Josh Rudolph @JoshRudes Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Josh Rudolph

@JoshRudes

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Senior Fellow & Head of Transatlantic Democracy Working Group @gmfus ; Alum @SecureDemocracy , @USAID , @IMFNews , @WHNSC , @USTreasury , @jpmorgan , @Harvard , @babson

Washington, DC

https://t.co/6ByOvSF8ll

Joined March 2010

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

8 months

Even as Ukrainian generals and soldiers fight to expel Russian invaders, a second army of state bureaucrats and civil society experts in Kyiv has been quietly mobilizing to win the peace. Two new reports from @gmfus , @brdo_ukraine , @IAAUkraine , & @RISE_Ukraine_ map these actors.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

5 years

. @washingtonpost has been "reliably told" that Trump is intentionally withholding a White House visit and US military aid "in an attempt to extort" the Ukrainian government into "intervening in the 2020 US presidential election" by investigating Joe Biden.

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Josh Rudolph

8 months

Trump lying today about aid to Ukraine: “I think Europe has to do more. We’re in for $200 billion. They’re in for $25 billion.” The real numbers are $75 billion (€70 billion) from the US and $166 billion (€156 bil.) from Europe. Correct every politician who repeats this lie.

@Ch_Trebesch

Christoph Trebesch

8 months

📢 New update of our Ukraine Support Tracker. The big news: Europe overtakes the US by a large margin (total EU now 2x US). If we add UK, NOR, CH, then US commitments are only 45% of Europe’s (€70 bn vs €156 bn). This is a major shift compared to first year of war. A thread 1/7

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

@ianbremmer Sounds like @elonmusk did what George Logan (pacifist farmer turned commentator) did in 1798 amid war with France: Talk privately to the hostile gov’t, then suggest to Americans a plan for peace (as the USG was trying to project strength). Congress outlawed it w/ the Logan Act.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

BOOM— @WhiteHouse publishes the first-ever US government strategy on countering corruption! It's two weeks ahead of Biden's 200-day deadline, impressively broad in scope, and powerfully strong in details, setting a fierce tone for the #SummitforDemocracy !

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Josh Rudolph

4 years

Buried lede: US intelligence analysts picked up chatter last month that emails like those revealed yesterday by the NYPost would be leaked in October, having been stolen by the same GRU unit that hacked the DNC. One worry was Russia would mix in forgeries.

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Allegation on Biden Prompts Pushback From Social Media Companies (Published 2020)

Joe Biden’s campaign rejected assertions made in a published report that were based on unverified material from Trump allies. Facebook and Twitter found the story dubious enough to limit access to it...

www.nytimes.com

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Josh Rudolph

7 months

Putin is laughing. Gaetz had his fun. Now Ukraine’s friends among House Republicans should launch a counteroffensive by insisting that the next House Speaker allow a vote on $90 billion of Ukraine aid with strong oversight and accountability provisions. 🧵

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Time to go big on Ukraine aid

Russian President Vladimir Putin caught a lucky break this week. Just when he was planning to use his spy agencies to weaken U.S. support for Ukraine, far-right U.S. lawmakers advanced that mission…

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

11 months

NEW REPORT: Ukraine is halfway through a hero’s journey with a dual conflict against Russia and oligarchy. Ukrainian anti-corruption is vital to the rules-based order. @NormEisen , Cameron Bertron, and I offer 25 ways stakeholders in that order can help. 🧵

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Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Front

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

#LetterFromTwitterJail : Just spoke with my friend @apmassaro3 . He's in contact with @Twitter , which is trying to get him to delete this tweet. He refuses, citing a moral duty to Iranian pro-democracy activists who are in (or have been in or have loved ones in) real Iranian jails.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

4 years

@adamdavidson I'd add two data points suggesting Russian cultivation may have ramped up in 2011: 1. Trump said in March 2011 he may run for president, then heavily propagated birtherism. 2. Chris Steel heard from two sources in June 2016 Russia had been supporting Trump for at least 5 years.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

