Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that he backs Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris for president, matching previous sentiment that he has expressed about the Democrat Party.
Putin made the remarks on Thursday while attending the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.
&#8220;We had Biden as a favorite, but he was dropped from the race. He recommended that all his supporters should back Harris, so we will, too,&#8221; Putin said. &#8220;She laughs so expressively and infectiously that it means that everything is fine with her.&#8221;
Former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Rebekah Koffler <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/putin-says-he-backs-harris-over-trump-adds-hes-ready-talks-ukraine?intcmp=tw_fnc">said</a> that Putin prefers that Harris wins because &#8220;Putin believes that he can manipulate Harris easily, unlike Trump, whom the Russians profiled as unpredictable and difficult to read.&#8221;
The Trump campaign responded to the endorsement by posting a graphic on social media touting Putin&#8217;s backing of Harris.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/V8WcQPnIQj">https://t.co/V8WcQPnIQj</a> <a href="https://t.co/zbvEPpgdSs">pic.twitter.com/zbvEPpgdSs</a>
&mdash; Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1831704307600650625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;In fact, President Putin would much rather see Comrade Kamala Harris in Office, as he strongly said just this morning,&#8221; Trump added in his own post on Truth Social.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724361346607000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1ZhyOQfEkxcMH_D1Ago3CQ">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
Koffler said that Putin aimed to &#8220;unbalance&#8221; Harris by making statements &#8220;mocking, teasing, and pleasing&#8221; her.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
JUST IN: Vladimir Putin says he supports Kamala Harris for president, says he finds her laugh “fascinating.”
The comments come after the DOJ accused Russia of funding Tenet who then paid conservative influencers for videos.
At the moment, it’s unclear what exactly Russia’s goal… <a href="https://t.co/ciXyZ4MCyU">pic.twitter.com/ciXyZ4MCyU</a>
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1831676844422443236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
Back in 2020, Putin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/putin-democrats-insulting-trump-enhances-our-prestige-plays-into-our-hands-trumps-been-hard-on-us-communists-and-democrats-have-common-values">acknowledged</a> the Democrat Party is much more closely aligned to Russia, specifically the former Soviet Union than the Republican Party is.
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724211156439000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2xQ8bdTcpfdrPBAzczIuck">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
“First, the Democratic Party is traditionally closer to the so-called liberal values, closer to Social Democratic ideas, if compared to Europe,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And it was from the Social Democratic environment that the Communist Party evolved.”
“After all, I was a member of the Soviet Communist Party for nearly 20 years, or more precisely 18 years. I was a rank-and-file member, but it can be said that I believed in the party’s ideas,” Putin said. “I still like many of these left-wing values. &#8230; Yes, they are difficult to implement, but they are very attractive, nevertheless. In other words, this can be seen as an ideological basis for developing contacts with the Democratic representative.”

Eastern Economic Forum 2024

Putin Says He Backs Kamala For President, Cites Her ‘Infectious’ Laugh

Elections

Kamala Harris

Politics

Vladimir Putin

On Friday, in a case that the United States government and his employer have denounced as a sham, a Russian court found Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, the first U.S. journalist to face such a charge since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a high-security penal colony.
Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg and later accused of being a CIA spy; Russian prosecutors alleged that “under instructions from the CIA” and “using painstaking conspiratorial methods,” Gershkovich “was collecting secret information” regarding a Russian defense contractor. The U.S. State Department called for his immediate release; no public evidence has been presented by Russia that supported its case. He was held in Moscow’s infamous Stalin-era Lefortovo Prison in a small cell and only <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/19/media/evan-gershkovich-espionage-trial-verdict-intl/index.html#:~:text=Evan%20Gershkovich%2C%20the%20first%20American,have%20denounced%20as%20a%20sham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> one hour of walking every day.
“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Journal publisher Almar Latour and Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker <a href="//B6C39C40-81A7-4C4B-91B7-13445197898B/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>,  “We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family. Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”
Russia rebuffed a request from Gershkovich’s legal team that he be moved from the prison to house arrest or be granted bail.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted that he would swap Gershkovich for Russians held in other countries, referencing Vadim Krasikov, an FSB operative. But on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the idea of an exchange by asserting, “I’m leaving that question without an answer. There is a charge of espionage, so this is a very, very sensitive area.”
“Penal colonies are usually located in remote areas far from densely populated regions,” the Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/evan-gershkovich-penal-colony-transfer-69b5d482" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted.</a> “Due to their location and inaccessibility, colonies are less frequently inspected by human-rights groups. When they have visited, observers report poor conditions, including mold in the cells and problems with food and medical care, as well as ill treatment of inmates by prison staff.”

