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<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Ukrainian former Kremlin ally told NBC <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">News</keyword> <keyword id="11909347" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="putin" source="Orion">Putin</keyword> is "never going to come out victorious."</li><li><keyword id="13726112" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dmytro-firtash" source="Orion">Dmytro Firtash</keyword> said he'd fight for <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> if prosecutors would let him. He's currently under US indictment.</li></ul>A Ukrainian <keyword id="13329911" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oligarch" source="Orion">oligarch</keyword> and former Kremlin ally said Russian President <keyword id="11899444" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vladimir-putin" source="Orion">Vladimir Putin</keyword> is "never going to come out victorious" from his invasion of Ukraine.Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian billionaire under indictment by the US, told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/kremlin-helped-make-dmytro-firtash-rich-now-denouncing-putin-rcna26028">NBC News</a> that he would have fought for Ukraine if prosecutors would let him.Firtash said that up to 15% of his workforce had left to fight against <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword> and eight of his staff had died.Speaking about the invasion, he said: "I want to cry. It tears apart my soul."According to the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2022/04/ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-26-april-2022">UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights</a>, as of Monday there had been 2,729 civilian deaths in Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February 2022. The World Bank has said that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-poverty-russia-invasion-world-bank-putin-zelenskyy-money-income-2022-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">up to 70% of Ukrainians could live in poverty in 2022</a>, compared with 18% in 2021."To believe that in 2022, in the center of Europe, that such a massacre can be taking place, no normal person could believe it," Firtash said.Communities in Ukraine have banded together to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russia-fuel-shortage-truckers-siphon-gas-fill-up-poland-2022-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">provide aid</a>."We have to say a big thank you to Mr Putin and I believe we should be building him a monument in the very center of Ukraine because he turned out to be the only politician that in the last 30 years managed to unite the country as one whole," Firtash told NBC News."He is never going to come out victorious," he said. "No matter what happens, Russia will lose."John Herbst, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, told NBC News that Firtash's comments were "a little risky for him.""It's a clear play not just for Zelenskyy's support but for the US," Herbst said. "Whether it helps him, that's highly unlikely."<h2>Firtash: 'I was never pro-Russian'</h2>Firtash is the founder and owner of Group DF, a Ukrainian holding company focusing on the fertilizer, titanium, and gas distribution industries. A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-capitalism-gas-special-report-pix-idUSL3N0TF4QD20141126">Reuters investigation</a> in 2014 uncovered how Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom sold more than millions of metres of gas well below market prices to Firtash.In his interview with NBC News, Firtash distanced himself from the Kremlin."I was never pro-Russian," he said. "But you have to understand that I am a businessman. And my goal is to earn money. That's my job." When asked if he was putting his safety at risk by speaking out against Putin, Firtash told the news channel: "I don't really have a choice."Firtash is under <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/six-defendants-indicted-alleged-conspiracy-bribe-government-officials-india-mine-titanium">federal indictment</a> in the US over accusations he was involved in a bribery and racketeering scheme to secure licences for titanium mines in India. "He appointed various subordinates to oversee efforts to obtain the licenses through bribery," the US Justice Department alleged.The indictment seeks forfeiture from Firtash of his interests in Group DF and its assets, including more than 150 companies registered in countries, including the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, and the Seychelles.Firtash told NBC News he was "100% not guilty."Firtash was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-ukraines-richest-men-has-been-arrested-in-austrua-2014-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">arrested in Austria</a> in March 2014 at the request of US authorities but released from custody after posting a record bail of <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/archive/9475760/">around $174 million</a>. He has been under house arrest in Vienna ever since, NBC News reported. Austria's Supreme Court granted a US request to extradite Firtash <a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/10061-austrian-supreme-court-grants-u-s-request-to-extradite-firtash">in 2019</a>.Firtash was sanctioned by Ukraine in <a href="https://rnbo.gov.ua/en/Diialnist/4915.html">June 2021</a>, with the country's security council secretary saying it was because of "his involvement in the titanium business," which "goes to the military enterprises of the Russian Federation," per <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-announces-sanctions-businessman-dmytro-firtash-2021-06-18/">Reuters</a>.