Boom—Treasury's FinCEN issues America's first-ever national anti-money laundering priorities, and priority #1 is corruption! 👏👏👏 Treasury also guided banks to watch for cybercrime and domestic terrorism and deemphasized the Trump-era focus on WMDs. 📜

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

Wow— @USTreasury rolls out its biggest ever package of corruption sanctions (65 people/entities), including Bulgaria's richest oligarch (& most infamous gangster) and a media tycoon investigated by the OCCRP (& his front man) and all their companies. 👏👏👏

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

One of these guys rules a regime that actually tried to murder people he tagged in the tweet below (which has still not been taken down by Twitter). The other guy is banned from Twitter.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

7 months

🇮🇱🇺🇦🇹🇼🇺🇸 Congress should elevate national security above partisan politics by enacting aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and the US border. 🧵 My latest in @thehill : "Time to Be the Arsenal of Democracy"

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Time to be the arsenal of democracy

The quotes that got the most attention in President Joe Biden’s remarks on Tuesday about the terrorist attacks in Israel referred to “evil.” But the line with the most important policy foreshadowin…

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

5 years

Brexit delay brings an opportunity to get to the truth about who funded the 2016 referendum before implementing its results. My latest on dark Russian money with @AtlanticCouncil .

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

11 months

@iarnsdorf That’s not a public service announcement. That’s a crime. And the lesson of the day is that the law applies to all Americans.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

4 years

Today's bombshell from the #FinCENFiles —that a sanctioned Kremlin oligarch funneled $8 million in 2016 to a top Tory party donor—is the tip of the iceberg. In today's FT, I explain that over 100 such cases add up to $300 million, mostly in the past 5 years.

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The rise of the foreign funds that distort western politics

Covert Russian and Chinese money is playing an ever increasing role

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Treasury just issued this media advisory on @TreasuryDepSec 's speech at 10am Monday, which will unveil Treasury's anti-corruption plans. They're banging the war drum. The strength of Treasury policies depends a lot on the details, so here's a thread reviewing my recommendations.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

4 years

For everyone tracking Lev Parnas’s trail of Russian money, here's a summary of his known cashflows: He seemingly got over $2 million from pro-Kremlin sources and spent it on access to US politicians and lawyers involved in the effort to acquire dirt on a leading 2020 candidate.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

Thank you @AshaRangappa_ & everyone else on our task force who helped @jessbrandt & me develop this research. With Russian interference having been actively welcomed in the 2016 & 2020 elections, foreign adversaries will be back in 2024. Now it's time to outlaw US participation.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

4 years

Authoritarians have spent more than $300 million interfering in politics more than 100 times in 33 countries over the past decade. We bucketed the cases into the top 7 legal loopholes and consulted 90+ experts to craft targeted policy fixes. New Report:

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

Boom—Biden establishes anticorruption as a core US national security interest and orders his advisors to lead an interagency review on the fight against corruption. This is Biden's first such presidential study, National Security Study Memorandum-1! 👏👏👏

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

“50 years after the election of 2022, what a historian is likely to say about this election isn’t how high the inflation rate was, [but rather,] ‘why was democracy teetering on the edge in 2022 and what happened after that?’”— @BeschlossDC to @PreetBharara

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History & Hypocrisy (with Michael Beschloss) - CAFE

Michael Beschloss is a historian of the American presidency, and has written ten books on the subject. He is also the NBC News Presidential Historian, and host of Fireside History on Peacock....

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

The most deserved pardon of the season! This is the one of the strongest laws against financial secrecy in American history. In my view (and if Treasury writes bold regs), it’s even more important than the Patriot Act, best law of its kind since Bank Secrecy Act passage in 1970.

