THREAD ON JOHN WHITTINGDALE TIPPED FOR NEW CULTURE SEC
At @BBCNewsnight I broke the story for TV about how @JWhittingdale failed to register a freebie for him and his lover who so happened to be a dominatrix - a word I had trouble pronouncing right
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At @BBCNewsnight I broke the story for TV about how @JWhittingdale failed to register a freebie for him and his lover who so happened to be a dominatrix - a word I had trouble pronouncing right
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Our story was based on a brill investigation by James Cusick for @openDemocracy: opendemocracy.net/en/ourbeeb/rea…
@George_Osborne mocked Whitto at lobby bunfight, discussing Brexit models, "the Albanian model, the Norwegian model... it turns out that John Whittingdale knew them all."
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@George_Osborne mocked Whitto at lobby bunfight, discussing Brexit models, "the Albanian model, the Norwegian model... it turns out that John Whittingdale knew them all."
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Whitto was toast. In spring 2016 I worked on a follow-up story about dodgy friendship between Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash and Whitto. The topline: "Culture Secretary John Whittingdale faces fresh questions tonight about his judgment in accepting £14,000 in benefits...
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My BBC online piece contd: "... from a front organisation for a FBI fugitive whose £105 million bail was paid by a Russian close to Vladimir Putin.
In March 2014 Mr Whittingdale’s effective benefactor, Dmytro Firtash, was arrested by the Austrian police on behalf of FBI..."
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In March 2014 Mr Whittingdale’s effective benefactor, Dmytro Firtash, was arrested by the Austrian police on behalf of FBI..."
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"...on corruption charges and hit with bail of £105 million (€125m; $174m). The bail bond was paid by Vasily Anisimov, a Russian billionaire close to Putin and head of Russia’s judo federation – Putin's favourite sport...
"...Firtash’s PR adviser, Sir Tim Bell, has said that the Americans ‘think he’s one of Putin’s gang.’"
My piece contd: "As a senior back bench MP Mr Whittingdale had five trips to Ukraine and two to Austria funded by the British Ukrainian Society (BUS) from 2010 to 2015...
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My piece contd: "As a senior back bench MP Mr Whittingdale had five trips to Ukraine and two to Austria funded by the British Ukrainian Society (BUS) from 2010 to 2015...
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"...widely held to be a front for Ukrainian gas oligarch Dmytro Firtash who was given a $11 billion loan facility by Gazprombank in 2011.
Whittingdale cited the BUS address as 25 Knightsbridge – which is actually the offices of Group DF – Firtash’s companies."
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Whittingdale cited the BUS address as 25 Knightsbridge – which is actually the offices of Group DF – Firtash’s companies."
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The BBC didn't run my follow-up piece for reasons I did not understand - see my letter to OfCom here: johnsweeney.co.uk/?blog=blogs/ar….
Whitto was sacked by T May in July '16. But since then US Congress impeachment investigation into @realDonaldTrump asked serious qs about Firtash
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Whitto was sacked by T May in July '16. But since then US Congress impeachment investigation into @realDonaldTrump asked serious qs about Firtash
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So John Whittingdale looks to be a Useful Idiot for the Kremlin. Never mind his non reporting of his freebie with the dominatrix, he benefited from Firtash's generosity and he is the target of an FBI extradiction request and too close to the Kremlin for comfort.
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So, Boris is thinking about making @jwhittingdale Culture Secretary again tomorrow. Boris says he is a One Nation Conservative. But if he hires Whitto, that nation is the Russian Federation.
#ReleaseTheRussiaReport
#ReleaseTheRussiaReport
So I challenge @JWhittingdale to defend his "friendship" with pro-Kremlin oligarch and FBI target Dmytro Firtash. And ask again, how can a useful idiot for the Kremlin be the right person to regulate Britain's media as Culture Secretary?
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