A Ukrainian oligarch and former Kremlin ally says Putin is 'never going to come out victorious'

Meet Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova, the Republican power couple caught up in the FBI's Rudy Giuliani investigation

Thomson ReutersUkrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash arrives at court in Vienna<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lev-parnas-explosive-claims-from-giuliani-associates-msnbc-interview-2020-1">In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday night,</a> Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas said he sought to broker a deal with Ukrainian energy tycoon Dmytro Firtash.</li><li>He claimed that he wanted US corruption charges against Firtash dropped in exchange for information that would damage the credibility of the Mueller probe, and help digging up dirt on Joe Biden. </li><li>Firtash has been fighting extradition from Austria since March 2014 at the request of US authorities. He has strenuously denied bribery charges that have been filed against him. </li><li>He was regarded as a key ally of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Yanukovich before his ouster, and has been accused of links to "top tier" organized crime by prosecutors in the US. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lev-parnas-explosive-claims-from-giuliani-associates-msnbc-interview-2020-1">In an explosive interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday,</a> indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas discussed at length what he says was a previously unknown attempt to secure the help of a Ukrainian oligarch in the hunt for damaging information on top Democrat Joe Biden. Parnas spelt out an attempt to broker a quid-pro-quo with oligarch Dmytro Firtash, in which he apparently requested that an extradition order for him to return to the US was quashed in return for information that would damage the Mueller probe - and Biden's chances of being elected president in 2020. "In order for us to be able to receive information from Firtash, we had to promise Firtash something. So for Firtash it was telling him his case was worthless here and that he's being prosecuted for no reason and basically to get taken care of." He said that he had been informed that Firtash had information indicating that a Mueller investigator was involved in "illegal stuff," and attempted to secure that information. The effort eventually came to nothing."It was all connected, at the end of the day the agenda was to make sure the Ukrainians announce a Biden investigation." Firtash has denied helping Parnas, or other Trump allies seeking information that would damage Biden's candidacy ahead of the 2020 elections. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-giuliani-associate-lev-parnas-biden-key-objective-2020-1">In hand-written notes</a> released by the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday, Parnas described playing a role in Firtash replacing former Clinton adviser Lanny Davis with pro-Trump attorneys Victoria Toensing and Joe DiGenova last July.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/us/giuliani-ukraine-oligarchs.html">Firtash told the New York Times</a> that he replaced his legal team to help his chances of obtaining a meeting with Attorney General William Barr. In his interview Wednesday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lev-parnas-william-barr-basically-on-team-trump-ukraine-2020-1">Parnas described Barr as "basically on the team"</a> - or a member of the group of Trump officials enlisted in the shadow Ukraine foreign policy. The Justice Department described the accusation as false in a statement to MSNBC. Toensing and DiGenoava did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Parnas' key link to the White House, Giuliani, also allegedly sought to solicit Firtash's support.Mark Lennihan/AP; House Intelligence CommitteeLev Parnas and a note he made stating his aims during a visit to Vienna.A photograph obtained from Parnas' legal team <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-giulianis-outreach-to-ukrainian-gas-tycoon-wanted-in-us-shows-lengths-he-took-in-his-hunt-for-material-to-bolster-trump/2020/01/15/64c263ba-2e5f-11ea-bcb3-ac6482c4a92f_story.html">and published by The Washington Post</a> shows Parnas, fellow Florida businessman Igor Fruman, and Giuliani in a cigar bar in Paris in May with an associate of Firtash.According to the report, Giuliani was involved in the bid to broker contact with members of Firtash's circle in several European capitals. <h2>"I never met him"</h2>Giuliani has denied meeting the oligarch. "I never met him. I never did business with him," he said of Firtash, in a statement to the Post. He said he had contacted an attorney working for Firtash to establish if he had evidence relevant to his investigation into corruption in Ukraine. "I asked some questions about him because I thought he might have some relevant information," Giuliani told The Post. "I determined that he didn't."<h2>Who is Dmytro Firtash?</h2>ReutersUkrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash arrives at court in Vienna in 2017.So who is Dmytro Firtash, and why was Parnas - as he claims - sent to enlist him in the shadowy mission in Ukraine that has resulted in Donald Trump becoming only the third president in history to be impeached? Firtash is one of Ukraine's richest men, and made his fortune in the energy sector, brokering the transfer of Russian gas into Ukraine.According to analysts, his role working closely with Russia's Kremlin-controlled energy sector would only have been possible with Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval. <a href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08KYIV2414_a.html">A leaked diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks in 2010</a> quoted Firtash as claiming he got his start in business with the help of notorious Russian mafia kingpin Semion Mogilevich.<h2>"He acknowledged ties to Russian organized crime"</h2>"He acknowledged ties to Russian organized crime figure Seymon Mogilevich, stating he needed Mogilevich's approval to get into business in the first place," the leaked cable said.US prosecutors have also accused Firtash of mob ties, describing <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doj-ex-manafort-associate-firtash-top-tier-comrade-russian-mobsters-n786806">him in a 2017 court filing </a>as an "upper-echelon [associate] of Russian organized crime."He was widely seen as one of the most powerful backers of Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, before he was ousted in the Maidan revolution by Ukrainians seeking an end to corruption and foster closer ties to the West. In 2014, Firtash was arrested in Austria after the FBI filed charges against him, alleging corrupt business practices. Firtash has been fighting extradition ever since. He has strenuously denied the charges against him, and allegations of links to organized crime. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-spend-more-money-coffee-chain-rewards-2019-4">Starbucks is giving away free drinks for the rest of 2019. It's one of the 5 sneaky tactics the coffee chain uses to get you to spend more money.</a></h3>

