One US-British financial who once called himself Vladimir Putin’s number one enemy has stated that if Donald Trump won the 2020 election, he would have turned him over to Russia.
Bill Browder is the man who incited America’s Magnitsky action against Russian officials.
Browder, 57, claimed Trump had considered it a ‘great idea’ to allow Russian investigators to question him about alleged tax evasion and funneling money overseas after Putin raised the possibility at the Helsinki Summit in 2018.
It then took the US Senate to vote 98-0 against the idea before Trump backed down.
But Mr Browder, who was born in New Jersey and now lives in the UK, said if Trump had been re-elected in the 2020 US Presidential elections, he would have ‘absolutely’ thrown him under the bus and handed him over to Putin.
Mr Browder has previously voiced his fear that being turned over to Russia would essentially be ‘handing him over to his death’.
Speaking to Andy Coulson on his podcast Crisis What Crisis, he claimed that over the years the Russian authorities have done a ‘lot of nasty stuff’, such as threatening to kill him and claimed a kidnapping squad had once been hired to seize him.
Mr Browder, the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital management, has been a thorn in the side of the Russian authorities for more than a decade after he tried to expose the ‘looting’ of his investments in the country by corrupt officials.
Bill Browder, who inspired America’s Magnitsky act targeting Russian officials, insisted he would have been ‘thrown under a bus’ by the former US President if he had beaten Biden and stayed in the White House
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin give a joint press conference at the Helsinki Summit in Finland in 2018
Bill Browder, who is 57 years old, said Trump thought it was a great idea to permit Russian investigators to interview him about tax evasion, and the funneling of money overseas. This claim came after Putin brought up the possibility during the Helsinki Summit. After Trump’s suggestion at the Helsinki Summit in 2018, it took US Senate votes to reject the idea 98-1.
Sergei Magnitsky was 37 years old. He had been hired as a Browder attorney to look into what his money had done to him. In 2009, Magnitsky was accused of Russian officials in an attempt to tax-fraud scheme. In November 2009, Magnitsky died after spending nearly 11 years in prison in awaiting his trial. This caused outrage across the globe.
The Magnitsky Act, which was intended to penalize Russian human rights violators, became the focus of Mr Browder’s efforts. It became an issue between Russia and the U.S. after being signed by ex-President Barack Obama in 2012.
Browder said that he still fights against Russian violations of human rights as a “duty” to Magnitsky’s friend, lawyer. However, he is cautious about how global politics will dictate his safety.
Browder spoke on Crisis What Crisis podcast and said that Putin had asked Donald Trump for his hand in delivering me at the Helsinki summit. [in 2018]He said that he thought it was a brilliant idea.
Trump had been considering asking the Kremlin’s prosecutors to interview American officials, including Mr Browder, about the crimes Moscow claimed they committed.
Putin had raised the idea in his press conference with Trump in Helsinki, offering special counsel Robert Mueller access to 12 Russians for his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 Us elections in exchange for US citizens such as Mr Browder.
Browder claimed: “And it took.” [Trump]He had four days before he decided to back down and not do it. The Senate had to vote on it, and 98 votes against. They were not allowed to give me back before closing that door.
Browder also mentioned that Mueller was currently investigating Trump’s actions in the Russian election interference probe.
He explained: ‘If [Trump]If he hadn’t been in that cloud, God knows what he might have done.
«And if he’d been reelected, and there wouldn’t have been any down side then he probably will have [handed me over to the Russians]. He’s President; he’s Commander-in-Chief.
Coulson asked Browder if Trump would have ‘absolutely thrown you under a bus’. Browder responded: “Absolutely. There’s no question.
“I heard that he said that we should do this,” I believe. There were many arguments that this was not a good idea, Mr. President.
Browder spoke about his ability to manage the changing tides of global politics with different leaders, saying that he “ducks, dives” and ensures he’s not at the ‘wrong time, wrong place, or both.
Browder said that he felt relieved at the defeat of Jeremy Corbyn, former UK Labour leader and a big Putin apologist, as Prime Minister.
He stated, “You must duck, dive, and weave to ensure that you are not in an awkward place at the wrong moment.”
Jeremy Corbyn is a Putin apologist. I was very worried. He wasn’t elected Prime Minister.
“Now, these are the things I must watch out for because you never know who will be in power.”
Browder previously expressed his concern about being handed over Russia is a capital punishment.
In 2019, he told CNN: I would surrender to Putin to give my life to him.
Browder said that he had previously feared that he would be the victim of a Novichok attack similar to former spy Sergei Skripal’s in 2018.
When asked about the risk of being a Putin critic, Mr Browder told the CWC podcast: The thing is I don’t spend time being afraid of it. Everywhere I can, I take preventative measures.
“But if fear is your only emotion, they already have 90% of what they want to accomplish. That’s to make you change your behaviour and to not criticize you or not take the necessary actions.
Browder stated that, even though the Russians tried to kidnap, kill, and arrest him several times, he was determined because he owes Magnitsky his freedom.
Browder claimed that even though Russians attempted to kill and imprison him several times, he refused to surrender. He owed it to Sergei Magnitsky (his friend and lawyer), who was also murdered in Russian custody
He stated that he doesn’t live in fear. They have threatened me with the death and attempted to arrange an illegal kidnapping crew to capture me.
“They have gone to Interpol 8 times to get me arrested. They have approached the British government numerous times to have my extradition. They are now suing me.
2018: Mr Browder was held in Spain for an expired Moscow warrant. He was eventually released.
Browder was sentenced by a Moscow court to nine years imprisonment in absentia for tax evasion, and money laundering. The accusations were dismissed by Browder.
He said, however that he doesn’t feel upset by the threat constant to his life. Instead, he thinks of Sergei while he is in prison and how he suffered during torture and murder.
Browder said that this was nothing in comparison to the horrors he endured. He owes it to me to not fear or be intimidated by it. I haven’t, and I will not because he’s already paid for the ultimate price. It’s my responsibility to him that I continue fighting against these criminals in his honor.
Browder is now a harsh disciplinarian Moscow’s poor corporate governance standard earned him the hatred of the Kremlin.
One of his most senior aides was also raped in Moscow. Sergei Magnitsky was detained.
Magnitsky, 37 years old, passed away in November 2009. He had spent nearly 11 months behind bars awaiting trial. Browder claims that he was tortured while in prison.
Magnitksy’s passing sparked action by the billionaire. He campaigned for Congress’ passage The Magnitsky Act was signed by President Barack Obama on December 2012
Magnitsky was detained under visa sanctions and assets were frozen by the law. The sanction was Russia’s first in 35 years.
What is the name of the Magnitsky Law? It’s named after a Russian lawyer who succumbed to’systematic torturing’
After what his supporters claimed was a campaign of systematic torture, Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer, died in prison
UK ministers will be asked to endorse a Magnitsky Law to allow powers to block the assets of Russian officials suspected of human rights violations.
It would prohibit corrupt people and those who are inhumane to human rights from living and traveling in Britain. The legislation is being supported by politicians. They claim it will keep London’s reputation as a place that accepts dodgy Russian cash.
Andrew Mitchell (a Tory ex-Minister of Cabinet) is set to amend legislation to improve Britain’s Magnitsky laws.
These sanctions are named in honor of Sergei Magnitsky (a Russian lawyer) who claimed that corrupt officials from the Interior Ministry were committing fraud.
Magnitsky was soon arrested and accused of having stolen the money. Magnitsky died one year later, after what his supporters claimed was a systematic torture campaign.
Mitchell stated that sanctions should be increased and monitored by an oversight mechanism.