RUSSIA-US-JOURNALIST

Russia Sentences WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich To 16 Years In Penal Colony

Espionage

Evan Gershkovich

Media

Russia

Wall Street Journal

World

President Joe Biden once again added to growing concerns on Thursday that he is not mentally fit for office when he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press conference at the NATO summit in Washington.
The screw up comes as Biden has faced growing calls to quit his re-election campaign from members within his own party and throughout the media over the last two weeks following his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
&#8220;Now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.&#8221;
The mistake is even more embarrassing considering that Putin started a major war in Europe with his invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
JOE BIDEN: &#8220;Now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/91Rw2B25GR">pic.twitter.com/91Rw2B25GR</a>
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1811518751273287887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
A House Democrat responded to the clip by telling ABC News: &#8220;This is the greatest introduction of all time … It would be like introducing Winston Churchill and saying ladies and gentlemen Hitler.&#8221;
After walking away from the microphone for a brief moment, Biden realized that he screwed up Zelensky&#8217;s name and stepped back up and offered an excuse for why he messed it up.
&#8220;President Putin? We’re gonna beat President Putin,&#8221; he said. &#8220;President Zelenskyy! I&#8217;m so focused on beating Putin. We got to worry about it — anyway, Mr. President.&#8221;
Following the mistake, a longtime adviser to Biden told CNN: &#8220;I just think there is an unfortunate inevitability to all this. I am sad because I have known him a long time and he is a good man. I am angry at his inner circle who have not served him well and at times committed malpractice in their service. And I am frustrated at the family for not expanding the circle so there would be a truth teller or two in their midst. They created a perfect storm of an echo chamber and it is biting them all in the a*s.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/george-clooney-joins-chorus-of-stars-telling-biden-its-time-to-drop-out-of-race">George Clooney Joins Chorus Of Stars Telling Biden It’s Time To Drop Out Of Race</a>

World Leaders Attend NATO Summit In Washington, D.C.

Biden Screws Up On World Stage, Introduces Zelensky As ‘President Putin’ At NATO Summit