@cjcmichel

Casey Michel

3 years

Pardon the all-caps, but the Senate's veto override today means that the U.S. A) just eliminated the primary building block in America's transformation into an offshore haven, and B) passed the most sweeping counter-kleptocracy reforms in decades—potentially ever.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

It's esp. focused on the transnational dimensions and ability to launder the proceeds of corruption (pillar 2⃣ is the most important), but it's a whole-of-government strategy with five pillars: 1⃣ US government 2⃣ Illicit finance 3⃣ Accountability 4⃣ Multilateral 5⃣ Foreign aid

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

2⃣ Curbing illicit finance This is the big one, folks. Beyond just the statutorily required regs on beneficial ownership, they're issuing new regs for real estate, re-examining AML rules for investment advisors, and working with Congress on legislation like the ENABLERS Act!

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

@Susan_Hennessey Something tells me he’s running a very specific domestic political errand that’s meant to be completed before noon on Wednesday.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

In sum, the breadth of this @WhiteHouse strategy—especially with the details in the appendix and more announcements coming from the agencies all week ( @USTreasury today, @USAID tomorrow, etc)—makes it the most sweeping anti-corruption policy initiative in American history. 👏👏👏

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

The Biden White House will seek to counter kleptocracy. Congress is outlawing anonymous shell companies. Now @USTreasury should plan to root out dirty money and take on oligarchs. Our new report proposes a sweeping @USTreasury anti-corruption strategy. 🧵

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Treasury's War on Corruption

Treasury's War on Corruption

securingdemocracy.gmfus.org

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

Maybe the “Pillar of Shame” (the memorial to Tiananmen that’s stood at @HKUniversity since 1997) belongs in front of the Chicago headquarters of @Mayer_Brown , the US law firm hired to carry out the repressive national security law by demanding it come down.

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Josh Rudolph

1 year

At @gmfus today, we published a paper we've been researching for seven months on how donors should coordinate a Marshall Plan for Ukraine. @NormEisen & I wrote the chapter on anti-corruption, proposing five ways to ensure transparency & accountability. 🧵

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Toward a Marshall Plan for Ukraine

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

@DavidSacks You’re suggesting Ukraine give up enormous initiative while Russia regroups. Concrete suggestions: Stop assuming success as a tech entrepreneur lends itself to geopolitics or military strategy. Stop suggesting how much of Ukraine belongs to Ukraine. It’s for Ukraine to decide.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

Strong move for the USG to disclose this information, showing how the aggressive approach to declassifying Kremlin covert ops—which worked well in the run-up to the war in Ukraine—can be broadly extended to informing voters of assaults on democracy. 👏👏👏

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

1⃣ Elevating efforts across the US government This puts @USTreasury , @StateDept , @CommerceGov , @USAID , @TheJusticeDept , and @ODNIgov on the hook to dedicate more resources and stand up coordinating bodies to raise their game on fighting transnational corruption.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

1 year

SDNY is investigating possible laundering of Kremlin-linked financial aid to Trump Media. When Trump's social media firm urgently needed cash to stay afloat in late 2021, it was wired $8m via obscure Caribbean entities tied to Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov.

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Federal investigators examined Trump Media for possible money laundering, sources say

New York prosecutors expanded criminal inquiry of company last year and examined acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties

www.theguardian.com

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

If a bill to facilitate voting, limit partisan gerrymandering, require campaign finance transparency, restore campaign fin. enforcement, and mandate paper ballots is only on the agenda of one political party, that doesn’t make it partisan. It makes the other party antidemocratic.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

“Today, OFAC identified accounting, trust and corporate formation, and mgmt. consulting…as services…subject to a prohibition on the export, reexport, sale, or supply…from the U.S., or by a U.S. person, wherever located, to any person located in…Russia.”

