Andrey Yermak is not just some random high-level government official in Ukraine.  Andrey Yermak was President Zelenskyy’s right hand, chief of staff, organizer of the functions of Ukrainian government and the guy who controlled the systems that keep all other government officials working on the agenda of the President.

If you took Susie Wiles and Marco Rubio’s responsibilities and combined them into one job function, that would be the scale of importance and influence that Andrey Yermak controlled inside the Ukrainian government and the office of President Zelenskyy.

Left, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – Right, Andrey Yermak

Today, following an explosive criminal corruption charge that surfaced less than 36 hours ago, Andrey Yermak appears in court to face charges of corruption, theft and money laundering.  Yermak was under investigation for his role in theft through the energy sector and now stands accused of using construction projects near Kiev as a tool to launder money to himself and other high-level government officials.

There are three facets to this I find very interesting.  First, is the timing.  Second, is the often-overlooked admission by National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) about them working closely with FBI investigators in Europe and American intelligence units.  Third, is the way they caught him: “The anti-corruption bureau shared part of a wiretapped conversation as part of its case and said six more people had been identified as suspects.”

(Via BBC) – […] For years he was a close friend of Zelensky, and led Ukraine’s talks with the US until an anti-corruption raid on his flat last November prompted his resignation.

Ukraine’s Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) said it was asking the Kyiv court to either place him in preventive detention or give him bail of about $4m (£3m).  The head of the National anti-corruption bureau (Nabu) stressed that Zelensky himself was not part of the pre-trial investigation.

Yermak had been the president’s closest adviser throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion, until he became caught up in a broader inquiry by Sapo and Nabu into an alleged $100m (£74m) embezzlement scheme in Ukraine’s nuclear energy sector.

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Today, at 2:00pm FBI Director Kash Patel and Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance Cole will join other federal law enforcement officials to testify on the president’s 2027 budget request before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.  Democrats are poised to push a narrative about Kash Patel’s personal habits driven by an Atlantic article accusing him of drunkenness and misbehavior.

While the focus of the appropriations testimony is the budget request, undoubtedly much of the questioning will surround ongoing matters and priorities of the FBI and DEA.  Recent events in Mexico related to indictments of government officials involved in drug trafficking may also be the subject of inquiry.  Could be interesting.  Testimony begins at 2:00pm ET.

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Bumped and Updated as THE FULL the transcript is now available.  Segment #4 of the Transcript is exceptionally interesting!

Reports are beginning to surface about Russian President Vladimir Putin saying the end to the special military operation in Ukraine is close.  I am embedding the full press conference video below as only part of his remarks has been translated and transcribed.

President Putin is asked for his overall impressions of the Victory Day events, and the context of the ceasefire against the backdrop of a request by U.S. President Donald Trump.  As with most things Russian, the nuance is often between the lines.

[RU Transcript] – “President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good evening. Happy holiday once again, happy Victory Day.

Question: Let me start with today and the way you view it, if I may. Today is a great and momentous day. Earlier, US President Donald Trump came up with an initiative to declare a three-day ceasefire. You supported it, so did Zelensky. However, on the eve of May 9, there were still a number of grave and provocative statements coming from Kiev.

How would you assess today and the way events unfolded? Even the military parade was held in a somewhat reduced format due to security concerns. Could you share your overall assessment of the day? Were there any provocations?

Vladimir Putin: As for provocations, as you can see, I am here, and so far, the Defence Ministry has not reported anything of that nature to me, so I cannot comment on it.

Regarding the parade. You know that this year – which is not an anniversary year but nevertheless it is Victory Day – we decided that the celebrations would go ahead in any case but without a display of military hardware, and not for security concerns but primarily because the Armed Forces should focus on the decisive defeat of the enemy within the framework of the special military operation.”

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Barbara Boyd argues Barack Obama helped politicize U.S. justice and led a “British intelligence-instigated” anti-Trump coup, then outlines three developments she says undercut his project: (1) UK local elections in which Keir Starmer’s Labour Party lost about 1,800 races and power in Wales and Scotland as Nigel Farage’s Reform Party surged on anti–open borders and anti–Net Zero messaging; (2) a 4–3 Virginia Supreme Court decision striking down Democrats’ fast-tracked redistricting referendum, keeping existing 2026 districts, alongside the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais against race-based gerrymandering; and (3) examples of “authentic” politics, citing J.D. Vance’s Iowa speech about deindustrialization and military sacrifice and viral AI ads boosting LA mayoral outsider Spencer Pratt’s critique of California leadership.

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I have been requested to put some context behind a recent set of statements made by former President Barack Obama to Stephen Colbert.  As many interested observers understand (some may gain deeper appreciation later on) statements -even defensive- made in furtherance of a conspiracy can be used later in court to highlight intent.

To encapsulate for those who requested, we first start with the recent statement by the former President. Listen closely:

Obama: “The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the AG to go around prosecuting whoever the president wants prosecuted. You can’t have a situation where whoever is in charge of the government starts using that to go after their political enemies or reward their friends.” pic.twitter.com/zqkV1vPdfq

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 6, 2026

On May 19, 2020, Acting DNI Richard Grenell declassified the hidden paragraph of the Susan Rice memo that was hidden for three years.  This enabled us to put a full context to the ‘memo to file‘ that was published by Susan Rice on January 20, 2017; an event that was timed to happen during President Trump’s inauguration.