Joe Biden

Volodymyr Zelensky

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, where, on Wednesday, the two dictators signed a mutual defense agreement.
Putin&#8217;s North Korea trip marks his first visit to the Hermit Kingdom in 24 years, and the Russian president was greeted with fanfare and crowds of North Koreans chanting his name, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-meets-kim-north-korea-rcna157665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Following his meeting with Kim, Putin said the leaders signed &#8220;a truly breakthrough document&#8221; that boosts security, trade, and humanitarian agreements. Kim <a href="https://apnews.com/article/vladimir-putin-kim-jong-un-russia-north-korea-summit-ukraine-a6b8d2c12de7ee2ab6716d4747c9850e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the agreement the &#8220;strongest ever treaty&#8221; between the two countries.
The Russian president said U.S. allies Japan and South Korea were &#8220;hostile to North Korea&#8221; and labeled U.S. policy toward Kim as &#8220;confrontational,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/asia/north-korea-russia-putin-visit-thursday-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. Biden administration officials have expressed concern that increased ties between Russia and North Korea will help boost Kim&#8217;s nuclear capabilities and help supply Putin&#8217;s forces with ammunition as it continues its assault on Ukraine.
Putin thanked Kim for continuing to support Russia in its “fight against the imperialist hegemonistic policies of the U.S. and its satellites against the Russian Federation.” Kim <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kim-jong-un-expected-to-meet-with-putin-for-weapons-talks-reports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visited</a> Putin in the Russian port city of Vladivostok last September to discuss weapons shipments to Russia.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://apnews.com/article/vladimir-putin-kim-jong-un-russia-north-korea-summit-ukraine-a6b8d2c12de7ee2ab6716d4747c9850e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday that Putin&#8217;s visit to North Korea shows the Russian leader is trying &#8220;in desperation, to develop and to strengthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war of aggression that it started against Ukraine.”
Six senior U.S. officials told NBC News that the Biden administration believes Russia is sending North Korea ballistic missile technology in exchange for munitions the country is supplying to Russian troops. The U.S. <a href="https://www.state.gov/imposing-measures-in-response-to-navalnys-death-and-two-years-of-russias-full-scale-war-against-ukraine/#:~:text=Since%20September%202023%2C%20the%20DPRK,conflict%20since%20early%20October%202023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in February that North Korea has sent &#8220;10,000 containers of munitions or munitions-related materials to Russia&#8221; since the Kim-Putin meeting in September of 2023.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712932862202000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0plT8RRdMy9XUpIhocnjQS">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
While details of the new agreement are still not fully known, the Russia-North Korea security treaty appears to be the strongest between the two countries since 1961, when the former Soviet Union promised to aid North Korea if it was attacked, the Associated Press reported. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and North Korea agreed to a weaker security deal in 2000.

Vladimir Putin/Kim Jong Un

Putin Signs ‘Breakthrough’ Mutual Defense Agreement With Kim Jong Un

Putin Signs 'Breakthrough' Mutual Defense Agreement With Kim Jong Un

Biden Administration

Global Politics

Kim Jong Un

North Korea

Ukraine-Russia War

Henry Kissinger was my professor at Harvard, back in the early 1960s. The biggest thing I remember from many courses with him was his statement that Americans excel in our capacity for self-criticism, including exploring our weaknesses. What we aren’t good at is assessing the vulnerabilities of our adversaries. 
 
This is a thought that would resonate with <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/author/arnonatalia/">Natalia Arno</a>, founder of the Free Russia Foundation, an organization that advocates for democracy in Russia. In her view, Putin has an unending collection of weaknesses, and we in the West aren’t giving these weaknesses enough attention. 
 
If you were to talk with her, one of the first points she’d bring up is her view that the West has the false perception that Russians don’t want or deserve democracy. “This is, of course, not true,” she states. “The Putin regime keeps people from expressing their true views, and they do it using fear, propaganda, and jail. I know of a case where a woman made an anti-Putin comment on Facebook and ended up with a 20-year jail sentence.” 
 
In her view, a strong and secure regime doesn’t have to use these techniques. She points out that while under the dictator Stalin there were millions of political prisoners, under Brezhnev or Gorbachev the numbers were smaller, in the dozens. Under Putin, however, the number of political prisoners is in the thousands. In the case of the anti-war protestors, 20,000 were detained and many of them jailed. “You could be jailed,” she asserts, outrage in her voice, “just for putting flowers on the grave of the opposition leader, Navalny.” 
 
She knows of individuals who ended up in jail simply for holding up a copy of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. I asked Arno, “Why would a book by one of Russia’s greatest literary figures land a person in jail?” 
 
