Investigation: Putin's Mistress Living The Good Life

One of the more interesting revelations of the "Pandora Papers" (see Monday Reading below) is the story of the now-wealthy purported mistress of Russian autocrat thug Vladimir Putin, who lives in the luxurious surroundings of Monaco:

"There is little about the humble background of Svetlana Krivonogikh to indicate that she had the means to acquire property overlooking this playground for the world’s elite. The Russian woman reportedly grew up in a crowded communal apartment in St. Petersburg, and held jobs that included cleaning a neighborhood shop.

But previously undisclosed financial records combined with local tax documents show that Krivonogikh, 46, became the owner of the apartment in Monaco through an offshore company created just weeks after she gave birth to a girl. The child was born at a time when, according to a Russian media report last year, she was in a secret, years-long relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin." (our emphasis)

She bought the Monaco unit in 2003 for $4.1 million, which has to have appreciated at least double that by now. There's also this little Putin "dividend":

"Krivonogikh has not spoken about her alleged relationship with Putin or her remarkable accumulation of wealth.

But her daughter, who turned 18 this year and goes by the name Luiza Rozova, has fueled speculation about her paternity in interviews, capitalizing on the attention to build a growing online following. In pictures, Rozova bears a striking resemblance to the Russian president, and she has acknowledged that likeness even while refusing to confirm or deny that Putin is her father."  (our emphasis) 

Previous investigations (e.g. the Panama Papers) have exposed Putin as an obscenely wealthy kleptocrat who has siphoned billions from the Russian treasury and from payoffs from subservient Russian oligarchs. This further fleshes out the image of him as someone on the take and feathering his nest, and a love nest at that.

(photo: Wink wink )

Another Putin Assassination Victim?

Mikhail Lesin was found in the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, DC  on the morning of November 5, 2015, dead from a blunt force trauma injury to his head. He'd been drinking heavily and the initial report of his demise suggested that he had fallen in a drunken stupor and hit his head. What makes this almost forgotten story intriguing is that Lesin was once Russian thug Vladimir Putin's media czar, founder of Russia Today (RT), and someone who had fallen out of favor with the Kremlin. The DC Metropolitan Police issued a report in 2017 that was heavily redacted and that relied on witnesses to his bout of drinking in the hours leading up to his death.

On February 13, 2019, a District of Columbia judge ordered the DC Medical Examiner's office to release the autopsy report and related documents on Lesin's death under a Freedom of Information suit by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. The report and documentation could lead to evidence that Lesin was murdered on the Kremlin's orders because of indications that he was close to leaking information about Russian money laundering and corruption. His suspicious death was also noted in the Steele dossier as a likely Putin-ordered assassination.

The linked AP article notes a disturbing fact: that two hours of security video are missing immediately after Lesin was last seen alive at the Dupont Circle Hotel, among other things:

"Yet there is intrigue surrounding the case, fed by circumstantial evidence: It seems odd for someone Lesin’s age to die of blunt force trauma while alone in a room. There is also a gap in security video footage for the hours after Lesin was last seen alive. The police report eventually released to the public has been heavily redacted.

Above all, there is a long history of high-profile Russians turning up dead or seriously ill in foreign countries. In 2006, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died a few weeks after being dosed with a radioactive isotope in London; and in March 2018, former Russian spy turned double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia narrowly escaped death after being dosed with a nerve agent in the English city of Salisbury." (our emphasis)

Reopening this investigation will likely draw opposition from Russia and their asset, sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump, but it's necessary to get to the truth behind this suspicious death.

(photo: TASS. Putin and Mikhail Lesin in friendlier times)

What The Kremlin Wanted To Trade

In 2012, Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, named for a Russian lawyer who was pursuing a massive tax fraud scandal involving the Kremlin hierarchy and major oligarchs, most of whom are tied to Russian organized crime. Sergei Magnitsky was arrested on bogus charges, imprisoned by the officials he was investigating, and died following denial of medical treatment and beatings. Eighteen individuals linked to Russian kleptocrat and killer Vladimir "Vlad The Invader" Putin, who were identified as being responsible for Magnitsky's arrest and death, were sanctioned under the Act. Putin was furious at the passage of the act, and terminated adoptions of Russian children by U.S. families in retaliation. The Magnitsky Act remains a major issue for Putin, who wants himself and his cronies out from under the sanctions it imposes.

Forward to June 2016 and to oily Donald "Uday" Trump, Jr. the shady son of con man and sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump. His recently disclosed meeting with a Russian mob lawyer to get dirt on Dem candidate Hillary Clinton was the Rump half of the story. The Russian lawyer he met with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, represents a major figure in the Magnitsky scandal, Denis Katsyv, a high-ranking Russian official who owns a real estate company that is being investigated by the Justice Department for money laundering millions of dollars of the aforementioned tax fraud funds into New York real estate (including Rump's properties?). Veselnitskaya herself has been a central figure in lobbying for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act.

So what was the desired trade? Uday wanted dirt on Hillary from Russian officials. In exchange, the lawyer wanted a commitment that a Rump Administration would work to repeal the Magnitsky Act, and if that came to pass, the Kremlin would provide relief on the orphan adoptions, which was initially what Uday said the Russian lawyer was meeting about. Ultimately, Uday indicated that the dirt that he sought wasn't up to his standards and the meeting ended.

BONUS: To understand how this all fits into a larger picture, Michael Tomasky and Jonathan Chait have provided timelines. Good reads.