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U.S. Treasury Takes Sweeping Action Against Russia’s War Efforts

Designations Include Financial Executives, Weapons Manufacturer, and State-Controlled Television Stations New Prohibitions Ban Services Critical to Russia’s Wartime Effort WASHINGTON – Today, the...

home.treasury.gov

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

7 months

If you're a friend of Ukraine watching the House speaker's race, you want to see three headlines: 1⃣ No floor vote (meaning no Republican has 217 votes without Democrats) 2⃣ No Jim Jordan 3⃣ More public insistence on Ukraine aid (⬇️) than we've seen yet

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Time to go big on Ukraine aid

Russian President Vladimir Putin caught a lucky break this week. Just when he was planning to use his spy agencies to weaken U.S. support for Ukraine, far-right U.S. lawmakers advanced that mission…

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Let's go through this one in detail, given it's the most powerful pillar. On real estate, the appendix in the back says Treasury will issue regulations with reporting requirements for those with valuable info on real estate transactions. That's very impressive in its breadth!

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

Putin's attitude toward Ukraine is like a man who beats his wife, and then long after she divorces him, he breaks through restraining orders to shout some madness about their historic unity making them one person.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

4 years

Counterintel question #1 arising from Trump’s taxes was: “To whom does he owe $421 million?” Now we have question #2 : “Who secretly funneled him over $21 million through a Las Vegas hotel and various shell companies when he was strapped for cash in 2016?”

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Sure enough, this morning Treasury issued a notice of proposed rulemaking aiming to extend the ownership reporting obligations that title insurers currently face under GTOs to be permanent, nationwide, with no threshold, and include commercial real estate.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Some personal news: I'm honored to join @USAID 's Anti-Corruption Task Force for the next six months as senior policy fellow. Feeling humbled and fortunate to get to work with and learn from world class pros at @USAID , @SecureDemocracy , and all you here. 🙏

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

Let's start with what @IanTalley and @dnvolz reported last night, which is that in addition to sanctions, Treasury will be taking actions this week to increase the transparency of corporate ownership and close loopholes in the real estate market.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

This is totally unacceptable—US platforms aiding autocracy w/ new moves while people are voting. The US executive branch won’t want to respond heavy handedly, which could play into election interference whataboutism. This is a job for Congress. Start by announcing hearings now.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Importantly though, Treasury's notice also invites comments on going further, either by including others (like lawyers, realtors, escrow agents, etc.) in the reporting requirement or by imposing full AML obligations (CDD, SARs, etc.) on them. We've been waiting 20 years for that!

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

This is the risk-based approach that could change the world of dirty money. Whereas sanctions are like whack-a-mole, this is a way for the US gov't to send US financial institutions the bat signal about what risks to prioritize, rather than focusing only on technical compliance.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

But this is a big move, Biden's strongest concrete step yet to root the proceeds of corruption out of the US financial system. Kleptocrats and oligarchs be warned: American bankers have just been regulatorily required to keep an eye out for your dirty money. 🔚

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

7 months

@mattia_n Great to see all this reporting that the Senate and White House now want to go big on Ukraine aid! Here’s my op-ed from Friday recommending $90 billion and suggesting a way to integrate it into the House Speaker’s race. “Time to Go Big on Ukraine Aid”

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Time to go big on Ukraine aid

Russian President Vladimir Putin caught a lucky break this week. Just when he was planning to use his spy agencies to weaken U.S. support for Ukraine, far-right U.S. lawmakers advanced that mission…

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

If you want to know why Roman Abramovich is suing @CatherineBelton , read the biggest bombshell—confirmed by three sources—in her landmark book, "Putin's People." ⬇️ To see how this was a London replay of an operation in Russia's far east, buy the book. ➡️

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@lukeharding1968

Luke Harding

@lukeharding1968

3 years

Russian oligarch Roman #Abramovich is taking legal action in London against @harperbooks and @CatherineBelton over her acclaimed book ' #Putin 's People: How the #KGB Took Back #Russia and then took on the West". Statement from Chelsea FC here:

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

Boom—bipartisan group of 38 lawmakers sends House appropriators this letter urging them to "significantly increase funding for FinCEN for FY22 ... to cost-effectively combat the illicit financial transactions that underlie a broad range of threats to US national security." 👏👏👏

