{"id":14193,"date":"2022-03-08T19:10:04","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T03:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=14193"},"modified":"2022-03-08T19:23:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T03:23:41","slug":"russian-oil-and-gas-republican-election-fraud-and-insurrection-bradcast-382022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=14193","title":{"rendered":"Russian Oil and Gas, Republican Election Fraud and Insurrection: &#8216;BradCast&#8217; 3\/8\/2022"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/Images\/BradCast_EU-Russia-GasValve_030822.jpg\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">As the horrors of war continue in Ukraine today, we focus on the latest efforts to counter it by ending &#8212; or trying to &#8212; Russian oil and gas imports to the EU and US, and as we enjoy more accountability for GOP election fraudsters and insurrectionists, including one who funneled Russian money to Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and another who used to appear on <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><i>The BradCast<\/i><\/a> from time to time. [<i>Audio link to full show is posted below this summary.<\/i>]\n<p>Among the many stories covered on today&#8217;s program&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fossil fuel profiteer <b>Shell Oil<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/wapo.st\/34p5X4K\">apologizes<\/a> after getting caught <b>secretly buying cheap Russian oil<\/b>, even after pretending last week that it was ending its business with the country after their invasion of Ukraine. Does it smell &#8220;like Ukrainian blood?,&#8221; Ukraine&#8217;s Foreign Minister wonders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>On Tuesday, after nearly two hellish weeks of unspeakable humanitarian suffering in Ukraine and pressure from the public to do the right thing, several more major American companies &#8212; <b>McDonald&#8217;s<\/b>, <b>Starbucks<\/b>, <b>Coke<\/b> and <b>Pepsi<\/b> &#8212; finally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/03\/08\/coca-cola-follows-mcdonalds-starbucks-in-suspending-business-in-russia.html\">decided to &#8220;pause&#8221;<\/a> doing business in Russia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The European Union<\/b>, which has made the mistake of becoming reliant on Russia for about 45% of its gas imports, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/eu-slash-russia-gas-dependence-timmermans-iea\/\">announced plans<\/a> to try and <b>wean themselves off<\/b> two-thirds of it by year&#8217;s end. Hopefully this will help hasten their move to clean, renewable energy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>President Biden<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/03\/08\/remarks-by-president-biden-announcing-u-s-ban-on-imports-of-russian-oil-liquefied-natural-gas-and-coal\/\">announced<\/a> today that the U.S. will <b>halt all imports of Russian oil and gas<\/b>. Hopefully this will help hasten <i>our<\/i> move to clean, renewable energy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Also, both White House Press Secretary <b>Jen Psaki<\/b> and President Biden pushed back hard against the obnoxiously phony claims by Republicans, Fox &#8220;News&#8221; and the oil industry that opening up more public land to oil and drilling leases and permits would lower surging U.S. gas prices. As both Psaki and Biden point out, Big Oil is already sitting on some 9,000 currently <i>unused<\/i> permits on millions of acres of land, as is. The <b>GOP\/Fox &#8220;News&#8221;\/Big Oil axis of evil<\/b> is really hoping that Americans don&#8217;t know that, so they can blame Biden for the surge in global oil and gas prices&#8230;even as new polling finds <b>American majorities<\/b> are <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/americans-approval-bidens-handling-ukraine-214438768.html\">willing to pay more at the pump<\/a> to help Ukraine and they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/01\/politics\/renewable-energy-poll-ukraine-climate\/index.html\">want to expand renewable energy development<\/a>, not fossil fuels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <b>International Energy Agency<\/b> (IAE) has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/news\/how-europe-can-cut-natural-gas-imports-from-russia-significantly-within-a-year\">list of 10 things<\/a> the EU can do to decrease gas use by at least 10% before year&#8217;s end. Many of those things the U.S. can do as well. One thing many of us could and <i>should<\/i> do to lower the cost of gas in a big way during Russia&#8217;s war on Ukraine &#8212; since many of us already did it for much of the past two and a half years anyway, cleaning the skies and drastically lowering gas prices in the bargain &#8212; <b>WORK AT HOME AGAIN<\/b> if possible!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The first <strong>January 6th insurrectionist<\/strong> to stand trial before a jury, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.krgv.com\/news\/1st-trial-in-capitol-riot-ends-in-conviction-on-all-counts\">found guilty<\/a> on all five felony counts today. (He&#8217;s a helluva guy, apparently. Threatened to kill his own teenage children if they told on him. Ya know, as &#8220;patriots&#8221; do.)  The DoJ hopes the result may lead other Trump insurrectionists to plead guilty. We hope it leads the DoJ to keep working their way up to the <i>top<\/i> of the insurrectionist cabal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The leader of the violent rightwing street gang calling itself <b>Proud Boys<\/b>, <b>Enrique Tarrio<\/b> &#8212; who wasn&#8217;t even at the U.S. Capitol on <b>January 6th, 2021<\/b> (because he was <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrio-indicted-on-jan-6-conspiracy-charges\">in police custody on a separate crime<\/a>) &#8212; was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-dc\/press-release\/file\/1480801\/download\">indicted<\/a>, with several others in his gang of white hoodlums, on conspiracy charges related to their violent, coordinated attack on the Capitol. Tarrio had <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/prime\/an-important-pre-insurrection-meeting-in-a-dc-parking-garage\">reportedly<\/a> met with <b>Oath Keepers<\/b> leader <b>Stewart Rhodes<\/b> in a parking garage in the hours before the Republican assault on American democracy. Rhodes and several other Oath Keepers were also recently indicted on seditious conspiracy charges. And Rhodes, like another rightwing hoodlum facing new felony indictments in a separate matter (discussed below), had been a <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=11495\">guest on <i>The BradCast<\/i><\/a> several years ago.