Her answer? “The book has the word ‘war’ in it, and just that three letter word can get a 15-year sentence.”
Arno knows that jail time in Russia is far more of a threat than it would be in the West. She’s familiar with the experience of her friend and colleague, politician, journalist, and historian Vladimir Kara-Murza. For criticizing Putin, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
<div id="attachment_730803" style="width: 837px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-730803" class="size-large wp-image-730803" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2021615163-827x576.jpg" alt="Jailed Russian opposition figure and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is serving a 25-year sentence over charges including treason over criticism of the Ukraine offensive, appears in court with a video link from his prison for a hearing in the case against inaction of the Investigative Committee of Russia on his poisoning, in Moscow on February 22, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)" width="827" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2021615163-827x576.jpg 827w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2021615163-300x209.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2021615163-768x535.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2021615163.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 827px) 100vw, 827px" />ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images</div>
His time is being spent in a small, dimly lit cell with bare concrete walls. The food is close to inedible. Often, it’s a mound of spoiled cabbage, covered with brown and black spots, and accompanied by a rank, sour, rotten egg smell that comes from bacteria and molds. 
Mr. Kara-Murza was also poisoned twice, in 2015 and in 2017, adding to his ailing health. Worse, he has severe and painful neuropathy that is a death sentence unless he receives treatment. He’s not getting the treatment. 
 
Arno is certain that a strong and popular regime doesn’t need to hold power using this kind of control-by-fear. Other reasons she cites for seeing Putin’s regime as weak include:
<ul>
<li>Foreign investment has fled</li>
<li>The Western technology Russia needs to maintain important industries, such as petroleum, is no longer available</li>
<li>Millions of the best educated Russian workers have left</li>
<li>Of Russia’s 190 ethnic minorities, many know that they are as much as 40 times more likely to die on the Ukraine battlefield than are the ethnic Russians. This breeds rage and incites calls for leaving the Russian Federation</li>
<li>Russia has to invest so much money in repression that the standard of living is low</li>
</ul>
Natalia and the Free Russia Foundation are working to let Russians know there’s an alternative to Putin’s autocratic rule. She and her colleague are using social media, messengers, anti-war coalition efforts, and partisan means like printing out information from the internet and stuffing these leaflets in mailboxes to let Russians know that with democracy, they can have freedom from fear, freedom from war, and prosperity instead of poverty. 
 
“We are not building bridges,” she says. “We are building tunnels.”
 * * * 
 
Mitzi Perdue, Fellow at the Institute of World Politics, is a journalist reporting from and about Ukraine. She has visited multiple times, has many local contacts, and has more than 100 published articles on Ukraine.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

President Putin Attends An Annual Council of Legislators

Putin Has Vast Vulnerabilities: The Free Russia Foundation Wants To Reveal Them To The West.

Alexei Navalny

Henry Kissinger

Opinion

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro broke down the complicated history of Ukraine in the latest “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/facts-the-real-history-of-ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facts</a>” episode, pointing out the flaws in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification for invasion. 
Shapiro began the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/facts-the-real-history-of-ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">episode</a>, released Saturday, by talking about Putin&#8217;s recent interview with Tucker Carlson, where Putin said that his reason for invading Ukraine was based on historical claims to the land. In the episode, Shapiro analyzes Putin’s claims and lines them up to the historic record.
“Putin&#8217;s claim is that Ukraine is inherently Russian territory,” Shapiro said. “That&#8217;s a claim that requires two pieces of support. First, the idea that Ukraine is historically Russian controlled and Russian populated. And second, that Ukraine today has no claim to its independence.”
Shapiro explained how a state formed in the late 9th century known as Kyivan Rus which included some of today’s Russia, today’s Belarus, and part of today’s Ukraine. This state lasted for about 300 years before it broke into a series of loose principalities.
After the Mongols destroyed the region in 1349, Poland and Lithuania partitioned the territory now known as Ukraine and the Ukrainian language began to develop. 
For the next several hundred years the area became entangled in a series of European and Russian conflicts with different parts of modern Ukraine being controlled by different powers. During this time a sense of Ukrainian nationalism began to develop, including in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia.  
After World War I, Ukraine was divided up between Russia and Poland, which was generally how things stood until the end of World War II when it became part of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union dissolved, it became independent in 1991.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712932862202000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0plT8RRdMy9XUpIhocnjQS">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“Those borders of Ukraine were essentially set until 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and occupied the Donbass region. So as you can see, the history of the region is pretty complicated,” Shapiro said. “A lot of moving borders, a lot of territorial claims. But Putin claims that because Ukraine&#8217;s borders have moved over time, because its territory and population was divided repeatedly, because Russia occupied some parts of Ukraine for some swaths of time, this means Ukraine has never existed.”
Shapiro noted that many Ukrainians have wished to maintain their independence despite Putin’s claims. 
“The Putin argument for the invasion of Kiev and the dissolution of Ukraine as an independent entity are not only wrong historically, they are highly likely to lead to continued bloodshed and warfare in the region,” Shapiro said.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The REAL History of Ukraine | Facts Ep. 11" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K3kKSa6Se5U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Facts Intro Still