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

7 months

This news out of Kyiv today is just as important as ATACMS but will get far less international attention because it sounds technical and boring. The parliament just adopted an anti-corruption measure (lifelong PEP status) that meets the last big precondition for EU accession. 🧵

@G7AmbReformUA

G7AmbReformUA

7 months

G7 Ambassadors welcome the Rada’s adoption of the legislation on politically exposed persons. The legislation is an important step in the fight against corruption, further integration with the EU, and securing a democratic and prosperous future for 🇺🇦

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Boom— @POTUS opens the #SummitforDemocracy by unveiling his Initiative for Democratic Renewal—a plan to invest $424mn in a flotilla of 29 funds/programs to support independent media, anticorruption, democratic reformers, free internet, & electoral integrity!

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Fact Sheet: Announcing the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal | The White House

“In the face of the sustained and alarming challenges to democracy and universal human rights around the world, more than ever, democracy needs champions.” President Joe Biden, December 9, 2021...

www.whitehouse.gov

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

1 year

@catecadell @SecureDemocracy Good thread. Should probably acknowledge though that extreme surveillance cuts both ways. Yes, it greatly raises the cost of protest. But it also fuels the desire to protest and to make it about more than just Covid. People seem sick of intrusion into every aspect of their lives.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

3⃣ Accountability The news headline here is that the admin. is launching a host of new programs at @USTreasury , @StateDept (working with partner democracies to fight safe haven!), & @USAID (global accountability program!) to hold crooks accountable, going well beyond sanctions!

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

Today, Treasury's FinCEN strongly delivered. They listed corruption first and opened with a discussion of Biden's presidential study on corruption and several channels through which it threatens US national security.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

5 years

ALERT: Money that was made in Russia and is controlled by a billionaire with ties to sanctioned Russian oligarchs is now actively flowing into the U.S. 2020 election, and we're not having a thoughtful public debate over whether or not this is an acceptable risk for our democracy.

@bellingcat

Bellingcat

5 years

Hey, about Len Blavatnik's money — it's really getting around! @cjcmichel on the billionaire's political contributions in the U.S.:

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

So now that he's sanctioned for bribery and influence peddling, if Delyan Peevski demands that his D.C. lobbyists at BGR Group repay the $180k he gave them since the November election to work out "issues in the US," they wouldn't even be allowed to oblige.

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Bulgaria's 'Oligarch In Chief' Taps Washington Lobby Firm Following Critical Report

One of Bulgaria’s most powerful businessmen has hired a top Washington lobby firm amid accusations he is undermining democracy and inflaming corruption in the East European nation.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

While it had been reported recently that Treasury was looking at real estate regs (although not nearly that broad), Treasury will also re-examine the 2015 draft rule for investment advisors and they're open to expanding it to cover private placement funds offered by the firms. 👍

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

I wrote four months ago about how this report is statutorily due today and will be the only chance within the four-year term to put Biden's stamp on US AML priorities, so even at this busy time for FinCEN they need to work quickly and emphasize corruption.

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Josh Rudolph

10 months

The silver lining to the rapid pace at which Musk is destroying the remaining equity value of Twitter is that the lenders will probably take over and oust him just in time for new management to rebuild it as a somewhat responsible information space going into the 2024 election.

@chafkin

Max Chafkin

10 months

Others have pointed this out, but this renaming is stepping on the exact same rake that got him ousted by PayPal. Wrote about this in my book

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

But the best part of the release is the overall commitment to targeting corruption. Today's words and actions from @USTreasury OFAC are a strong way to say happy #UNGASS2021 week. Read more below about how the fight against corruption needs economists.

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The Fight Against Corruption Needs Economists

The U.S. Treasury Department must make it a priority.

www.foreignaffairs.com

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

@ScottMStedman I wrote up this argument in FP earlier this year (although I said double it to start) and I’m told this piece was helpful for getting the administration to request a 50% increase (which the House has now passed and it’s sitting w/ Senate appropriators). 🤞

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Congress Can Do Better to Fight Weaponized Corruption

An understaffed agency vital to U.S. security desperately needs a bigger budget.

foreignpolicy.com

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Beyond real estate and investment advisors, the administration wants to work with Congress to secure additional authorities covering lawyers, accountants, TCSPs, and others (left image). In all but name, this is a Biden administration endorsement of the ENABLERS Act (right img)!

