Independent journalist Megyn Kelly revealed during her Wednesday show that she believed Russian President Vladimir Putin had attempted to get inside her head a bit during an interview.
Kelly discussed Putin — and his <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/russian-billionaire-sues-uk-journalist-publisher-over-book-tying-putin-to-kgb/">history with the KGB</a> — with former chess champion and Renew Democracy Initiative Chairman Garry Kasparov, and the topic turned to the Russian President&#8217;s efforts to manipulate the people around him.
Kasparov argued that Putin had used the &#8220;tricks&#8221; he learned in the KGB to some effect, managing to convince Western leaders that he could be a reasonable leader with whom they could <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/we-should-not-escalate-french-president-complains-after-biden-calls-putin-a-butcher/">negotiate fairly</a> and in good faith.
&#8220;As a leader of Russia who managed to charm his western counterparts. He used his KGB knowledge, I think the tricks were quite primitive but it did work,&#8221; he said, going on to tell a story about Putin and former President George W. Bush — which Kasparov believed was entirely fabricated.
&#8220;The story that Putin told him, I believe invented, about him being baptized in the Soviet Union and wearing the cross given by the mother. Bush, a devoted Christian – he bought the story,&#8221; Kasparov explained. &#8220;It created a bond and we should give Putin credit, you know, he knew how to work with people.&#8221;
Kelly, who interviewed the Russian dictator in 2018, said she had experienced a similar attempt at &#8220;manipulation&#8221; from Putin.
&#8220;Even when I interviewed Putin and I spent a fair amount of time with him, in three separate sit-downs. He – One of the first things he said to me, and he knew I was the mother of three children, was how much his mother meant to him,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;What a close relationship he had with her. It was an obvious manipulation!&#8221;
Kasparov went on to note that Putin did not only use what he knew about his political rivals to win them over, but also to intimidate them when he believed that would better play to his advantage.
&#8220;Absolutely, he always tried to play, you know, strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. It’s well known that his first meeting with Angela Merkel knowing that she disliked dogs, he brought his dog to the meeting,&#8221; Kasparov added.
Putin later claimed that he had not intended to scare Merkel when he brought the dog along, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/europe/putin-merkel-scared-dog/index.html">reported</a>:
<blockquote>
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder" data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_B0E67139-C015-8050-2696-35B004A42E96@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Merkel,<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/germany-merkel-profile/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> reportedly fearful of dogs since one attacked her in 1995</a>, was photographed looking distinctly uncomfortable when Putin brought his large black Labrador Koni into a meeting at his summer residence in Sochi, Russia, in January 2007.
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder" data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_E60A7DD5-C717-CDBE-1DC2-35B3FC85FC8D@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">The Russian leader appeared to smirk as he watched his pet approach his uneasy VIP guest.
</blockquote>
<p data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_E60A7DD5-C717-CDBE-1DC2-35B3FC85FC8D@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Listen to Kelly&#8217;s interview with Kasparov below:
<iframe loading="lazy" style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/3GsIM8CwAMkP116siTrtND?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="232" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
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RUSSIA-US-MEDIA-POLITICS

‘Obvious Manipulation!’: Megyn Kelly Says Putin Tried To Get In Her Head During Interview