WATCH: Ben Shapiro Explains Historical Flaws With Putin’s Argument For Invading Ukraine In Latest ‘Facts’

Ben Shapiro

U.S.

Ukraine

White House Press Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/karine-jean-pierre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karine Jean-Pierre</a> appeared to short-circuit during Wednesday&#8217;s briefing, struggling to come up with an answer when pressed on President Joe Biden&#8217;s decision not to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as previously promised.
Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy prefaced his question with a reminder that Biden had promised to refill the SPR, claiming that he was only draining it to compensate for the spike in gas prices that he had blamed on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
&#8220;First, the — so, you guys started draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try and help with ‘the Putin Price Hike’ a few years ago. Said you were going to refill it. But now it doesn&#8217;t seem like that&#8217;s happening. Why?&#8221; Doocy asked.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
DOOCY TIME: “First, the — so, you guys started draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try and help with ‘the Putin Price Hike’ a few years ago. Said You were going to refill it. But now it doesn&#39;t seem like that&#39;s happening. Why?”
KJP: “Well, from — I believe the Department… <a href="https://t.co/K5v77241lM">pic.twitter.com/K5v77241lM</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1775580441791103014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Jean-Pierre delivered a halting response, shifting responsibility to the Department of Energy and suggesting that the issue was not so much whether or not it would be refilled, but how that would eventually come about.
&#8220;Well, from — I believe the Department of Energy is — is responsible for — for that particular component — is refilling — refilling that, so I would refer to the Department of Energy. I know there are certain components to that and how they were going to move forward and refilling — refilling it. Uh — I — they would have had more specifics on that for you,&#8221; she said.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-nixes-plan-to-help-refill-strategic-petroleum-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reports broke</a> earlier on Wednesday stating that the Biden administration would not be refilling the SPR as originally planned, citing the high cost of oil as a barrier to getting that done.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Department of Energy has canceled its latest tender for crude oil for the replenishment of the strategic petroleum reserve after oil prices moved higher than the DoE is comfortable with.
Last month, the DoE purchased 2.8 million barrels at a price of $81 per barrel, which… <a href="https://t.co/PDu7IwP7or">pic.twitter.com/PDu7IwP7or</a>
&mdash; Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) <a href="https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1775534236646211929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We will not award the current solicitations for the Bayou Choctaw SPR site and will solicit available capacity as market conditions allow,&#8221; the Department of Energy said. &#8220;We will continue to monitor market dynamics.&#8221;
Daniel Turner, founder and executive director for Power The Future, released a statement on the move, saying, &#8220;[President] Joe Biden drained the SPR for political reasons, cut our domestic production for his climate agenda, and now he’s leaving our critical reserve more vulnerable because he’s incompetent. As a result, Americans are paying more at the pump, more at the grocery store and our SPR is less full during a time of rising turmoil in the Middle East.&#8221;

White House Press Briefing Held By Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

Karine Jean-Pierre Scrambles When Asked Why Biden Isn’t Moving Ahead With Plan To Refill Oil Reserves

Karine Jean-Pierre Scrambles When Asked Why Biden Isn't Moving Ahead With Plan To Refill Oil Reserves