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

“Autocrats and oligarchs often employ a crude but effective tactic to kill stories they don’t like: they sue reporters.” @PowerUSAID announces, “we are launching a global Defamation Defense Fund to protect journalists against lawsuits that are designed to deter them.” 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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@USAID

USAID

3 years

Read Administrator @PowerUSAID 's remarks on her Vision for Global Development:

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

@FridaGhitis Heroic civil disobedience over lunch.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

Announcing plans to do this was a key recommendation of my report on enablers: And it was recommended last week by @FACTCoalition , @IllicitFlows , and @transparencyUSA : That re-examination should include six expansions. ⬇️

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

And while those are the top news-making headlines in pillar 2⃣ on curbing illicit finance, there's more in there as well, including aggressive enforcement, offshore finance, digital assets, art and antiquities, and commitment to cover additional sectors.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Over the past 24 hours, I’ve been asked by journalists all over the world whether my research suggests their country might be among the two dozen countries where Russian money has infiltrated politics. Nowhere is this question coming up more than in Italy.

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Russian funding claims spice up Italian election

U.S. claims that Russia has given at least $300 million to political parties in more than two dozen countries sent a jolt through Italy's election campaign on Wednesday, with right-wing leaders...

www.reuters.com

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

I also liked the bombshell revelation that Vassil Bojkov plans to bribe Bulgarians to create a channel for the Kremlin to influence the Bulgarian gov't. Now that Bojkov's new political party (Bulgarian Summer) is sanctioned, how will Russia support it? Winter has come for Bojkov.

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Josh Rudolph

5 years

Monday's letter from the House successfully pressured the President to sign the long-awaited second round of CBW sanctions on Russia for the Skripal poisoning, but Trump seems to have chosen the weaker options and it could be diluted further with waivers.

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Trump Adds to Sanctions on Russia Over Skripals (Published 2019)

It is the second round of sanctions by the United States in response to a botched attempt in March 2018 to fatally poison a former military intelligence officer.

www.nytimes.com

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

@JFKucinich Whenever I see this vulgar harassment (almost always directed at women), I wonder why social media platforms can’t help more. It strikes me as absurd that @Twitter makes you redact this creep’s name. Looking fw to learning more about this issue in @wiczipedia ’s forthcoming book.

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Josh Rudolph

7 months

As an alum and as a human being, I’d really appreciate it if the rest of the 450 student organizations at Harvard would band together and write a response calling this “they got the terrorism they deserved” statement morally repulsive.

@ianbremmer

ian bremmer

7 months

large number of harvard student organizations blaming israel solely for hamas terrorist attacks killing 700 civilians. can’t imagine who would want to identify with such a group. harvard parents—talk to your educated kids about this.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

4⃣ Multilateral architecture The administration will redouble anti-corruption efforts across the range of multilateral fora, including the OECD, OAS, UNCAC, NATO, G20, G7, OGP, EITI, etc. This gives US missions to these bodies important marching orders to prioritize corruption.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

Whether the victim is Czechoslovakia in 1968 or Ukraine today, it has always been less about keeping NATO out than keeping imperial subjects in. That’s also what made the Berlin Wall different from other walls: It was meant to keep people in, not out.

@_JakubJanda

Jakub Janda 楊雅嚳

2 years

The Warsaw Pact was the only military alliance in history which attacked exclusively its own members.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

NEW: Russian state-backed media is campaigning in German language against @ABaerbock , the Greens candidate for chancellor.