Lev Parnas claimed he and Trump's allies sought help from a Ukrainian oligarch fighting US extradition in search for dirt on Joe Biden

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian associate of President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that Attorney General William Barr was intricately aware of Trump's pressure campaign in Ukraine.</li><li>Trump withheld nearly $400 million in military aid and a White House meeting for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while trying to strongarm Zelensky into publicly committing to investigations that would personally benefit Trump.</li><li>Parnas told Maddow that Barr was "basically on the team" as it related to Trump's actions in Ukraine.</li><li>He also said Barr "absolutely" knew of Trump's efforts to force Zelensky's administration to publicly commit to investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over bogus allegations of corruption.</li><li>"Mr. Barr had to have known everything," Parnas told Maddow.</li><li>The Justice Department has called Parnas' account "100% false."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/lev-parnas">Lev Parnas</a>, a Ukrainian associate of personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, alleged in an exclusive interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/william-barr">Attorney General William Barr</a> was in the loop on President Donald Trump's pressure campaign in Ukraine.Trump repeatedly tried to strongarm Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his deputies into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over unfounded allegations of corruption.Trump also asked Zelensky to investigate a bogus conspiracy theory suggesting Ukraine interfered in the 2016 US presidential election to help Democrats and Hillary Clinton's campaign.In his interview with Maddow, Parnas said Barr was "basically on the team" as it related to Trump's actions in Ukraine.<h2>A Ukrainian oligarch connected to Russia offered a quid pro quo involving Mueller and the DOJ</h2>Specifically, Parnas implicated Barr in what he said was an agreement he made with Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch linked to the Kremlin, to get the Justice Department to drop fraud and bribery charges against Firtash in exchange for information to discredit former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.Firtash has been charged with multiple counts of fraud and bribery. He is accused of being connected to the Russian mob and is currently in Vienna, Austria, fighting extradition to the US.Parnas told Maddow he was told Firtash's team had information against Andrew Weissman, one of the prosecutors working for Mueller, that could damage the Russia probe.Parnas said he learned that information during a meeting at Trump Tower with Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova - two lawyers closely aligned with the president - as well as John Solomon, a right-wing columnist for The Hill who has published multiple stories pushing unfounded conspiracy theories about Ukraine and Russia.Specifically, Parnas said Solomon told him Weissman was doing "illegal stuff" and had engaged in some "scandalous" interaction with Firtash that would "blow up" the Mueller probe.Parnas also told Maddow he and Solomon conveyed to Firtash's team that they believed he "was being prosecuted for no reason" and "basically, it could be taken care of," which meant his extradition could be halted.Then, Parnas told Maddow, he got Toensing and diGenova to represent Firtash as part of his legal team. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/24/ukraine-oligarch-lawyers-joe-digenova-victoria-toensing-056643" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico reported</a> that the two lawyers also represent Solomon.Parnas added that he was instructed to negotiate a $1 million payout for Toensing and diGenova, who are married, in addition to $100,000 per month in expenses.Parnas got $200,000 as part of the deal.<h2>'Attorney General Barr was basically on the team'</h2>Barr, for his part, refused Toensing's and diGenova's request to intervene in the case against Firtash.Nevertheless, Parnas told Maddow, the attorney general was "involved" in conversations with Giuliani and diGenova and that Barr "absolutely" knew of Trump's efforts to force Zelensky's administration to publicly commit to investigating the Bidens."Mr. Barr had to have known everything," Parnas told Maddow. "Victoria, Joe, they were all best friends. Attorney General Barr was basically on the team."A Justice Department spokeswoman told Maddow that Parnas' account is "100% false."

'Barr had to have known everything': Giuliani associate Lev Parnas alleges AG Barr was 'basically on the team' to pressure Ukraine