Karine Jean-Pierre

Oil and Gas

Peter Doocy

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged this week that Islamic terrorists were behind the massacre at a concert hall that killed well over a hundred people.
Four terrorists armed with fully automatic weapons and explosives stormed the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow on Friday and opened fire on a sold out concert while simultaneously setting the building on fire.
At least 139 people have died from the attack and dozens more injured, according to figures released by the Russian government.
&#8220;We know that the crime was perpetrated by radical Islamists,&#8221; Putin said in an address on Monday.
The 71-year-old then suggested that Ukraine was somehow linked to the attack and that ISIS-K could not have carried out the attack alone because the &#8220;organization banned in Russia.&#8221;
Officials have warned that Putin will try to blame Ukraine for the attack to justify escalating his war against Ukraine.
The Russian government claimed that the terrorists tried to escape to Ukraine and suggested that there was an escape route opened for them by people inside the country — claims that have not been corroborated.
&#8220;It is also necessary to answer the question why the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine after committing a crime, who was waiting for them there?&#8221; Putin asked. &#8220;It is clear that those who support the Kyiv regime do not want to be accomplices of terror and sponsors of terrorism, but there are really a lot of questions.&#8221;
“We know by whose hands this atrocity was committed against Russia and its people, and we are interested in who the instigator is,” Putin added.
The intelligence services for the U.S. and France have both pointed to ISIS-K as the sole entity responsible for the attacks. ISIS-K took credit for the attack just a few hours after it happened.
The U.S. issued a public warning more than two weeks ago urging Americans in Moscow to avoid large crowds, especially concerts.
The U.S. government also reached out to the Russian government and warned them that ISIS-K was planning the attack.
“We gave them that private warning consistent with our duty to warn &#8230; when we see or when we gather intelligence of terrorist attacks or potential terrorist attacks,” a U.S. official said on Monday.
Russia failed to stop the attack.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-secretly-warned-iran-that-isis-was-plotting-terror-attack-iran-didnt-listen-and-dozens-were-murdered-report">U.S. Secretly Warned Iran That ISIS Was Plotting Terror Attack; Iran Didn’t Listen And Dozens Were Murdered</a>

RUSSIA-MOSCOW-CONCERT VENUE-SHOOTING

Putin Acknowledges Islamic Terrorists Carried Out Attack In Moscow

ISIS-K

Terrorism

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) brought his Halloween costume A-game to Wednesday morning&#8217;s House Oversight Committee hearing on President Joe Biden&#8217;s family and their business dealings.
The Florida congressman made his entrance wearing a rubber mask made to look like Russian President Vladimir Putin in an apparent nod to his party&#8217;s repeated insistence that Republicans  are spreading Russian disinformation to hurt Biden and help former President Donald Trump.
&#8220;As he arrives at House Oversight Committee’s latest hearing into Hunter Biden, Rep Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) wears Putin mask Democrats have accused GOP of perpetuating Russian disinformation,&#8221; CBS congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane captioned a photo of Moskowitz on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
As he arrives at House Oversight Committee’s latest hearing into Hunter Biden, Rep Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) wears Putin mask
Democrats have accused GOP of perpetuating Russian disinformation <a href="https://t.co/RrwDXzn4NE">pic.twitter.com/RrwDXzn4NE</a>
&mdash; Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1770449831690948777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When reporters asked Moskowitz to explain the mask, he said simply, &#8220;I just came to thank James Comer for taking all of our intelligence and using it in the committee, maybe he can come see the technology in our grocery stores. Thank you.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMoskowitz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMoskowitz</a> wears Putin mask to hearing on Biden Family Business Dealing <a href="https://t.co/jZdGcaImxO">pic.twitter.com/jZdGcaImxO</a>
&mdash; Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1770454244660785329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Moskowitz disappeared through the door, taking off the mask as he walked away, and did not answer when one reporter asked whether such behavior was &#8220;kind of immature.&#8221;
Democrats and media pundits have been working overtime in recent weeks to keep Russia in the headlines, claiming that a victory for Donald Trump in the 2024 election would play into Putin&#8217;s hands.
What they typically leave out is that fact that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/putin-on-who-he-wants-to-be-the-next-u-s-president-biden-typical-predictable-politician" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Putin is on record</a> as saying that he would have preferred former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to win the presidency in 2016 and would prefer to see President Joe Biden win reelection in 2024.
&#8220;He is a more experienced, predictable person, a politician of the old school,&#8221; Putin said of Biden. &#8220;But we will work with any U.S. president who the American people have confidence in.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1711032859554000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2P0xzacmznHQusvMgIAHpP">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Many Americans also believe that Putin — likely unsure of how a more unpredictable President Trump might have reacted — <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/597419-voters-believe-putin-wouldnt-have-invaded-ukraine-under-trump-logic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waited until Biden took office</a> to invade Ukraine.

