On politics: How Putin could be ‘world’s richest man’
Good afternoon, readers on politics!
Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the latest White House official to be infected with the virus.
“Today I tested positive for COVID-19. I have no symptoms, and I will continue to isolate and follow CDC guidelines,” Harris wrote in a tweet Tuesday afternoon. “I am grateful for both the vaccination and the boost.”
The vice president’s press secretary, Kirsten Allen, said in a statement that Harris is not exhibiting symptoms and has not been in close contact with President Joe Biden or First Lady Jill Biden.
A wave of COVID cases in Washington: Harris tested positive on the same day that other lawmakers, including censors Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., tested positive. Harris’s recent positive test could lead to a crackdown in several Senate votes this week, where she will serve as a tie-breaking vote.
it is And With today’s top stories from Washington.
Putin’s financial empire is worth billions. But where is he hiding the money?
During his decades-long political career, Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed a wealth that some officials believe could allow him to be crowned one of the world’s richest people.
Now that wealth is on the threshold of the West. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is believed to have killed thousands of civilians, has triggered economic sanctions that target her, her allies, and now her adult children.
But the system that created Putin’s wealth also thwarted US and European efforts to punish him. Each round of sanctions raises new questions about whether those efforts can affect a person who considers the wealth of the nation as his own.
According to statements from a group of government officials, interviews with experts in U.S. intelligence and law enforcement, and a USA Today review of thousands of pages of reports and documents, that money wasn’t created simply by simple corruption or theft.
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While Putin was far from the first to capitalize on the wealth of the former communist country, he turned the tables on Russia’s oligarchs by using the power of his office to put himself in control of his future and his own destiny.
He established his closest allies from St. Petersburg as a new class of oligarchs whose trading wealth, effectively, became Putin’s own. Today, while Putin announces a salary of $123,000, his real wealth is as hard to imagine as it is to calculate.
Latest updates on Ukraine: A third mass grave has been found near the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, and the mayor says Russian occupiers have forced residents to work on burials. Mayor Vadim Boychenko said the ditch, seen on satellite images, extends for more than 200 yards – and contains thousands of civic bodies.
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Biden pardons 3 felons, reduces 75 sentences
In his first series of presidential clemency, Biden granted clemency to three convicted felons — Abraham Bolden Sr., Betty Joe Boggans and Dexter Eugene Jackson — and commuted or shortened the sentences of 75 others on Tuesday.
Many of those targeted for clemency are black or brown, all while serving sentences for low-level drug offenses. Some served in confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcements were made ahead of Biden’s newly proposed re-entry program for felons targeted to improve outcomes for individuals previously imprisoned. The initiative is part of several planned reforms to the criminal justice system, including $145 million for a federal job training program and removal of criminal history in applications for a Small Business Administration grant.
In a statement, Biden said he is using commutation and pardons that are part of his right under the Constitution to provide fair and just treatment.,
“Elected officials, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders on both sides of the aisle agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safe and strong communities. During Second Chance Month, I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to uphold those values by pardoning and reducing the punishment of my fellow Americans,” he said.
Here’s how the CDC found that 60% of adult Americans (and 75% of children!) were infected with the coronavirus between December and February. — Amy and Chelsea
This article was originally printed in USA Today: Russia’s Vladimir Putin Could Be Worth Billions. where is the money?
