Russia’s deputy foreign minister has claimed that over 60 Russian citizens are being held “hostage” in American prisons, according to an interview published in state media Tuesday. Sergei Vershinin said U.S. authorities “have been literally hunting down Russians all over the world for many years” and “seeking to detain our citizens on false charges with subsequent transfer to American punitive justice with a predictable result.” “The total number of Russian citizens, in fact, taken hostage, exceeds 60 people,” he added. Vershinin did not offer any specific evidence or examples of Russians being jailed in the U.S. on false charges. His inflammatory comments come as officials in Washington, D.C. hope to broker a new prisoner swap deal for former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan following the successful release of Brittney Griner from Russian authorities earlier this month.
The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday afternoon voted to approve the public release of six years’ worth of Donald Trump’s federal tax returns, marking yet another headache for the former president as he prepares to launch a bid to get back in the White House. After more than three hours of discussion, largely behind closed doors, the committee split largely along party lines, voting 24-16 to move ahead with the disclosure. The tax data was handed over to the Democratic-led panel by the Treasury Department late last month after a lengthy legal battle that ended only when the...
Over the last year, beyond traditional healthcare and federal procurement matters, the government has pursued federal False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and enforcement across high-risk areas, i...