Congressional Integrity Project Accuses MAGA Republicans Of Prioritizing An Impeachment Of President Biden Over Other Issues At A Press Event At The United States Capitol

Democrat Rep. Brings His Halloween A-Game To Oversight Committee Hearing

House Oversight Committee

Hunter Biden

Jared Moskowitz

Former President Donald Trump said during an interview over the weekend that he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin was &#8220;probably&#8221; involved in the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Trump made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Howard Kurtz on Fox News&#8217; &#8220;Media Buzz&#8221; when asked about Navalny&#8217;s mysterious death earlier this year inside a Russian prison.
&#8220;Do you believe Vladimir Putin has some responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny?&#8221; Kurtz asked Trump.
&#8220;I don’t know, but perhaps I mean, possibly I could say, &#8216;probably&#8217;,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I don’t know. He’s a young man, so statistically he’d be alive for a long time. If you go by the insurance numbers, he’d be alive for another 40 years. So something happened that was unusual.&#8221;
Kurtz noted how the Kremlin was accused of trying to poison Navalny in the past and that when he went back to Russia he was jailed — and following his death, officials would not release the body.
&#8220;How could anything like that happen without Putin and high ranking Kremlin officials sanctioning it?&#8221; Kurtz asked.
&#8220;Well, I don’t know, you certainly can’t say for sure, but certainly that would look like something very bad happened, right?&#8221; Trump responded.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Trump asked if he believes Putin is involved in the death of Navalny:
&#8220;Possibly. I could say probably. I don&#8217;t know. He&#8217;s a young man so statistically he&#8217;d be alive for a long time.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/md2FWUQt4v">pic.twitter.com/md2FWUQt4v</a>
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) <a href="https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1769403215907373087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a></blockquote>