Good morning! Welcome back to <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/10-things-in-politics">10 Things in Politics</a>, your weekday look at the biggest stories in DC and beyond. <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/10-things-in-politics">Sign up here to receive this newsletter</a>.Send tips to <a href="mailto:bgriffiths@insider.com">bgriffiths@insider.com</a> or tweet me at <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentGriffiths">@BrentGriffiths</a>.Here's what we're talking about:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-blogger-2021-5">Trump went back to the past to find his online future</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-cheney-republican-impeachment-trump-matt-gaetz-denver-riggleman-2021-2">The top House Republican tore into Rep. Liz Cheney when he thought he was off the air</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/judge-orders-doj-turn-over-mueller-barr-obstruction-memo-trump-2021-5">The Justice Department must turn over a secret memo Barr used to clear Trump</a></li></ul>One thing to look out for today: President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. ET about the implementation of his rescue plan.1. GEOCITIES SLICKER: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-blogger-2021-5">Former President Donald Trump has returned to the late 1990s.</a> Trump's team found a new way for him to communicate directly with his supporters via a one-way website that allows supporters to post his content on their Twitter and Facebook feeds. This is not the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sources-trump-eyeing-parscale-platform-for-social-media-launch-2021-3">highly touted social-network site Trump is said to have in the works</a>. But its creation comes just before a landmark decision is expected on his online future.All eyes on Facebook: The social network's independent review board <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-oversight-board-to-decide-on-trump-ban-on-wednesday-2021-5">is set to announce later this morning whether to allow Trump back on the platform</a> after he was barred following the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol. His fate will be decided by a mix of 20 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-oversight-board-is-a-supreme-court-in-zuckerberg-dictatorship-2020-9">internet-freedom advocates and former politicians from around the world who make up the so-called Facebook supreme court</a>.<ul><li>There are major political implications at stake: Trump and his digital team used Facebook to help build what became the GOP's best fundraising list. His campaign pumped millions of dollars into the platform to raise money and to tout his policies during the 2020 campaign. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/04/trump-website-facebook-485370">The social network is also key to maintaining the valuable list</a>.</li></ul>Someone will be unhappy: Republicans and Democrats have drilled into large companies like Facebook. Conservatives have pressed top executives about what they perceive as a bias against them. Liberals have taken social networks to task for not doing more to stop hate speech. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-04/trump-back-on-facebook-why-much-rides-on-this-ruling-quicktake">Trump's case intersects with both views, almost guaranteeing an angry response from one side</a>.2. The White House has a new goal as vaccinations continue to dip: President Joe Biden wants 70% of eligible Americans to be at least partially vaccinated by July 4. The White House said the next phase of its campaign would focus on making shots "more accessible than ever before," including through smaller community vaccination sites. The federal government also plans to spend $130 million to improve vaccine education in underserved communities. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-vaccine-goal-july-4-70-of-adults-vaccinated-2021-5">Biden also wants to get shots into the arms of adolescents "as soon as possible," pending authorization from the Food and Drug Administration</a>.3. The Department of Justice must turn over a secret memo Barr used to clear Trump: A federal judge ruled that the DOJ must release an internal memo that then-Attorney General Bill Barr cited as a defense for clearing Trump of obstruction of justice related to the Russia investigation. Judge Amy Berman Jackson said it contradicted Barr's claim that he had the power to clear Trump after the special counsel Robert Mueller didn't formally recommend charges against him. Mueller has said he was largely guided by the DOJ policy of not indicting presidents. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/judge-orders-doj-turn-over-mueller-barr-obstruction-memo-trump-2021-5">Jackson said the memo raised questions about Barr's testimony to Congress and some of the DOJ's past claims in court</a>.<div type="image" title="Liz Cheney 3" height="1348" width="2000" msid="82404176" hostid="261"></div>4. Top House Republican is ready to ax Rep. Liz Cheney: "I've had it with ... I've had it with her. You know, I've lost confidence," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was caught on a hot mic saying of Cheney, Axios reports. Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, has refused to back down from her criticism of Trump for refusing to accept he lost the election. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-cheney-republican-impeachment-trump-matt-gaetz-denver-riggleman-2021-2">This isn't the first time she's been under fire</a>.<ul><li>Who could be next?: Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who skyrocketed to MAGA stardom during Trump's first impeachment, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/04/mccarthy-gop-cheney-485316">is reportedly the favorite to replace Cheney</a>, per Politico. Cheney is currently the only woman in House leadership.</li></ul>Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah came to Cheney's defense:<a href="https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/1389645359597621249"><div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2021 05 05 at 3.34.32 AM" height="594" width="1192" msid="82404178" hostid="261"></div></a>5. Tobacco giant Reynolds American just spent $16 million on politics: The maker of Newport, Camel, and Pall Mall cigarettes went on a spending binge in 2020, a show of force that previews what may be a difficult battle as the Biden administration seeks to ban menthol cigarettes. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/menthol-cigarettes-biden-reynolds-american-tobacco-political-donations-biden-fda-2021-5">Check out our deep dive into the nation's second-largest tobacco company's contributions</a>.6. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's future is in question: Israel's longest-serving prime minister failed to form a government before his mandate expired, leading to the possibility that his rivals might push him out of power, Axios reports. The question now is whether the centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, the leader of a right-wing party, can reach a deal. <a href="https://www.axios.com/netanyahu-fails-to-form-government-mandate-ba19746d-e9cd-4874-b5d3-38de20698763.html">Here's what happens next</a>.<div type="image" title="giuliani digenova toensing" height="1666" width="2221" msid="82404179" hostid="261"></div>7. This conservative legal power couple is in the middle of Rudy Giuliani's latest legal mess: Victoria Toensing and her husband and law partner, Joseph diGenova, have been friends with Giuliani for decades. FBI agents showed up at Toensing's Washington-area home to take one of her cellphones the same morning they raided Giuliani. She and diGenova have represented Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch connected to the Russian mob who is under DOJ indictment.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/victoria-toensing-joseph-digenova-rudy-giuliani-allies-fbi-investigation-2021-5">A look at how the couple rose from the Reagan Justice Department to becoming conservative media fixtures.</a>8. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spooked markets over interest-rate comments: Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair, said "interest rates will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy doesn't overheat." Her statement, which she later clarified, was more hawkish than the Fed's messaging. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/janet-yellen-economy-overheating-interest-rate-hikes-inflation-outlook-recovery-2021-5">Yellen's words preceded a brief dip in trading, increasing unease over inflation</a>.9. Derek Chauvin's lawyer is pushing for a new trial: The lawyer Eric Nelson has begun the appeals process by arguing that Chauvin was deprived of a fair trial because of enormous publicity and that prosecutors engaged in misconduct by disparaging the defense. Many of his arguments have previously been rejected by Judge Peter Cahill. <a href="https://www.insider.com/derek-chauvin-attorney-files-motion-for-new-trial-multiple-grounds-2021-5">Nelson also wants a hearing to question whether the jury felt pressured to reach their verdict</a>.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bidens-appear-to-tower-over-the-carters-in-bizarre-viral-photo"><div type="image" title="AP21124627466744" height="1960" width="2613" msid="82404181" hostid="261"></div></a>10. No, honey, Biden did not shrink a former president: It is said that the camera can add 10 pounds, but a shot of the Bidens with former President Jimmy Carter and the former first lady Rosalynn Carter made it appear as if it could shrink people as well. The viral image of the two powerful couples came from the Bidens' visit to the Carters' home in Plains, Georgia, last week. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bidens-appear-to-tower-over-the-carters-in-bizarre-viral-photo?_ga=2.99932318.1012879716.1619992165-1311350499.1611066322">The distortion can be explained by a tricky camera lens and some other factors</a>.One last thing.Today's trivia question: On this day in 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Less than 10 years later, he became the only person to have done [this] on the moon. What was it? Email your guess and a suggested question to me at <a href="mailto:bgriffiths@insider.com">bgriffiths@insider.com</a>.<ul><li>Yesterday's answer: Thanks to its policy about responses on a petition website, the Obama administration was forced to explain in 2013 why it would not build a Death Star. An OMB official in a joking response said it was unwise to spend an estimated $850,000,000,000,000,000 on the project. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2013/01/11/white-house-responds-to-death-star-petition-obama-does-not-support-blowing-up-planets/">Not to mention, the administration said it "does not support blowing up planets." Sorry, Lord Vader</a>.</li></ul>