Megyn Kelly

Vladimir Putin

Daily Mail columnist Meghan McCain made it clear that she is not expecting a strong response from President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration if Russian President Vladimir Putin made the long-expected move to attack Ukraine.
McCain argued as many have that Putin, a former Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) official, had a vision that included reconstituting all — or at least some — of the former Soviet Union. And she suggested that Biden&#8217;s response was not likely to move the needle when it came to reining the Russian president in.
&#8220;Putin has always had a tyrannical blood lust for the glory days of the USSR. This is about to get so much worse. Looking forward to &#8216;stern sanctions&#8217; from Joe and Kamala and our immediate abandonment of allies in freedom. It&#8217;s the Jimmy Carter on acid administration,&#8221; the former &#8220;The View&#8221; host said in a Monday tweet.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Putin has always had a tyrannical blood lust for the glory days of the USSR. This is about to get so much worse. 
Looking forward to &quot;stern sanctions&quot; from Joe and Kamala and our immediate abandonment of allies in freedom. 
It&#39;s the Jimmy Carter on acid administration. <a href="https://t.co/12VdFeTxJT">https://t.co/12VdFeTxJT</a>
&mdash; Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1495786959586922507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
For weeks, the Biden administration has warned that Putin was probably going to attack Ukraine — despite the Kremlin&#8217;s insistence that was not the case — and U.S. intelligence indicated that Russia might use a &#8220;<a href="https://dailywire.com/news/without-presenting-a-shred-of-evidence-jake-tapper-grills-jake-sullivan-over-claims-russia-planned-a-false-flag-op/">false flag</a>&#8221; operation in order to provide cover for an invasion.
And while the dates suggested for a possible invasion came and went, Putin announced on Monday that Russia <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/breaking-russia-recognizes-independence-of-breakaway-regions-in-ukraine/">planned to recognize</a> two regions inside Ukraine as independent states. As The Daily Wire reported:
<blockquote>Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that he would recognize the independence of the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by separatists.
“Today, the leadership of the [Donetsk People’s Republic] and [Luhansk People’s Republic] received appeals to recognize their sovereignty in connection with the military aggression of the Ukrainian authorities, massive shelling of the territory of Donbas, as a result of which the civilian population suffers,” the Kremlin <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/russia-ukraine-putin-has-list-of-ukrainians-to-be-killed-or-sent-to-camps-u-s-warns">said</a> in a statement. “With all this in mind, the President of Russia said that he intended to sign a corresponding decree in the near future.”</blockquote>
Putin <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/21/world/ukraine-russia-putin-biden">confirmed his intention</a> in a press conference, saying, &#8220;I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago – to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic.&#8221;
He then signed treaties with both Donetsk and Luhansk, a move which he could theoretically use as a pretext to move Russian troops into those particular regions of Ukraine while still claiming that their presence inside Ukraine&#8217;s borders did not technically constitute an &#8220;invasion.&#8221;
The European Union <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/e-u-to-launch-sanctions-against-those-involved-in-russias-decision-to-recognize-separatist-regions">responded</a> by issuing a statement indicating it would enact sanctions.
&#8220;President Michel and President von der Leyen condemn in the strongest possible terms the decision by the Russian President to proceed with the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities,&#8221; the statement read. &#8220;This step is a blatant violation of international law as well as of the Minsk agreements &#8230; The Union will react with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act. The Union reiterates its unwavering support to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.&#8221;
The Daily Wire’s first original film, Shut In, has made its cinematic debut, being met with rave reviews. The Daily Wire is building an alternative to the leftist entertainment industry, one gripping movie at a time. Join us in this mission and stream Shut In today by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe-shutin?utm_campaign=shutin&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_content=subscribe_shutin&amp;utm_talent=dailywire" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe-shutin?utm_campaign%3Dshutin%26utm_medium%3Deditorial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_content%3Dsubscribe_shutin%26utm_talent%3Ddailywire&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1644699149485000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0hSL9sbxEl3fLS6INjonzw">becoming a Daily Wire member</a>.

Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen – Season 18

‘This Is About To Get So Much Worse’: Meghan McCain Blasts Biden Admin’s Handling Of Putin And Ukraine