Former President Donald Trump Speaks At Mar-a-Lago In Florida

Trump: Putin ‘Probably’ Involved In Navalny’s Death

Donald Trump

Fox News

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro revealed the top five things Americans need to know about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/russia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russia</a> in the latest episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/facts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facts</a>.”
In the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/facts-ep-9-five-things-you-don-t-know-about-russia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">episode</a>, which was released Saturday morning, Shapiro explained that Russia had been a focus of U.S. foreign policy for decades because of its proximity to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Shapiro noted that one of the key questions about Russia today is whether it is a country on the rise or a country declining. 
“From tsarist Russia to the Soviet Union to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Russia has been one of the great powers involved in nearly every major world event over the last two centuries,” Shapiro said. “But why does this matter?  Why should you care?”
The first fact to know about Russia, Shapiro said, is that it is struggling demographically as it deals with low birth rates and a low life expectancy — in part due to excessive alcoholism. Currently, more people die every year in Russia than are born as the fertility rate stays around 1.5 births per woman. 
Secondly, Russia is also floundering economically, having difficulty bouncing back after the 2008 recession. Many Russians live in poverty, with about one in five not having access to indoor plumbing. Russia’s economy is also held back by rampant corruption and disrespect for private property rights. 
The third fact to know about Russia, according to Shapiro, is that it has a military crisis as well. Its invasion of Ukraine has been costly as it has been estimated to have lost up to 300,000 men and there seems to be no end in sight for the war. 
“Russia’s military technology is antiquated compared to modern militaries – which is why Ukraine has been able to repel Russia’s invasion thus far. But Russia does have a long history of throwing bodies at military problems – from the Napoleonic Wars to World War II,” Shapiro said. 
Fourth, Shapiro said that Russia was a corrupt dictatorship that ranked as one of the lowest countries in the world for political freedom. 
“Russia’s government is not comparable to that of the United States, and any comparison between the two ought to be rejected out of hand. That is not a defense of the myriad problems with the U.S. government, ranging from the Department of Justice’s persecution of political opponents to the American government’s collusion with Big Tech to restrict informational flow. But Russia is in a completely different universe,” Shapiro said. 
Finally, Shapiro explained why Russia behaved the way it had on the global stage.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“The running theme of Russian history is a desire to be accepted as a great power on the world stage,” Shapiro said. “How far is Russia willing to go? Putin has forged solidarity with Brazilian far-Leftist Lula De Silva, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, the mullahs in Iran, and the leaders of terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and of course, the Chinese government.”
Shapiro ended by noting that taking a tougher approach to Russia worked better than a more softer approach. He pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not take any major territorial initiatives under former President Donald Trump, unlike former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden.
“So, is Russia a threat? Its interests have only rarely overlapped with those of the United States. And since geopolitics is in fact a zero sum game to the Russians, the answer is that Putin is very unlikely to suddenly moderate his plans in the face of Western conciliation,” he said.
WATCH: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="What’s Really Going on in Russia | Facts Ep. 10" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GNye8kCfh4Y?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;

Ben Shapiro Reveals Top Five Things Americans Need To Know About Russia In Latest ‘Facts’

As Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine continue to dominate political discourse and presidential agendas this election year, DailyWire+ announced on Wednesday the launch of “What We Saw: An Empire of Terror,” the latest iteration of its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/apollo-11-what-we-saw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">popular anthology docuseries</a> hosted by renowned storyteller Bill Whittle.
Now in its third season, the show’s newest episodes investigate the class-based genocide perpetrated by communist Soviets in the early 20th century under the reigns of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, unveiling a chilly reality of fear and violence.
The first episode of “What We Saw: An Empire of Terror” is now streaming on DailyWire+, with new episodes dropping weekly on Wednesdays.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/innocent-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH ‘WHAT WE SAW: AN EMPIRE OF TERROR’ ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Russia’s relationship with the United States has long been a complicated one, and though the countries have been allies at times, relations are again strained following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. To comprehend Putin’s motivations in the modern global landscape, Whittle guides viewers through Lenin and Stalin’s regimes, exploring the historical context that shaped the current Russian president’s behaviors.
“Putin wanted to join the KGB from the time he was a small child, but why? I can’t tell you what goes on in Putin’s head, no one can. I thought the next best thing was to show you the horror of what was in front of his eyes growing up,” Whittle says in episode 8.
Whittle&#8217;s core message of common sense and decency has earned him a devoted following among those who value reasoned thought, civil dialogue, and vigorous laughter. His powers of vivid storytelling, relentless logic, and self-deprecating humor join forces to apply time-tested principles in memorable ways.
“What We Saw” is an exclusive <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=na_subscriptions&amp;mid=g&amp;cid=dailywire&amp;xid=0&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAopuvBhBCEiwAm8jaMe6RmlPijLsp3ZTnuxrm6cvHV_fqd9ibYczyBD8MSDUCoQBzpdNGkhoC7QgQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire+</a> anthology series that presents pivotal historical events as a creative cinematic adventure. Subscribe now to watch the full Apollo 11 and Cold War seasons and catch new episodes of An Empire of Terror weekly on dailywireplus.com.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="What We Saw: ‘An Empire Of Terror’" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CM4FoHmSArs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Empire of Terror

DailyWire+ Launches ‘An Empire Of Terror,’ Third Installment Of Hit Docuseries ‘What We Saw’ Hosted By Bill Whittle

Communism

DailyWire+

Josef Stalin

Vladimir Lenin

Menu