and-abetting-acts-of-terrorism/">facing calls for his resignation or expulsion</a> from the Senate after he became a leader in the movement to unlawfully overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. That movement came to a head after Cruz and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) joined President Donald Trump in inciting the deadly January 6 insurrection.</p><p>Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez slammed Cruz, strongly suggesting he is incompetent, mocking his grasp of the Paris Agreement, and lambasting him for his role in the insurrection.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Nice tweet Sen. Cruz! Quick question: do you also believe the Geneva Convention was about the views of the citizens of Geneva?<br/>
Asking for everyone who believes US Senators should be competent and not undermine our elections to incite insurrection against the United States <a href="https://t.co/mMf8iDo72G">https://t.co/mMf8iDo72G</a>
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1352128118035722240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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