Meghan McCain

Soviet Union

Ukraine

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), who was born in the Soviet Union, grilled U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday over the actions that the FBI is allegedly taking and over a variety of security concerns that have erupted under President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration.
&#8220;Mr. Attorney General, as someone who was born in the Soviet Union, I am disturbed, very disturbed, by the use of the Department of Justice as a political tool, and its power as the police state to suppress lawful public discourse,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The FBI is starting to resemble old KGB with secret warrantless surveillance, wiretapping, and intimidation of citizens. School board [inaudible] is the latest example.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s interesting that during the Soviet-era, the United States criticized the use of the domestic terrorism concept in the USSR as a tool to suppress free speech and political dissent,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;In your recent statement opposing the Texas anti-abortion law, you said it is the foremost responsibility of the Department of Justice to defend the Constitution. Do you plan to defend the Second Amendment rights which are explicitly protected by our Constitution as vigorously as you do abortion rights? Yes or no?&#8221;
Spartz later pressed Garland over alleged abuses of FISA warrants by federal law enforcement officials, Biden&#8217;s border crisis, and Biden&#8217;s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
As someone who grew up in the USSR, I’m disturbed that FBI is starting to resemble KGB &#8211; intimidation, surveillance, suppression of dissent&#8230; AG Garland <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheJusticeDept</a> also didn’t firmly reassure us that they will keep Americans safe in light of the border &amp; Afghanistan crises. <a href="https://t.co/92YjAjXhb0">pic.twitter.com/92YjAjXhb0</a>
&mdash; Rep. Victoria Spartz (@RepSpartz) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepSpartz/status/1451291995050283023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Attorney General, as someone who was born in the Soviet Union, I am disturbed, very disturbed, by the use of the Department of Justice as a political tool, and its power as the police state to suppress lawful public discourse. The FBI is starting to resemble old KGB with secret warrantless surveillance, wiretapping, and intimidation of citizens. School board [inaudible] is the latest example. It&#8217;s interesting that during the Soviet-era, the United States criticized the use of the domestic terrorism concept in the USSR as a tool to suppress free speech and political dissent. In your recent statement opposing the Texas anti-abortion law, you said it is the foremost responsibility of the Department of Justice to defend the Constitution. Do you plan to defend the Second Amendment rights which are explicitly protected by our Constitution as vigorously as you do abortion rights? Yes or no?
MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes.
SPARTZ: Do you believe recent inspector general FISA report, citing widespread and material non-compliance by the FBI with[out] proper due process for surveillance of U.S. citizens, is a violation of the Fourth Amendment?
GARLAND: I think it&#8217;s a violation of the FISA Act by itself without even having to get to the Constitution. And we take this extraordinarily seriously. That&#8217;s why we have an inspector general. That&#8217;s why our National Security Division reviews what the FBI does with respect to FISA. And I know that the FBI Director takes this very seriously as well. And they have made major fixes to their practices so this won&#8217;t occur again. And this is constantly being audited and reviewed by our National Security Division. I take this very seriously. And I agree, we have to be extremely careful about surveillance of American citizens, only as appropriate under the statute.
SPARTZ: Potentially Fourth and Fifth Amendment could be violated if you have&#8211;
GARLAND: Of course.
SPARTZ: &#8211;material and widespread as the report says. In your June 15th remarks on domestic terrorism, you said that nearly every day you get a briefing from the FBI director and his team. How often do you discuss FISA relations in your briefings? 
GARLAND: Sorry, I didn&#8217;t hear the&#8211;
SPARTZ: How often do you discuss the FISA violations when you get your nearly daily briefings with FBI?
GARLAND: So, there&#8217;s a quarterly review by the Intelligence Community and the National Security Division submits to the intelligence committees with respect to FISA reviews. And I always review those, I meet with the National Security Division relatively routinely to discuss how that&#8217;s going. So, it&#8217;s not every morning, but this review of violations of FISA, and our efforts to make sure that it doesn&#8217;t happen again, is pretty frequent.
SPARTZ: So it seems like we still get material and widespread ever reported. We have material, &#8216;material,&#8217; not non-material and widespread violation. But talking about another topic, I went to the border three times and recently visit airbase and Qatar and Camp Atterbury in Indiana, housing of Afghanistan evacuees. And based on what I&#8217;ve seen, I have some questions and significant national security concerns. Former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott recently said that the open border poses a real terror threat. Do you agree with the Border Patrol chief or Secretary Mayorkas, who recently said that the border is no less secure than before?
GARLAND: If you&#8217;re asking about terrorism traveling across the border, I&#8217;m concerned about that across all of our borders. This has been a continuing concern.
SPARTZ: But do you agree with that, you know, Border Patrol chief that what&#8217;s happening right now is make us less secure and have a real, you know, increased terror threat?
GARLAND: I believe that combination of the Intelligence Community and the FBI are working very hard to make sure that people crossing the border do not constitute a terrorist threat. But we have to always be worried about the possibility, and we are ever vigilant on that subject.
SPARTZ: Can you reassure the American people that you will be able to protect our country from a terrorist attack that may result from this lawlessness at the border or the Afghanistan debacle?
GARLAND: I can assure the American people that the FBI is working every day to do the best it possibly can to protect the American people from terrorism from whatever direction it comes, whether it comes from Afghanistan or any other direction.
SPARTZ: Do you have any specific actions and plans that you do in light of what&#8217;s happening right now at the border? Do you have a specific strategy that you&#8217;re working directly with [inaudible]?
GARLAND: I&#8217;m sorry, I didn&#8217;t mean talk [over]&#8211;
SPARTZ: Yeah, considering current situation on the border. Do you take any specific actions at the border?
GARLAND: Well, with respect to the first part of your question about Afghanistan, the FBI is participating along with Homeland Security and vetting the refugees who have landed in various locations, Qater, Kosovo, Ramstein Air Base, and then bases in the United States. So they&#8217;re doing everything they can to vet for those purposes. With respect to crossing of the border, this is a combination of the Intelligence Community outside of our intelligence community getting information about who might be trying to cross.</blockquote>

