RT founder found dead in Washington DC hotel.

[BillyB]

The founder of Russia Today's death in Washington DC is under investigation. He's travelled alongside Putin many times and credited with censoring a lot of news in Russia. Like other high level public servants in Russia, he became very rich. There's probably going to be a wide range of theories on to why he died. Maybe he pissed off Putin? Maybe America assassinated him? What's the majority of Russians think of this? Will they lose confidence in Putin or get fired up and blame America and further backing Putin's agenda anywhere in the world?


http://news.yahoo.com/putin-associate-found-dead-dc-hotel-003132222--abc-news-topstories.html

[jone]

Hmm.  Member of Russia's inner circle, but possibly not the Siloviki. 

Not on the Sanctions List and able to travel freely to the West in spite of all other major politicians blocked from Western travel?

Died under suspicious circumstances in his posh hotel room in Washington. 

In Los Angeles we know of this guy.  A real wheeler/dealer. 

Can anyone say:  FSB?

[Boethius]

Hmm.  Member of Russia's inner circle, but possibly not the Siloviki. 

Not on the Sanctions List and able to travel freely to the West in spite of all other major politicians blocked from Western travel?

Died under suspicious circumstances in his posh hotel room in Washington. 

In Los Angeles we know of this guy.  A real wheeler/dealer. 

Can anyone say:  FSB?

It is believed he died of a heart attack. 


All that stolen and laundered money, and hardly enough time to enjoy it.

[AkMike]

One of Putlers prize puppies moving to LA, away from Russia with ill gotten gains.  Nah it couldn't be anything out of the norm.

[BillyB]

It is believed he died of a heart attack. 

RT reported that it was a heart attack, the same news source that said a few days ago America and some European nations are jumping the gun concluding that the Russian airliner was a victim of terrorist attack and asking for evidence. We can't have Russians dying from terrorists because of Putin's actions in Syria.


It's best for America and Putin that everyone believes Mikhail Lesin at age 57 died of a heart attack though. Him getting assassinated would look bad for somebody even if they're innocent. I'll be waiting for the autopsy.

[AkMike]

Based on history Putler's friends don't seem to really die of natural causes. 

[Boethius]

The likelihood of a Russian citizen, who lives in Moscow, being murdered in the U.S., where an autopsy will occur, is pretty remote.

[AkMike]

It appears he moved to LA. Why stay in Russia?

"In a letter to the US Department of Justice, Sen Wicker said Mr Lesin bought property worth $28m (£18.6m) in Los Angeles for his family after finishing work as a civil servant.

Sen Wicker asked how a former civil servant would have been able to buy and maintain expensive property, and expressed concern their purchase may have involved people and groups on a US sanctions list."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34754590

[Boethius]

He was obviously KGB, which likely is how he ended up with RT and a fortune.  His wife ran RT in the US, which is why he was there.  However, he lived in Moscow at the time of his death.

[mendeleyev]

Bo, are you thinking of his daughter Katherine, who headed the RT Washington bureau at one point?

Margarita Simonyan, head of RT, is married to journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko.

You are very correct about the KGB/FSB connections.

[jone]

I am curious as to why he wasn't sanctioned. 

[ML]

"In a letter to the US Department of Justice, Sen Wicker said Mr Lesin bought property worth $28m (£18.6m) in Los Angeles for his family after finishing work as a civil servant.

Sen Wicker asked how a former civil servant would have been able to buy and maintain expensive property, and expressed concern their purchase may have involved people and groups on a US sanctions list."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34754590

Wicker is missing the point.  He didn't buy based on his civil servant salary or pension.

He had a great 401K program.

[ML]

Ochka reports that in Ukrainian/Russian websites, there is talk that he was frequenting Gay hangouts in the DC area.

[BillyB]

I am curious as to why he wasn't sanctioned.

Sanctioning the man would've help Russia, not hurt them. This is a man who brought tons of Russian money into America and has valuable secrets.


One thing I've learned is moving tens of millions of dollars worth of rubles into America while Russia is enduring economic hardship, resigning as the head of Gazprom last year for family, not health reasons, leaving Putin's inner circle and moving to America with knowledge of Russia's propaganda secrets increases risk of heart attack.