10 Things in Politics: Trump's a blogger now

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">REUTERS/Maks LevinFirtash in Kiev on May 18, 2010.</div></div></div>A Ukrainian oligarch detained could hand over a "treasure trove"of information about gas deals involving the Russian state gas exporter Gazprom, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-23/billionaire-sought-by-u-s-holds-key-to-putin-gas-cash.html">Irina Reznik and Henry Meyer of Bloomberg report</a>.
Authorities <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-ukraines-richest-men-has-been-arrested-in-austrua-2014-3">detained</a> Dmytro Firtash, one of Ukraine's richest men, in Vienna earlier this month. He has been under FBI investigation since 2006.
Bloomberg notes that Firtash, 48, has information that could be crucial for U.S. lawmakers seeking harsher sanctions against the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A new bill approved by a U.S. Senate panel could widen the scope of sanctions to include any Russian involved in "significant" corruption. 
Mikhail Korchemkin, a former analyst for the Soviet Union's Gas Ministry in Moscow and founder of Malvern, Pennsylvania-based East European Gas Analysis, told Bloomberg that Firtash has information that the U.S. would consider to be evidence of corruption in Gazprom.
Firtash, 48, made his estimated $2.3 billion fortune being a key broker of Russia's gas sales to Ukraine. He owned half of RosUkrEnergo with a partner, which became Ukraine's sole gas importer in 2006 to 2009 (Gazprom controlled the other half of RosUkrEnergo).
"Firtash was very deeply involved in the fine print of Gazprom's dealings in Ukraine, in the financial transactions," Korchemkintold Bloomberg. "If Firtash strikes a deal with the FBI and starts to give testimony it could threaten severe consequences for Gazprom managers and the company itself."
<h3><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-23/billionaire-sought-by-u-s-holds-key-to-putin-gas-cash.html">Check out the full report at Bloomberg &gt;</a></h3>