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/former-rand-paul-aide-charged-with-funneling-russian-money-into-election-2021-9\">This story<\/a> is amazing. <b>Jesse Benton<\/b>, a longtime Republican operative and former campaign manager for Senators <b>Rand Paul<\/b> (in 2010) and <b>Mitch McConnell<\/b> (in 2014), has already been pardoned for felony election fraud once, by Donald Trump in the closing days of his Administration.  Now Benton has been indicted again, for more election fraud, and along with another former guest on <i>The BradCast<\/i>!  Tune in for the full story, but Benton was originally charged and convicted some years ago for buying away an endorsement for about $75,000 from a <b>Michele Bachmann<\/b> supporter during the GOP Iowa Caucus in the 2012 Presidential campaign. At the time, he worked for Rand&#8217;s father <b>Ron Paul<\/b>&#8216;s Presidential campaign. Benton was sentenced to two years probation and a $10,000 fine just days before the scheme he has now been indicted for which includes receiving $100,000 from an <b>unnamed Russian national<\/b>, keeping $75,000 for himself, and giving $25,000 of it to the campaign of <b>&#8220;Political Candidate 1&#8221;<\/b> in his own name, an unlawful straw donation  to avoid laws barring foreign money in American elections. Benton promised a meeting with &#8220;Political Candidate 1&#8221; in Philadelphia on September 22, 2016, the day that <b>Donald Trump<\/b> happened to be holding a fundraiser there. They all took pictures together, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/press-release\/file\/1434226\/download?utm_medium=email&#038;utm_source=govdelivery\">September indictment<\/a> unsealed on Monday, along with <b>Doug Wead<\/b>, a GOP Presidential historian and, in recent years, far-right operative who appeared a <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=11761\">number<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=9362\">times<\/a> on this program some years ago. Wead, a Senior Advisor to Ron Paul&#8217;s 2012 campaign was indicted as a co-conspirator with Benton. They both face the potential of a <i>lot<\/i> of time in prison. Each of the six counts charged against both of them carries sentencing of 5 to 20 years.  But, yup, more <b>Russian money in Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 election<\/b>. Who could have guessed it?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=14192\">our latest <i>Green News Report<\/i><\/a>, in which we can barely keep up with <b>Russia\/Ukraine related events<\/b> in the energy industry (including nuclear) and as the U.N. offers some good news for a change, in this case regarding <b>global plastic pollution.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of the above is much funnier, outraging, and\/or more enlightening when heard in full on today&#8217;s surprisingly lively <i>BradCast<\/i> (given what we have to work with at times like these)&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\".\/Images\/Speaker_Icon_24.png\" style=\"width: 24px; float: none; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;\"> <b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_ShellOil-BidenRussianImports-Jan6AttackerGuilty-ProudBoyCharged-BentonWeadIndicted_030822.mp3\">CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!&#8230;<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center><b>* * *<\/b><\/center><i>While we post <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><\/i>The BradCast<i><\/a> here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they&#8217;re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/id803467610\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pandora.com\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/PC:1000025838\">Pandora<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-BradCast-with-Brad-Friedman-p477565\/\">TuneIn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9icmFkYmxvZy5jb20vcG9kY2FzdGdlbi9icmFkY2FzdC9mZWVkLnhtbA\">Google<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-BradCast-w-Brad-Friedman\/dp\/B08JJRN86R\/ref=sr_1_1\">Amazon<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/podcastgen\/bradcast\/feed.xml\">our native RSS feed<\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-START--><\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f5f0e0; border:2px solid #6b5a2e; border-radius:6px; padding:10px 14px; text-align:center; font-family:Georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"display:block; margin:0 0 8px 0; color:#3a2e0e; font-size:0.95em; line-height:1.5;\"><strong>The BRAD BLOG<\/strong>, <em>The BradCast<\/em> and <em>Green News Report<\/em> are all 100% independent and 100% listener and reader supported!<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/Donate\" style=\"display:inline-block; background:#6b5a2e; color:#ffffff; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:4px; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; font-family:Georgia,serif; font-size:0.9em;\">Please CLICK HERE to help support our work today!<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-END--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the horrors of war continue in Ukraine today, we focus on the latest efforts to counter it by ending &#8212; or trying to &#8212; Russian oil and gas imports to the EU and US, and as we enjoy more accountability for GOP election fraudsters and insurrectionists, including one who funneled Russian money to Donald [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,89,675,479,1724,400,594,969,106,200,841,14,1590,1603,1725,320,477,498,501,1709,540,1365,1572,496,300,273,534,768,698,186],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-14193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accountability","category-media-appearance","category-bradcast","category-donald-trump","category-doug-wead","category-election-2012","category-election-2016","category-election-2020","category-election-fraud","category-environment","category-eu","category-fox-news","category-insurrection","category-jen-psaki","category-jesse-benton","category-joe-biden","category-kpfk","category-natural-gas","category-nuclear-power","category-oath-keepers","category-oil","category-pollution","category-proud-boys","category-rand-paul","category-republicans","category-ron-paul","category-russia","category-shell-oil","category-ukraine","category-united-nations"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14193"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=14193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}