Co-host Jan Jekielek begins the episode sharing about his Polish descent and the concerns among Polish people about the possibility of Russia going to war with the Ukraine. The question has been raised as to whether Putin will really declare war on central and Eastern Europe or if this is just a power play for him to consolidate more power. Poland was under Soviet occupation for quite some time prior to 1989, and as Mr. Jekielek describes, Poles are adamant to not have Russia exert control over them again.
The host discusses how Ukraine is not a member of NATO, which is an organization of superpowers that have agreed to protect each other from aggression from other countries. Ukraine and Russia have been in conflict for the last eight years and Putin has made moves against them in the past. Putin has said publicly that he believes that all of Ukraine should be part of Russia. He also does not want the Ukraine to become a member of NATO. This would set the stage for Ukraine to become allies with the United States, Great Britain, Canada and others, which Putin certainly does not want.
The host relates an experience when he was visiting the Balkans at the time when they joined NATO. There was a big celebration as a result. Not only does joining NATO give a nation allies, and it also opens up trade and economic channels that otherwise would not be available. The most important thing about being a part of NATO is if a nation is attacked by an aggressor, other member nations must come to the defense of the one being attacked.
Putin has been moving troops around the Ukraine without actually entering it but implying that there might be an upcoming invasion. The effect this has had is the world’s eyes are on Russia and he has received a lot o global attention from these moves.
The host states, “I think he is taking advantage of a weakened United States national security position.” Putin has made demands that the United States not allow the Ukraine to join NATO. Russia’s foreign minister made a threatening statement when he said if a constructive response was not received from the West regarding their security demands, then Moscow would take appropriate action. Putin made a change in the constitution of the Russian Federation that he can serve as their leader for as long as he wants, so his position is that he can do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. Putin is making himself look good to the Russian people by strengthening his position at the expense of the United States and its allies. This is a part of his expansive propaganda machine.
The host gives his opinion that Putin will not actually go to war with the Ukraine because of the huge financial cost. Instead, he will play out the threat to the very end in order to manipulate other nations and gain concessions and more control. This is especially true of the United States.
Some of the nations in NATO have taken a no interference on this issue. One of these nations is Germany. They have been in collusion with Russia in the oil and gas industry, and Russia is now the number one oil and gas producer in the world. Germany does no want to lose this relationship with Russia primarily for this reason, so they agreed to not interfere should Russia invade the Ukraine.
The United States ordered all of the ambassadors at the Ukraine embassy to go home. This sends a message to Putin that he can control the United States with his threats. This was another link in Putin’s propaganda chain. The host points out that Putin is getting what he wants from what he has done so far and the chance of him invading the Ukraine is unlikely.
The next segment of the video deals with the John Durham probe. The special prosecutor recently released a briefing on the Michael Sussmann caman is a former attorney who was indicted for lying to the FBI regarding the Trump/Russia collusion investigation. The defense had advised the court that they were not getting all the evidence for discovery. Durham wrote a 20 page advising the court that he cannot get the evidence that the defense keeps asking for. He also pointed out to the court that the indictment is still active so the evidence will continue to be discovered. Durham also stated there may be other individuals who will have to be interviewed and he asked the judge for more time. Durham has interviewed 20-30 people so far in this investigation and there are going to be probably more.
Also mentioned in the pleading was the Michael Horowitz case. Horowitz was the Inspector General of the DOJ who withheld vital information from Durham on his crossfire hurricane investigation. Horowitz had several documents and other information that he deliberately did not share when asked to disclose everything he had on the investigation. This included two cell phones that had vital information about the crossfire hurricane, Clinton email, and Michael Sussmann investigations.
John Durham is having to go back now and interview Horowitz again to obtain the missing information. This is an example of more that will fall under the discovery rule in these cases. This was another reason that Durham asked to additional time. The video concludes with the host advising that this information shows the dedication that John Durham has to finish his ongoing investigations and to do them thoroughly. He advises that these documents are available for the viewers and the public to read.
