Christopher Geary (Vladimir Putin) and Max Woertendyke (Mikhail Khodorkovsky) in the world premiere of “Kleptocracy” at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Credit: Courtesy C. Stanley Photography
World premiere at Arena Stage looks at the ruthless rise of the Russian president
You can’t get far in Washington, D.C., without someone bringing up Russian President Vladimir Putin and his efforts to interfere in U.S. democracy.
So there’s no more fitting venue than the nation’s capital for a world premiere about the rise of Putin from a KGB grunt to the most powerful man in post-Soviet Russia.
“Kleptocracy,” which opened this month at Arena Stage, charts that course largely through his rivalry with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who at the time controlled a Russian oil company but wanted to sell it to an American firm such as Exxon or Chevron — a move Putin saw as a threat to the Russian state.
The following article by Amy Brittain, Ashley Parker and Anu Narayanswamy was posted on the Washington Post website June 11, 2018:
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump collected tens of millions in outside income while serving in the White House last year. Credit: Michael Reynolds, EPA-EFE, Shutterstock
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, brought in at least $82 millionin outside income while serving as senior White House advisers during 2017, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday.
Trump earned $3.9 million from her stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington and more than $2 million in severance from the Trump Organization, while Kushner reported over $5 million in income from Quail Ridge, a Kushner Cos. apartment complex acquired last year in Plainsboro, NJ.
The following article by Dan Alexander of Forbes and Derek Kravitz was posted on the ProPublica website December 21, 2017:
Wendy Teramoto, the agency’s chief of staff, has maintained the investment in the wake of calls for an investigation.
This story was co-published with Forbes.
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross speaks during the Washington Conference on the Americas at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., on May 9. Ross’ chief of staff, Wendy Teramoto, was on the board of a company that did business with an entity partly owned by Putin allies, and still owns a stake in the company. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The chief of staff for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Wendy Teramoto, still owns a stake in a shipping company tied to associates of Vladimir Putin, despite the fact that her former role as a board member for the same company prompted six Senate Democrats to request an investigation into her apparent conflicts of interest last month.
“We have not been notified, nor are we aware, of a formal investigation by the inspector general,” Commerce Department spokesperson James Rockas said in a statement. “But we continue to answer any questions that are raised by department ethics officials or the inspector general.” The statement said that Teramoto has recused herself from any matters relating to her investments. (The same senators also requested an investigation of Ross, who initially retained an estimated $3.4 million stake in the company, Navigator Holdings, but has since sold it.) Continue reading “U.S. Commerce Official Still Holds Stake in Company Linked to Putin Associates”
The following article by Jesse Drucker and Audrey Carlsen was posted on the New York Times website December 22, 2017:
Highlighted areas show the parts of President Trump’s 2005 tax return that could have been affected by the new tax plan.
President Trump would save about $11 million on his taxes, if the new Republican tax overhaul were applied to his 2005 tax return, a New York Times analysis has found. The savings would be a roughly 30 percent cut. He would also save another $4.4 million on his eventual estate tax bill.
The following article by David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell was posted on the Washington Post website December 21, 2017:
A lawsuit dismissed Thursday challenged President Trump’s decision to hold onto his properties, including his Washington hotel. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that President Trump violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause because his hotels and restaurants do business with foreign governments while he is in office.
The plaintiffs argued that because Trump properties rent out hotel rooms and meeting spaces to other governments, the president was violating a constitutional provision that bans the acceptance of foreign emoluments, or gifts from foreign powers. Continue reading “Judge dismisses lawsuit alleging Trump violated Constitution”
The following article by Medea Benjamin was posted on the AlterNet website November 15, 2017:
Photo Credit: Willrow Hood / Shutterstock.com
On Wednesday, November 8, just as President Trump was clinching new business deals with the repressive Communist government of China, the Trump administration announced its new rules rolling back President Obama’s opening with Cuba. The new regulations restricting travel and trade with the Caribbean island will make it once again illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba without a special license from the Treasury Department and will dramatically reduce the number of Americans traveling there.
The regulations, which include a list of 180 banned entities, are supposed to punish hotels, stores and other businesses tied to the Cuban military and instead direct economic activity toward businesses controlled by regular Cuban citizens. But during our visit to the island on a 40-person delegation organized by the peace group CODEPINK, we found that Cuba’s small private businesses, the very sector that the Trump administration wants to encourage, are already feeling the blow. Continue reading “While Clinching Deals With Communist China, Trump Cracks Down on Trade and Travel to Cuba”
The following article by Drew Harwell, Annie Gowen and Swati Gupta was posted on the Washington Post website November 26, 2017:
An Indian man asks for money in Hyderabad, India, on Nov. 13. Authorities in the city are rounding up homeless ahead of a visit by Ivanka Trump. (Mahesh Kumar A./Associated Press)
When Ivanka Trump leads a U.S. delegation to southern India this week, the president’s daughter will use her official role as a White House adviser to promote female entrepreneurship and economic power.
But looming over her visit will be an uncomfortable question that Trump’s company has refused to answer: What are the work conditions for laborers in India who have pieced together clothes for her fashion line?
Trump has called for more support for working women around the world, but she has remained silent about the largely female garment workforce in India and other Asian countries that makes her clothing.
The following article by Cristina Maza of Newsweek was posted on the National Memo website November 19, 2017:
During the many government investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential elections, President Donald Trump has insisted he doesn’t have business dealings with Russia.
“I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia,” the president said in February.
But that doesn’t mean that Russians are investing in Trump. In fact, at least 63 Russian elites and oligarchs have invested around $100 million into Trump-brand real estate in southern Florida, a Reuters investigationrevealed. In the Florida resort town of Sunny Isles Beach, an area with the highest number of Russian-born residents in the U.S., the Trump brand has six residential towers. Continue reading “These Russian Oligarchs Are Making Donald Trump Rich”
The following article by David A. Fahrenthold, Lori Rozsa and Drew Harwell was posted on the Washington Post website November 18, 2017:
After a flood of charity events left Mar-a-Lago, pro-Trump groups are trying to make up the lost business. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Scott McIntyre/The Washington Post)
In years past, the Mar-a-Lago Club’s White and Gold Ballroom hosted some of the finest events of Palm Beach’s gilded winter season. Charity luncheons at $750 a plate. Quartets playing Mozart. Ambassadors in white tie and tails at the Red Cross Ball.