Ukrainian Billionaire Arrested In Austria Knows A Whole Lot About Putin's Gas Empire

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">Mikhail Markovskiy/Shutterstock</div></div></div>VIENNA (Reuters) - The Ukrainian businessman arrested in Vienna this week at the request of U.S. authorities is Dmytro Firtash, Austrian government sources said on Thursday.
Firtash, 48, is one of Ukraine's richest men, an oligarch whose close links to Russia and involvement in the gas, chemicals, media and banking sectors gave him substantial influence, notably during the administration of recently ousted, Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich.
The Federal Criminal Office, had identified the man taken into custody only as Dmitry F. and said he had been under investigation by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2006.
(Reporting by Michael Shields and Angelika Gruber; Editing by Louise Ireland)

One Of Ukraine's Richest Men Has Been Arrested In Austria 

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>Drug trafficking, trading nuclear material, contract murders, and <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> prostitution - that's how the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-top-10-most-wanted-2014-4">Federal Bureau of Investigation</a> believes Semion Mogilevich, one of its top 10 most wanted fugitives, has spent his time over the last few decades.
Indicted in 2003 for countless fraud charges, Mogilevich now primarily lives in Moscow. His location allows him to maintain close ties to the Bratva, or The Brotherhood, aka the Russian mob.
<h2>The 'Boss Of Bosses'</h2>
A 5'6" and a portly chain smoker, Mogilevich may not seem terribly intimidating. Yet he remains a known "boss of bosses" in one of the biggest mafia states in the world.
Born in 1946 in Kiev, Ukraine, Mogilevich once acted as the key money laundering contact for the <a href="http://blog.ipsaintl.com/2013/01/bratva-semion-mogilevich-a-case-study/">Solntsevskaya Bratva</a>, a super-gang based in Moscow. He has since held over 100 front companies and bank accounts in 27 different countries, all to keep the cash flowing.
In 1998, the FBI <a href="http://www.larryjkolb.com/file/docs/fbimogilevich.pdf">released a </a><a href="http://www.larryjkolb.com/file/docs/fbimogilevich.pdf">report</a><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/panorama/transcripts/transcript_06_12_99.txt"></a> naming Mogilevich as the leader of an organization with about 250 members. Only in operation only four years, the group's main activities included arms dealing, trading nuclear material, prostitution, drug trafficking, oil deals, and money laundering.
Between 1993 and 1998, however, Mogilevich caught the FBI's attention when he allegedly participated in a <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">$150 million scheme</a> to defraud thousands of investors in a Canadian company, YBM Magnex, based just outside Philadelphia, which supposedly made magnets. With his economics degree and clever lies, Mogilevich forged documents for the Securities and Exchange Commission that raised the company's stock price nearly 2,000%.
When asked about YBM by BBC <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/panorama/transcripts/transcript_06_12_99.txt">in 2007</a>, Mogilevich replied: "Well if they found old-fashioned hanky panky [i.e., suspicious activity], it's up to them to prove it. Unfortunately, I don't have access to FBI files."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div></div>
"What makes him so dangerous is that he operates without borders," <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">said </a> <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">Special Agent Peter Kowenhoven</a>, who has worked on Mogilevich's case since 1997. "Here's a guy who managed to defraud investors out of $150 million without ever stepping foot in the Philadelphia area."
In 1998, the <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-05-26/news/the-most-dangerous-mobster-in-the-world/">Village Voice</a> reported on hundreds of previously classified FBI and Israeli intelligence documents. They placed Mogilevich, also known as "Brainy Don," as the leader of the Red Mafia, a notorious Russian mob family infamous for its brutality. Based in Budapest, members held key posts in New York, Pennsylvania, Southern California, and even New Zealand.
"He's the most powerful mobster in the world," Monya Elison, one of Mogilevich's partners in a prostitution ring, told the Voice. She claimed he's her best friend.
<h2>Geopolitical Influence</h2>
Arguably one of Mogelivich's most concerning characteristics is his influence in Europe's energy sector. With only a $100,000 bounty on his head, he controls extensive <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">natural gas pipelines in Russia and Eastern Europe</a>.
Right now, <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=15411">Russia supplies about 30% of Europe's gas.</a> Ironically, the country's largest pipeline to the rest of Europe shares a name with the mob - Bratstvo.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
John Wood, a senior anti-money laundering consultant at IPSA International wrote an entire report on Mogelivich. <a href="http://blog.ipsaintl.com/2013/01/bratva-semion-mogilevich-a-case-study/">According to his research</a>, the Ukrainian-born Russian mobster had long planned his stake in Europe's gas.
In 1991, Mogilevich started meddling in the energy sector with Arbat International. For the next five years, the company served as his primary import-export petroleum company. Then, in 2002, an Israeli lawyer named Zeev Gordon, who represented Mogilevich for more than 20 years, created Eural Trans Gas (ETG), the main intermediary between Turkmenistan and Ukraine. Some reports show that <a href="http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_get.php/296/its_a_gas_april_2006_lowres.pdf">Gordon registered the company</a> in Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash's name.
After that, Russia's energy giant Gazprom and Ukraine's Centragas Holding AG teamed up to establish Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo (RUE) to replace ETG. Firtash and Gazprom reportedly roughly split the ownership of RUE.
In 2010, however, then prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, said she had "documented proof that some powerful criminal structures are behind the RosUkrEnergo (RUE) company," <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russian-mafia-gas">according to WikiLeaks</a>. Even before, the press had widely speculated about Mogilevich's ties to RUE.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>Although Firtash has repeatedly denied having any close relationship with Mogilevich, he has admitted to asking permission from the mobster before conducting business in Ukraine as early as 1986, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/russia/#article-5-the-kiev-connection">Reuters recently reported.</a> At the request of the FBI, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-ukraine-austria-firtash-idUSBREA2C14V20140313">Firtash was arrested in Austria</a> for suspicion of bribery and creating a criminal organization.
Mogilevich may even have a working relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, <a href="http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&amp;tx_ttnews%5Bswords%5D=8fd5893941d69d0be3f378576261ae3e&amp;tx_ttnews%5Bany_of_the_words%5D=PKK&amp;tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=3&amp;tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=34753&amp;tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=381&amp;cHash=2cf5525019#.VHvc3aTF_pA">according to a published conversation</a> between Leonid Derkach, the former chief of the Ukrainian security service, and former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma.
"He's [Mogilevich] on good terms with Putin," Derkach reportedly said. "He and Putin have been in contact since Putin was still in Leningrad."
<h2>A Free Man</h2>
In 2007, Mogelivich <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/panorama/transcripts/transcript_06_12_99.txt">told BBC</a> that his business was selling wheat and grain.
In 2008, however, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/25/russia.lukeharding">Russian police arrested Mogelivich</a>, using one of his many pseudonyms, Sergei Schneider, in connection with tax evasion for a cosmetics company, Arbat Prestige. Mogilevich ran that company with his partner, Vladimir Nekrosov. Three years later, the <a href="http://www.themoscownews.com/business/20110418/188594063.html">charges were dropped</a>.
Considering the US doesn't have an extradition treaty with Russia, as long as Mogilevich stays within Putin's borders, the "boss of bosses" will likely remain a free man. He's believed to have Russian, Israeli, Ukrainian, and Greek passports.