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@SecureDemocracy

Alliance for Securing Democracy

@SecureDemocracy

3 years

What messages did Russia, Turkey, China, and Iran spread in Germany in June? @kristineberz , @blutguth , and David Metzger explain in their latest analysis of data from our 2021 German Elections Dashboard.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

Actually, let’s give the last word to @SecYellen & @PowerUSAID , who are leading @USTreasury & @USAID to steal the show this week, using their policy levers and strong voices to kick off the Summit for Democracy w/ a bang and tee up a year of action. 👏👏👏

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

I’ll betcha FinCEN is sitting on some suspicious activity reports showing whose money goes to NSO and why. But I wonder whether they’ve had time to look. The most important national security investment Congress could make in the FY2022 budget is a substantial boost for FinCEN.

@ScottMStedman

Scott Stedman (indefinite hiatus)

3 years

NEW: I can report that NSO Group's "US branch" Westbridge Technologies received loans worth up to $265,000,000 from Credit Suisse's Cayman Islands branch. NSO has repeatedly sworn in court that they had no US operations.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

With regards to beneficial ownership, FinCEN is expected to release the rule that they've been drafting most of this year prescribing which entities will have to report their ownership information to Treasury. OIRA completed its final review of the draft rule four days ago (⬇️).

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Josh Rudolph

4 years

It's past time to outlaw anonymous shell companies. From our forthcoming year-long research report on how authoritarians spend money interfering in democracy, here are six cases of the attack vector being a shell co.: Moscow to Moldova, Latvia, Cyprus, Paris, London & Delaware.

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Josh Rudolph

1 year

🚨 Read this as: The autocratic Turkish gov’t. (which shut down Twitter after the earthquake to hide criticism of Erdogan) threatened to sue and shut down Twitter unless it restricts (in some undisclosed way) what Turks see on Twitter amid tomorrow’s election. And Twitter agreed.

@GlobalAffairs

Global Government Affairs

1 year

In response to legal process and to ensure Twitter remains available to the people of Turkey, we have taken action to restrict access to some content in Turkey today.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

The intelligence community is right to point to 2014 as the year when the Kremlin dramatically escalated the scope of its financial interference operations. Putin authorized campaigns against Europe in 2014, the United States in 2016, and Africa in 2018.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

With Kari Lake’s loss, democracy won a clean sweep vs. the 16 candidates who’d have been poised to overthrow the 2024 election (the 16 on the ballot last week to be either Governor or Sec. of State who refused to say whether they’d have certified Biden’s 2020 win in their state).

@VaughnHillyard

Vaughn Hillyard

@VaughnHillyard

2 years

Tonight, the GOP GOVERNOR Candidates Who Refused To Say If They'd Have Certified Biden's 2020 Win In Their States: ❔Kari Lake, Arizona ❌ Tim Michels, Wisconsin ❌ Tudor Dixon, Michigan ❌ Doug Mastriano, PA ❌ Darren Bailey, Illinois ❌ Dan Cox, Maryland ❌ Lee Zeldin, NY

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

5⃣ Diplomacy & foreign assistance This pillar is last but not least, second in importance to illicit finance. Diplomats/embassies/aid will prioritize corruption. The US will reevaluate aid criteria, scale it up/down, etc. The last bullet is seemingly on Afghanistan among others.

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Josh Rudolph

4 years

And here are six sets of unanswered questions, such as who’s the unnamed wealthy Russian financier behind Lev’s donations, how close is that Russian to the Kremlin, how did other US operatives get paid, was more money coming from Firtash, and what did each of these payments buy?

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Josh Rudolph

1 year

@Teoyaomiquu @UROCKlive1 Probably the same Western haters who call Biden’s election a coup. They don’t deserve your explanation. Ukrainians fight for all our freedom. Thank you.

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Josh Rudolph

5 years

@PreetBharara She’s even better in person than she is on a transcript: whip-smart, tough as nails, unfailing judgement, deeply experienced, always considerate, generous mentor, deeply patriotic. You’d like her.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

Priority #2 is cyber and #3 is terrorism (including domestic). Last on the list is proliferation financing, the issue that was prioritized by a Trump appointee who in 2002 was a DOD official warning about Iraqi WMDs and who later served as Trump's special envoy for arms control.