Why was he in Washington DC when his new home is in Los Angeles? Putin was probably wondering the same thing. Nobody in Los Angeles can offer asylum?

[mendeleyev]

Sanctioning the man would've help Russia, not hurt them. This is a man who brought tons of Russian money into America and has valuable secrets.


One thing I've learned is moving tens of millions of dollars worth of rubles into America while Russia is enduring economic hardship, resigning as the head of Gazprom last year for family, not health reasons, leaving Putin's inner circle and moving to America with knowledge of Russia's propaganda secrets increases risk of heart attack.


Why was he in Washington DC when his new home is in Los Angeles? Putin was probably wondering the same thing. Nobody in Los Angeles can offer asylum?

....and stroke, too. 

[jone]

Ochka reports that in Ukrainian/Russian websites, there is talk that he was frequenting Gay hangouts in the DC area.

Nah,

I don't think so.  I would have recognized him.   

[AkMike]

The Mysterious Death of the Man Behind Putin's Media Machine
By Peter Hobson

For a man who once shaped Russia's media sector, remarkably little is known about the last months of Mikhail Lesin's life.

A macho, "hell-for-leather guy," who as press minister from 1999-2004 broke the hold of oligarchs on Russia's media and asserted state power over the airwaves, Lesin was found dead on Nov. 5 in a Washington hotel, aged 57. According to relatives quoted by Russian media, he died of a heart attack.

A year earlier, Lesin's meteoric career had suddenly ended when he abruptly quit as head of Gazprom Media, one of the country's largest state-owned media conglomerates.

People who knew Lesin described him as a fiercely ambitious man, with the nickname "bulldozer." As head of Gazprom Media from 2013 to early 2015, he gave the impression of someone who felt "all-powerful," Vladimir Pozner, a television journalist who had known Lesin since the end of the Soviet Union, told The Moscow Times


http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/the-mysterious-death-of-the-man-behind-putins-media-machine/548764.html

[BillyB]

RT reported that it was a heart attack, the same news source that said a few days ago America and some European nations are jumping the gun concluding that the Russian airliner was a victim of terrorist attack and asking for evidence. We can't have Russians dying from terrorists because of Putin's actions in Syria.


It's best for America and Putin that everyone believes Mikhail Lesin at age 57 died of a heart attack though. Him getting assassinated would look bad for somebody even if they're innocent. I'll be waiting for the autopsy.

Autopsy is in. Lesin died of blows to the head, not of a heart attack as RT claimed. Anybody know if Russian media is reporting this autopsy?


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/us/former-putin-aide-found-in-washington-died-from-blows-to-head.html?_r=1

[mendeleyev]

Yes. Unfortunately, the prevailing theory is that the evil USA has faked his death in order to have him spill the beans all about how the Russian government works, and to learn all the deep and dark secrets about Putin.

Why it would be necessary to fake his death, or why the USA would covet any dark secrets he might know is never a part of the discussion. It just gets back to the old line that the USA wants all of Russia's natural resources and therefore is plotting the eventual overthrow of the beloved motherland. Or, is it the fatherland?

That is why Mr. Putin had to protect Russia by banning the import of tomatoes from Poland. Makes sense to me.

[Muzh]

Yes. Unfortunately, the prevailing theory is that the evil USA has faked his death in order to have him spill the beans all about how the Russian government works, and to learn all the deep and dark secrets about Putin.

Why it would be necessary to fake his death, or why the USA would covet any dark secrets he might know is never a part of the discussion. It just gets back to the old line that the USA wants all of Russia's natural resources and therefore is plotting the eventual overthrow of the beloved motherland. Or, is it the fatherland?

That is why Mr. Putin had to protect Russia by banning the import of tomatoes from Poland. Makes sense to me.

LMAO


I should send you the t-shirt I bought my little son. It reads: "I speak sarcasm fluently."

[mendeleyev]

 

[Shadow]

Investigations will show that Lesin hired a Ukrainian hooker who went berserk when she heard her client was close to Putin.

[AkMike]

The final report shows that he was beaten to death with multiple blunt force blows. 

 Another Kremlin killing!?

[mendeleyev]

My hunch is that there is a sexual angle somehow figuring into this situation...

[ML]

My hunch is that there is a sexual angle somehow figuring into this situation...

Yes, someone obviously was doing some banging.