...as noted in the introduction to 2018's "The /Other/ Russia Story":
I've been meaning to tell some of the story of the "S" boys: Summers, Steyer and Shleifer, in serial form but here Mr. Warsh sketches an overview that I couldn't match.We posted the Spiegel story on November 28th. Here's the follow-up, from Der Spiegel, December 17:
No one who was investing in Russia during that time-period has clean hands, no one, including Mr. Browder who hit the newswires earlier today....
Accusation from Investor Bill Browder Why DER SPIEGEL Stands Behind Its Magnitsky Reporting
Former investor Bill Browder has
accused DER SPIEGEL of having incorrectly represented the circumstances
surrounding the death of the Russian Sergei Magnitsky. DER SPIEGEL
rejects the criticism for the reasons we have outlined below.
On Nov. 23, DER SPIEGEL reported on the background of the so-called Magnitsky sanctions (the English report was published on Nov. 26). The sanctions, applied by the U.S. and others to Russian officials, are largely based on depictions provided by the former investor Bill Browder and are related to the fate of his employee Sergei Magnitsky.....MUCH MORE
Magnitsky died in 2009 in a Moscow prison under circumstances that haven't been completely clarified. Browder claims that Magnitsky was murdered because he had uncovered a tax scandal. The report from DER SPIEGEL describes the inconsistencies in Browder's version of events and demonstrates that he is unable to present sufficient proof for his claims.
Browder has now gone public with his complaints about the DER SPIEGEL story in the form of a letter to the newsmagazine's editor-in-chief in addition to a complaint filed with the German Press Council. In his letter, he accuses DER SPIEGEL of having misrepresented the facts.
We believe his complaint has no basis and would like to review why we have considerable doubts about Browder's story and why we felt it necessary to present those doubts publicly. The English text of the original story can be found here, and the paywall has been removed from the German version, which can be read here. In addition, you will find links below to some of the sources that we relied on in our reporting.
The English version of the original story did contain one error that has now been corrected. Due to a translation error, the English story said that the use of a rubber baton was recorded in a 2009 report. In fact, this information was only mentioned in a separate report from 2011. The German version did not contain this error.
There is no doubt that Magnitsky suffered a terrible death. As was mentioned in the original DER SPIEGEL story, he was "the victim of a terrible injustice." We also believe it is fitting to speak of "merciless negligence," due to the withholding of urgently necessary medical treatment. The "use of a rubber baton" is likewise beyond dispute. Nowhere in the story does DER SPIEGEL seek to exonerate the Russian state for Magnitsky's death. Rather, the story seeks to bring to light the inconsistencies, contradictions and unproven claims in the story that Browder has been telling Western governments for years -- a story that became the basis for Western sanctions against Russian officials.
Browder's account of the events surrounding Sergei Magnitsky's death is made up of several key elements....
This was our link to the November story:
The Case of Sergei Magnitsky: "Questions Cloud Story Behind U.S. Sanctions"
Back in March 8's "Death in Monaco" we intro'd with:
I have a suspicion we will be hearing more about Mr. Safra and Russia and some of his non-Russian associates as 2019 unfolds.Although it is cutting it a bit close on the '2019' time frame, here is one of Mr. Safra's associates.....
Whether or not that comes to pass this is a good story well told....
This stuff is definitely a rabbit hole as well as a "wilderness of mirrors" so it is tough to tell exactly who is telling the truth, and to what end.
I did check that the Magnitsky story wasn't by Der Spiegel's fantabulist and serial fabricator Claas Relotius but it's not. The Germans fired him and he remains fired.
Additionally, the magazine seems to have some pretty solid documentary stuff on Magnitsky and Browder.
And then there is Mr. Browder's known reluctance to testify under oath about these matters although he seems willing to do so on other topics.
Additionally, the magazine seems to have some pretty solid documentary stuff on Magnitsky and Browder.
And then there is Mr. Browder's known reluctance to testify under oath about these matters although he seems willing to do so on other topics.
One thing that's always intrigued me is: If, as Mr. Browder says, he is Putin's "Enemy #1" and if, as he further claims, Putin wants him dead, Why isn't he dead?
Here's some interesting reading entitled "SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: INTERVIEW OF: GLENN SIMPSON".
Yes, that Glenn Simpson.
In it we read a story that begins on page 42 of the transcript, Simpson talking about Browder:
.
.
1 ...He was willing to, you know, hand stuff off to the
2 DOJ anonymously in the beginning and cause them to
3 launch a court case against somebody, but he wasn't
4 interesting [sic] in speaking under oath about, you know,
4 interesting [sic] in speaking under oath about, you know,
5 why he did that, his own activities in Russia.
6 So looking at the public record we determined
7 that he did come to the United States frequently,
8 and I discovered through public records that he
9 seemed to own a house in Aspen, Colorado, a very
10 expensive mansion, over $10 million, which he had
11 registered in the name of a shell company in a
12 clear attempt to disguise the ownership of the
13 property. We were able to ascertain that he does
14 use that property because he registered cars to
15 that property with the Colorado DMV in the name of
16 William Browder.
16 William Browder.
17 So we began looking for public information
18 about when he might be in Aspen, Colorado, and I
19 found a listing on the Aspen Institute Website
20 about an appearance he was going to make there in
21 the summer of 2014. So we -- I served him a
21 the summer of 2014. So we -- I served him a
22 subpoena in the parking lot of the Aspen Institute
23 in the summer of 2014 using two people -- two
23 in the summer of 2014 using two people -- two
24 subcontractors. Actually, those other
25 subcontractors were -- their names escape me, but I
.
.
page 43
1 forgot about those. We can get you that. This is
2 all in the Pacer court record, the public court
3 record.
4 In any event, the three of us served -- there
5 was another subcontractor working for the law firm
6 whose name I also forget. I did not retain him,
7 but I was asked to work with him on this. He is a
8 private investigator and we can get you his name.
9 In any event, we served him the subpoena and he ran
10 away. He dropped it on the ground and he ran away.
11 He jumped in his car and went back to his mansion.
12 At that point he tried to suppress -- tried
13 to quash the subpoena on the grounds it hadn't been
14 properly served. We didn't get a video, but there
15 are sworn affidavits from my servers in the court
16 record about the service. But he objected to it on
17 a number of grounds. A, he continued to insist he
18 had nothing to do with the United States and didn't
19 come here very often even, though we caught him
20 here, clearly has cars in Colorado. He also said
21 that you can't serve a subpoena for a case in
22 New York in the state of Colorado, it's outside the
23 primary jurisdiction. He also began to raise
24 questions about whether Baker Hostetler had a
25 conflict of interest because of some previous work...
.
So I'm thinking, if Glenn Simpson was able to find Mr. Browder without too much effort, the Russian FSB or GRU or whoever probably could as well, if they really wanted to, ya know?
So I'm thinking, if Glenn Simpson was able to find Mr. Browder without too much effort, the Russian FSB or GRU or whoever probably could as well, if they really wanted to, ya know?