The context was President Obama and Susan Rice holding a meeting with FBI Director James Comey during the transition period approximately two weeks before President Trump took office.   On January 5, 2017, President Obama and Susan Rice were discussing incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn with FBI Director James Comey.

When you understand the context, you understand exactly why the Intelligence Community tried to keep this paragraph hidden.  The motive to write the January 20, 2017, memo is clear.  Also, the IC did not ever expect this to be released. Here’s the formerly hidden paragraph:

Within this paragraph we find the motive for Susan Rice writing it (emphasis mine):

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The cruise ship MV Hondius (Oceanwide Expeditions) which has been trying to find a port following an outbreak of Hantavirus, will be permitted by Spain to transfer passengers at the island of Tenerife.   There are 17 Americans on board who will be transferred by the CDC from Tenerife to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.  Once there, they will remain in isolation for 42-days under observation.

(VIA CBS) – World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Tenerife Saturday to personally oversee the painstaking process of evacuating more than 100 people from a cruise ship dealing with an outbreak of the rare and deadly hantavirus.

Addressing the people of the Canary Islands, where the ship will anchor off the coast of its largest island, the WHO chief said the public’s concern is legitimate after what the world experienced in 2020 during the global coronavirus pandemic.

“This disease is not COVID,” Tedros said, reiterating a letter he wrote earlier Saturday. “The risk to the local population is low.”

Tedros said that the nature of the hantavirus is not the same as the coronavirus, but “that trauma is still in our minds.”

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Be of good cheer. As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Barack Obama, Alex Soros, and a mix of global figures and intelligence operatives in Toronto, the number of people who grasp the true purpose of this gathering is far greater than the attendees might imagine.

The gathering, officially dubbed a “think tank” meeting, was closed to the media. Barack Obama gave the keynote address, and the assembly of political leftists took place as the U.S. and Canada remain at odds over differing worldviews and an economic dispute surrounding the USMCA trade agreement.

That said, the global audience of pragmatic ‘noticers’ understand that following Prime Minister Carney’s recent remarks in Europe and Canada about the next era of globalism being strengthened by the joint efforts of the British Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, U.K) and Europe, while putting the travels of Obama into context with his continued meetings at Number 10 Downing Street, the content of the ‘think tank’ assembly is transparent.

All of the figures are aligned in common interest to strategize ways to defeat their indefatigable nemesis known as Donald J Trump. It is both the policy of economic nationalism and the outcomes of seismic shifts in geopolitical alignment that cause the brain trust of leftists to assemble with urgency.  There is a myriad of Trump victories recently that have begun to destroy their precious systems of control.

President Trump is using the combined power of the U.S. Treasury, U.S. Military and U.S. Economy as a wrecking ball against one-hundred years of Euro-centric control operations.  Heck, even the recently paused tariffs against EU automobiles is connected to the larger objective of ending the never-ending Marshal Plan. And, then there’s that little reference point of King Charles failed recent tour, against the backdrop of Starmer’s electoral collapse.

I doubt very much the arrival of Pete Buttigieg and Elissa Slotkin (CIA) will offset the leftist defeats in the redistricting effort.  But, well, sure, I guess assembling to try and organize internal operations against Godzilla Trump may benefit from Soros and his Bazooka Joe glasses.

In the economic competition, Canada faces the biggest vulnerability, as its entire system of investment, banking, and production relies heavily on maintaining trade preferences that benefit from the $30 trillion U.S. economy. Prime Minister Carney’s control measures are ultimately futile attempts to counter Trump’s insistent and justified reciprocity stance. This push for control stems from a place of fear.

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In recent developments President Trump’s ‘project freedom’ operation to open the Strait of Hormuz for captured shipping interests has been paused following Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal of support and their revocation of Saudi air bases for U.S. operations.

The issue behind the Saudi decision is not that complicated if you understand the longer-term background.  However, the issue behind the Saudi decision also highlights a key ¹flaw in the Promethean analysis of the relationship (and the reason I caution everyone to sip slowly from this information source).

The cliff notes version is that Saudi Arabia and many of the Gulf States look at the negotiations between President Trump and Iranian interests with skepticism.  The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) wants a complete and final elimination of the threat Iran represents. They do not believe Iran can be negotiated out of that threat.  The GCC view negotiations as an Iranian delay tactic.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmon, the main voice in the GCC position, has clear eyes and a long historic view on the threat Iran represents. They accept the people in control of the Iran regime will do and say anything to pause or remove the military confrontation; but they will never stop building the arsenal for war. There is zero, absolutely zero trust in anything the Iranians say on this matter.

As a consequence, Saudi Arabia understands the intent of President Trump’s request to support ‘project freedom’, however Saudi Arabia is not going to accept continued missile attacks from Iran during this ‘humanitarian’ effort to reopen the Strait. [Remember, this is also a Muslim Brotherhood issue.  The Brotherhood is the political network behind extremist Islam.]

President Trump is asking Saudi Arabia and the GCC states to view the continued Iranian attacks as small slights, small provocations, while he diplomatically tries to negotiate with the Iranian regime.  MbS and the GCC are unwilling to take this position, to accept these continued attacks against their nations, simply to give President Trump the political benefit of his policy.

Again, the Saudi’s and GCC have been dealing with this extremist threat for decades. They are unwilling to compromise in order to give space for negotiations they view as futile.  The U.S. can use all Saudi support venues to confront Iran militarily, but they are not going to support the political and diplomatic effort behind ‘project freedom’ while they are simultaneously expected to accept continued attacks from Iran.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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