WEBVTT

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BILL BROWDER: I'm a
guy who went to Russia

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to run an investment fund.

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I discovered corruption,
I exposed it,

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and I fell out with the regime.

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LINETTE LOPEZ: So we
have a lot to talk about.

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Over the last few
days, we've seen

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some incredible, incredible
news from Russia and the UK

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all around the United
States about violence

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at the hands of Putin's regime,
which you've experienced.

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In the UK, a former Soviet
spy and his daughter

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were attacked using a
nerve gas that we haven't

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seen since World War II.

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We have an ally of
Boris [? Berezovsky ?]

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mysteriously killed.

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And we have-- now, we have
sanctions, new sanctions

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against the Russian government
from the United States,

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UK, France.

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Give us your take on this.

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What do we-- what
should we expect to see,

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and what does this mean that
is going through Putin's head?

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And what is happening
in Russia right now?

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BILL BROWDER:
First of all, let's

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put something in perspective.

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So Russia has now captured--
is in the headlines of almost

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every different issue.

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This is a country
with the economy

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the size of New York state.

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So this is not because
they're an economic superpower

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that they're doing all
this kind of stuff.

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This is because Vladimir Putin
is effectively the biggest

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criminal in the world.

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He's a mafia boss, and he's
going around doing mafia

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techniques in
international relations,

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and he's gotten
everybody's attention.

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And part of the reason
that he's doing this

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is that he needs to
distract everybody in Russia

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from the problems that
are going on in Russia.

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And so he's just poking
at every different thing,

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and creating all this
crisis and controversy.

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LINETTE LOPEZ: You spearheaded
the Magnitsky Act, which

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some Russians, I
think, blame for part

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of their economic situation.

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Can you explain what you've
done, how you did it, and why?

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BILL BROWDER: So first
of all, so who am I?

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I'm a guy who went to Russia
to run an investment fund.

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I discovered corruption,
I exposed it,

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and I fell out with the regime.

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And in retaliation, they
kicked me out of the country.

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They raided my offices.

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They seized my investment
holding companies,

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and used them to steal
$230 million in taxes

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that I paid to the
Russian government.

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A young lawyer named Sergei
Magnitsky discovered the crime,

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exposed it, and he was
subsequently arrested, tortured

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for 358 days, and
killed at the age of 37

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on November 16th, 2009.

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Since then, I've
been on a mission

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to get justice for Sergei.

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And that's led to a
piece of legislation

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here in the United States
called the Magnitsky Act, which

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freezes the assets
and bans the visas

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of people who killed
Sergei and people

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who do similar types of things.

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The Magnitsky Act
is now in seven

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countries around
the world, and Putin

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hates it with all of his heart.

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Why does he hate it?

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Because Putin has stolen an
enormous amount of money,

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and he's killed a lot of
people in the process.

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And he understands,
rightfully so,

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that the money that
he's stolen, which

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he keeps in Western
banks, could be

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seized under the Magnitsky Act.

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And so as a result, he's made
it his single largest foreign

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policy priority to
repeal the Magnitsky Act.

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He's stated that publicly.

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LINETTE LOPEZ: So why do Putin's
cronies hate Magnitsky so much?

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BILL BROWDER: So normally,
when you go into government

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in a regular country, you
go in to serve the country

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and serve the people
of the country.

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In Russia, people go into
government to effectively

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become [INAUDIBLE] or mafia
bosses of different areas

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of the economy.

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And they steal an
enormous amount of money,

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and every different government
official is spectacularly rich.

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But as much as they steal
that money in Russia,

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they don't feel comfortable
keeping it in Russia.

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They want to keep
it in the West.

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And because they
keep it in the West,

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all that money is exposed.

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And then the whole purpose of
going into government, where

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they've spent all
this time and energy

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stealing money and terrorizing
people is all for naught.

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All that hard work is for naught
if that money gets frozen.

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And so for them,
it's-- and I should

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point out that these people
value money over human life.

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And therefore, it's
so crucial to them

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that their money is safe.

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And if their money is not safe,
then they feel very angry.

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And they're particularly
angry at the guy who

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created the Magnitsky
Act to make their money

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not safe, which is me.

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