Merrick Garland Victoria Spartz

Lawmaker Born In USSR Grills Merrick Garland: ‘The FBI Is Starting To Resemble Old KGB’

Merrick Garland

Russia

Victoria Spartz

Speaking on the John Catsimatidis radio show, famed attorney and liberal Democrat Alan Dershowitz blistered CNN for its coverage of the impeachment proceedings against President Trump, saying, “CNN has banned me from their airwaves. CNN will not allow me on their network because they don’t want a liberal Democrat to be telling their viewers the truth about the Constitution.” Dershowiz also ripped Democrats, comparing them to the Russian secret police under the murderous Russian dictator Josef Stalin, asserting, “The Democrats are now making up crimes.”
Catsimatidis prompted Dershowitz by asking, “Do the Democrats today think that the American public is so stupid on some of the things they’re doing?”
Dershowitz replied:
<blockquote>They’re very scary. They’re very frightening to any civil libertarian. Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican; whether you come from New York or the middle of the country, you should be frightened by efforts to try to create crimes out of nothing. The latest twist was people on television, particularly CNN and MSNBC, are saying that if the president or somebody else was to name the whistleblower in the Ukrainian situation, that person would be guilty of a crime. I said in the afternoon yesterday — searching the federal criminal statutes from beginning to end — I couldn’t find the crime. It reminds me of Lavrentiy Beria, head of the KGB, said to Stalin, he said, “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.” Which he really meant, I’ll make up the crime.</blockquote>
Beria was the chief of the murderous Soviet security and secret police organization NKVD, which was the predecessor to the KGB.
<blockquote>And so the Democrats are now making up crimes. First they made up collusion. “Ahh! Collusion. It’s a crime!” I searched the statute books. There’s no crime of collusion except when businessmen get together to collude against the anti-trust laws, but no crime of collusion with a foreign country.
Then after that, they said “obstruction of Congress.” No, no, no, no, no. Obstruction of justice is a crime; obstruction of Congress is part of our system of checks and balances. If you get a subpoena from Congress, and you’re the president or in the executive department, and you think you have an executive privilege, you have an obligation not to respond. That’s not “obstruction of Congress,” that’s checks and balances under our Constitution.
So what we’re seeing, in a desperate effort to try to find crimes against President Trump: they’re just making it up. And that means we are all in danger, because if we can make up a crime — Congressman Cohen of Tennessee said that me and others who appear on Fox essentially were co-conspirators; we’re in on it. He’s now threatening people who are commentators, a liberal Democrat like me, who’s a commentator, that we’re in on it, that we’re co-conspirators. It is such a dangerous development to civil liberties.
The ACLU should be up in arms, but they’re silent.</blockquote>
Catsimatidis commented, “The lawyer involved also was tweeting years ago or during 2017, 2018 on impeachment?”
Dershowitz replied, “Yeah, obviously this is weaponized. This is being used by people who want to weaponize it against a particular president.” He added that if the shoe were on the other foot, Democrats would be up in arms.
He continued, “CNN has banned me from their airwaves. CNN will not allow me on their network because they don’t want a liberal Democrat to be telling their viewers the truth about the Constitution. Instead, they have people out there who are just parroting the party line over and over and over again and misleading their viewers. They got virtually everything wrong on the Mueller report; they predicted everything wrong and their viewers suffer. And when their viewers are denied my voice and the voice of other people to present a somewhat different narrative, it’s just a terrible thing.”
Listen <a href="https://twitter.com/JCats2013/status/1193552789038911494">here</a>.

Hulu Presents “Triumph’s Election Special” Produced By Funny Or Die

LISTEN: Liberal Democrat Dershowitz Compares Democrats To Russian Secret Police Under Stalin, Blisters CNN

Alan Dershowitz

Democratic Party

Impeachment

Josef Stalin

Menu

KGB

‘Obvious Manipulation!’: Megyn Kelly Says Putin Tried To Get In Her Head During Interview

‘This Is About To Get So Much Worse’: Meghan McCain Blasts Biden Admin’s Handling Of Putin And Ukraine

Lawmaker Born In USSR Grills Merrick Garland: ‘The FBI Is Starting To Resemble Old KGB’

LISTEN: Liberal Democrat Dershowitz Compares Democrats To Russian Secret Police Under Stalin, Blisters CNN