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Josh Rudolph

4 years

We thought Boris Johnson suppressed the #RussiaReport b/c it names Russian donors to Tories. And it does talk about that threat. But the most damning conclusion is about the gov't itself, which "actively avoided looking for evidence that Russia interfered."

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

These brave Iranians are thanking him for having their back. Read about how "in the Iranian context, 'death to the dictator' has long been a symbolic slogan of dissent against Iran’s theocratic authoritarian system, rather than a call for actual death." ⬇️

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How Instagram Is Failing Protesters in Iran

Meta’s deficiencies in content moderation in non-Western languages on their platforms range wide.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

Melania is selling a hat she wore to a French state visit and an NFT depicting her wearing the hat. The grift is as active as the self-absorption.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

Four-point deal on Nord Stream 2: 1️⃣ Germany and the US to invest $50 million in Ukrainian green tech 2️⃣ German support for Three Seas 3️⃣ Ukraine keeps getting $3 billion in annual transit fees from Russia 4️⃣ US can sanction future Russian energy coercion

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WSJ News Exclusive | U.S.-German Deal on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Expected Soon

The U.S. and Germany have reached an agreement allowing the completion of a controversial Russian natural gas pipeline, according to officials, who expect to announce the deal as soon as Wednesday.

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@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

2 years

Here’s the homicidal dictator himself actually calling for the death of named American politicians—in a tweet that has not been taken down. WTF, @Twitter ?

@khamenei_ir

Khamenei.ir

5 years

"Down with USA" means down with @realDonaldTrump , @AmbJohnBolton and @SecPompeo . It means death to the American politicians currently in power. It means death to the few people running that country; we have nothing against the American nation.

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Josh Rudolph

8 months

Good news: In recent weeks, the Biden administration has ramped up pressure on Kyiv—via a demarch, a list, meetings, etc.—to keep advancing anti-corruption reforms. This helps with Congressional funding. Story well told by @NatashaBertrand & @MarquardtA :

@NatashaBertrand

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand

8 months

The US is increasingly urging Ukraine to do more to combat corruption, issuing several notices to Kyiv in the last few weeks indicating that certain kinds of US economic aid will be linked to Ukraine’s progress in reforming its institutions. w/ @MarquardtA

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Josh Rudolph

11 months

We start by setting the record straight on Ukrainian anti-corruption. Here's what the Kremlin and its useful idiots leave out from their narrative about corruption in Ukraine: Never in history has a nation built such a sweeping array of anti-corruption institutions in a decade.

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Josh Rudolph

2 years

That was before the #PandoraPapers , which revealed lots of dirty money flowing into US trusts. Here's a thread on how FinCEN should write its rule to maximize the extent to which the registry can cover trusts, within some significant statutory constraints.

@JoshRudes

Josh Rudolph

3 years

1⃣ The CTA requires a "corporation, LLC, or other similar entity that's created by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or a similar office" under state law disclose its true owners to Treasury. Treasury needs to interpret "other similar entity" as including trusts.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

I had missed this in the NDAA: Treasury or DOJ can now subpoena records related to any account at a foreign bank with correspondent accounts in the United States. Nice new tool for investigating dirty foreign money. 👍

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Defense Act Expands Scope of Foreign Bank Records U.S. Authorities Can Obtain

U.S. authorities have more power to obtain documents from foreign banks with U.S. correspondent accounts under recently passed defense-policy legislation.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

The closest the administration has come to acknowledging they’ll be gone on January 20 is that they’re scheduling to take away the Fed’s tools to stabilize the economy three weeks before inauguration, to the dismay of the Fed & even conservative economists.

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Josh Rudolph

3 years

FinCEN will issue regs telling banks how to incorporate these priorities into their AML compliance programs (left). Another follow up should be issuing advisories about Russia and China. Weird that they've basically never done that in FinCEN's history of 173 advisories (right).

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