The Most Notorious Gangster Most People Have Never Heard Of

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>Before his death by poisoning, ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tape-reveals-poisoned-ex-kgb-spy-making-accusations-against-putin-2015-1">recorded a tape.</a>
In it, he claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a "good relationship" with one of the most notorious mobsters in the world, a Ukrainian man named Semion Mogilevich.
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-top-10-most-wanted-2014-4">Federal Bureau of Investigation</a> believes that Mogilevich, one of the top 10 most wanted fugitives, has spent the last few decades trafficking drugs, trading nuclear material, and orchestrating contract murders and <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> prostitution.
Indicted in 2003 for countless fraud charges, Mogilevich now primarily lives in Moscow. His location allows him to maintain close ties to the Bratva, or The Brotherhood, aka the Russian mob.
<h2>The 'Boss Of Bosses'</h2>
A 5'6" and a portly chain smoker, Mogilevich is known as "boss of bosses" in one of the biggest mafia states in the world.
Born in 1946 in Kiev, Ukraine, Mogilevich once acted as the key money laundering contact for the <a href="http://blog.ipsaintl.com/2013/01/bratva-semion-mogilevich-a-case-study/">Solntsevskaya Bratva</a>, a super-gang based in Moscow. He has since held over 100 front companies and bank accounts in 27 different countries, all to keep the cash flowing.
In 1998, the FBI <a href="http://www.larryjkolb.com/file/docs/fbimogilevich.pdf">released a </a><a href="http://www.larryjkolb.com/file/docs/fbimogilevich.pdf">report</a><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/panorama/transcripts/transcript_06_12_99.txt"></a> naming Mogilevich as the leader of an organization with about 250 members. Only in operation only four years, the group's main activities included arms dealing, trading nuclear material, prostitution, drug trafficking, oil deals, and money laundering.
Between 1993 and 1998, however, Mogilevich caught the FBI's attention when he allegedly participated in a <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">$150 million scheme</a> to defraud thousands of investors in a Canadian company, YBM Magnex, based just outside Philadelphia, which supposedly made magnets. With his economics degree and clever lies, Mogilevich forged documents for the Securities and Exchange Commission that raised the company's stock price nearly 2,000%.
When asked about YBM by BBC <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/panorama/transcripts/transcript_06_12_99.txt">in 2007</a>, Mogilevich replied: "Well if they found old-fashioned hanky panky [i.e., suspicious activity], it's up to them to prove it. Unfortunately, I don't have access to FBI files."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div></div>
"What makes him so dangerous is that he operates without borders," <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">said </a> <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">Special Agent Peter Kowenhoven</a>, who has worked on Mogilevich's case since 1997. "Here's a guy who managed to defraud investors out of $150 million without ever stepping foot in the Philadelphia area."
In 1998, the <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-05-26/news/the-most-dangerous-mobster-in-the-world/">Village Voice</a> reported on hundreds of previously classified FBI and Israeli intelligence documents. They placed Mogilevich, also known as "Brainy Don," as the leader of the Red Mafia, a notorious Russian mob family infamous for its brutality. Based in Budapest, members held key posts in New York, Pennsylvania, Southern California, and even New Zealand.
"He's the most powerful mobster in the world," Monya Elison, one of Mogilevich's partners in a prostitution ring, told the Voice. He claimed he's Mogilevich's best friend.
<h2>Geopolitical Influence</h2>
Arguably one of Mogelivich's most concerning characteristics is his influence in Europe's energy sector. With only a $100,000 bounty on his head, he controls extensive <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/october/mogilevich_102109">natural gas pipelines in Russia and Eastern Europe</a>.
Right now, <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=15411">Russia supplies about 30% of Europe's gas.</a> Ironically, the country's largest pipeline to the rest of Europe shares a name with the mob - Bratstvo.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
John Wood, a senior anti-money laundering consultant at IPSA International wrote an entire report on Mogelivich. <a href="http://blog.ipsaintl.com/2013/01/bratva-semion-mogilevich-a-case-study/">According to his research</a>, the Ukrainian-born Russian mobster had long planned his stake in Europe's gas.
In 1991, Mogilevich started meddling in the energy sector with Arbat International. For the next five years, the company served as his primary import-export petroleum company. Then, in 2002, an Israeli lawyer named Zeev Gordon, who represented Mogilevich for more than 20 years, created Eural Trans Gas (ETG), the main intermediary between Turkmenistan and Ukraine. Some reports show that <a href="http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_get.php/296/its_a_gas_april_2006_lowres.pdf">Gordon registered the company</a> in Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash's name.
After that, Russia's energy giant Gazprom and Ukraine's Centragas Holding AG teamed up to establish Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo (RUE) to replace ETG. Firtash and Gazprom reportedly roughly split the ownership of RUE.
In 2010, however, then prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, said she had "documented proof that some powerful criminal structures are behind the RosUkrEnergo (RUE) company," <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russian-mafia-gas">according to WikiLeaks</a>. Even before, the press had widely speculated about Mogilevich's ties to RUE.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>Although Firtash has repeatedly denied having any close relationship with Mogilevich, he has admitted to asking permission from the mobster before conducting business in Ukraine as early as 1986, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/russia/#article-5-the-kiev-connection">Reuters recently reported.</a> At the request of the FBI, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-ukraine-austria-firtash-idUSBREA2C14V20140313">Firtash was arrested in Austria</a> for suspicion of bribery and creating a criminal organization.
Mogilevich may even have a working relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, <a href="http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&amp;tx_ttnews%5Bswords%5D=8fd5893941d69d0be3f378576261ae3e&amp;tx_ttnews%5Bany_of_the_words%5D=PKK&amp;tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=3&amp;tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=34753&amp;tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=381&amp;cHash=2cf5525019#.VHvc3aTF_pA">according to a published conversation</a> between Leonid Derkach, the former chief of the Ukrainian security service, and former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma.
"He's [Mogilevich] on good terms with Putin," Derkach reportedly said. "He and Putin have been in contact since Putin was still in Leningrad."
<h2>A Free Man</h2>
In 2007, Mogelivich <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/panorama/transcripts/transcript_06_12_99.txt">told BBC</a> that his business was selling wheat and grain.
In 2008, however, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/25/russia.lukeharding">Russian police arrested Mogelivich</a>, using one of his many pseudonyms, Sergei Schneider, in connection with tax evasion for a cosmetics company, Arbat Prestige. Mogilevich ran that company with his partner, Vladimir Nekrosov. Three years later, the <a href="http://www.themoscownews.com/business/20110418/188594063.html">charges were dropped</a>.
Considering the US doesn't have an extradition treaty with Russia, as long as Mogilevich stays within Putin's borders, the "boss of bosses" will likely remain a free man. He's believed to have Russian, Israeli, Ukrainian, and Greek passports.

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