Russian TV Has a New Propaganda Star: Tucker Carlson

Carlson’s many conspiracy theories—from Lyme disease being a bioweapon against the poor to the rise of “wokeness” in the United States—have already aired in the country. And it’s not really a surprise why.

Carlson has long espoused pro-Russian views, downplaying the country’s conflict with Ukraine and minimizing Russia’s invasion as a mere “border dispute.” He even touted a conspiracy theory of a U.S.-led effort to supply Ukraine with chemical weapons.

Carlson has also made no secret of his love for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, traveling all the way to Moscow earlier this year for a widely panned softball interview. Despite Putin’s mockery of Carlson during and after the interview, Carlson still defended Putin’s killing of dissidents, words that eventually came back to hurt the conservative pundit when Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in Russian custody days later.

Putin and the Russian government evidently see value in Carlson to keep him on a national TV channel in a country where independent media outlets are highly restricted and subject to bans and being declared “foreign agents” or “undesirable organizations.”

Meanwhile, here in the U.S., even top Republicans like Senator Mitch McConnell have blasted Carlson, pointing to him as the reason why many Republicans were against aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Can Carlson make up for his diminished U.S. audience with a Russian one? Even if he does, it’ll be difficult to profit from it, considering the massive Western sanctions against Russia.

This story has been updated.

A string of emails sent by attorney Robert Costello appears to have undercut the witness’s credibility just moments before Donald Trump’s first criminal trial concluded for the day.

Costello had previously represented Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and had allegedly offered a back-channel mode of communication between the former president and his former fixer (and current star defense witness) Michael Cohen in 2018.

But on Tuesday, the former federal prosecutor got caught up in a web of his own making and was forced to admit to moblike tactics that undercut the defense’s core argument.

In one message from 2018, Costello complained to his law partner Jeff Citron that Cohen was not cooperating, and that he believed instead that Cohen was “slow playing us and the president.”

“What should I say to this asshole?” Costello wrote. “He’s playing with the most powerful man on the planet.”

“This email speaks for itself?” asked prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.

“Yes, it does,” Costello told the court.

“You lost control of Michael Cohen?” Hoffinger continued.

“Absolutely not,” Costello replied.

In another 2018 message between Costello and Citron, the Giuliani attorney wrote that “our issue is to get Cohen on the right page without giving the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the President.”

“We must reverse the Avenatti effect and restore this to a far more simple investigation of things that while they might not look good politically and nevertheless legal,” the message continued, referring to Michael Avenatti, a since-disgraced attorney who represented Stormy Daniels, the former adult film actress that Trump is being accused of paying hush money to in 2016.

The emails clearly show the extraordinary lengths that Trump and his aides used to try to silence Cohen—and suggest that they were engaged in a cover-up.

Trump is accused of using Cohen to sweep an affair with Daniels under the rug ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The Republican presidential nominee faces 34 felony charges in this case for allegedly falsifying business records with the intent to further an underlying crime. Trump has pleaded not guilty on all counts.

Donald Trump’s defense rested and concluded witness testimony in his hush-money trial Tuesday—and the former president pathetically chickened out of taking the stand.

“Yeah, I would testify, absolutely,” Trump told reporters in April before the trial began. “I’m testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth, and the truth is that there is no case.”

His lawyer Alina Habba again confirmed on Monday that he wants to take the stand—that he is “willing” and “able.”

But in the end, the beleaguered blowhard weaseled out of it.

Trump has wailed at length about a gag order issued by Judge Juan Merchan restricting his public statements, arguing incoherently that the gag order prohibits him from testifying—a statement that is flatly untrue, as the gag order applies to public statements from Trump targeting jurors and prosecution and does not apply to sworn testimony.

Perhaps Trump chickened out because his allies are familiar with his proclivity to ramble uncontrollably and knew he would likely put his foot in his mouth, as he’s already been doing.

In lieu of public statements, Trump has benefited from a rotating gaggle of copycat surrogates speaking on his behalf and admitting to helping him violate his gag order over and over again.

Merchan concluded Tuesday morning that closing arguments would resume the following Tuesday—leaving Trump a full week off from court to violate his gag order again.

Senator Ted Cruz posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) Monday afternoon touting all his help after a storm hit the Houston area on Thursday. Unfortunately for him, the internet never forgets, and in his case, he doesn’t have the best record on natural disasters.

In 2021, Cruz dashed off to vacation in Cancun while much of Texas was without electricity after a winter disaster, earning him scorn and mockery from his political colleagues as well as on social media. His post on Monday quickly brought in commentators eager to remind him of his actions.

Some brought up how he’s spent his time touting his podcast (which could get him in campaign finance trouble) and hawking his new book.

The Lose Cruz PAC, which is raising money to oust the Texas senator, also got in on the act.

Cruz is facing a tough reelection campaign against Representative Colin Allred, a former football player, and is looking to shore up any support he can. Cruz has a number of obstacles this time, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential candidacy pulling away votes and dangerously low fundraising numbers.

He should probably be doing things in Congress that would help his popularity, but in true Cruz fashion, he’s trying to make sure airlines don’t have to easily offer refunds and wants to give politicians extra security in airports so they that don’t get bothered if they leave their state in the middle of a disaster.

An imprisoned former senior Trump White House aide is already envisioning Donald Trump’s second presidential term—and it includes “mass deportations.”

Peter Navarro is serving a four-month sentence in federal prison for refusing to respond to a congressional subpoena during the House Select Committee’s January 6 investigation. But time in the clink has helped Trump’s self-described “alter ego” iron out the finer details of Trump’s presidential politics—from international trade and alliances to border security, according to Semafor.

“The New MAGA Deal documents 100 actions in 100 days,” Navarro said, referring to a new book he’s working on behind bars.

At the top of the agenda of unfinished business is a plan to bring private-sector supply chains and manufacturing “back to U.S. soil.”

“American multinational corporations naturally want to offshore American jobs in their search for cheap, sweatshop labor and pollution havens,” Navarro said. “That’s why God created tariffs.”

But tariffs and economic restrictions are only the beginning. Within those first 100 days, Navarro predicted that Trump will promise to close the border and force immigrant populations out of the country.

“Trump will also quickly seal the border and begin mass deportations,” Navarro told Semafor, blaming President Joe Biden for importing a “wave of crime and terrorism” and an “uneducated mass” to the nation.

And any former staff who even remotely opposed Trump’s plans during his first term can forget about being invited back to serve the GOP presidential nominee again, according to Navarro. That includes Trump’s former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who Navarro said did everything he could to “soften” Trump’s economic agenda. Instead, only those completely loyal to Trump’s vision will have a spot in the forthcoming term.