Gulag is an acronym. So is CECOT
also: introducing the kleptocracy tracker
I talked to Tim Miller of the Bulwark about acronyms, prison camps, illegal deportations, as well as cultural revolution (Mao’s and ours), the tragedy of USAID leaving Africa, kleptocracy (of course) and more. I wrote a book about the Gulag more than twenty years ago, and did not at the time think anything about it would be relevant to US politics. But here we are.
Introducing the Kleptocracy Tracker
Last week I published Kleptocracy Inc, an article describing the range and scale of the Trump administration conflicts of interest and corruption. I argued that America is beginning to resemble countries such as Russia and China, “where the rulers’ conflicts of interest are simply part of the fabric of the system.” This week I am starting the Kleptocracy Tracker which will, I hope, provide regular updates. Here’s the first edition:
April 19
The White House announced that it would be soliciting corporate sponsors for its annual Easter Egg Role for the first time ever, presenting a new opportunity for business interests to purchase influence with the Trump administration. Meta, which is currently on trial for antitrust violations, was listed as one of the sponsors.
April 21
Cryptocurrency firms are pushing deeper into the US banking system – some seeking bank charters that would allow them to take deposits and offer loans – amid the friendly regulatory environment Trump has created. Trump’s crypto business interests mean these developments necessarily enrich him and his family.
Trump, it emerges, raised $239 million for his inauguration, shattering historical fundraising norms for the ceremony. Many big ticket donations came from corporate interests looking to purchase favor with the president, including $50 million in contributions from firms under investigation or facing federal enforcement actions.
Allegedly the Kremlin is dangling, once again, the prospect of a Trump Tower in Moscow to entice the president into a grand US-Russia bargain. Readers may remember that this was Trump’s own idea, well before the 2016 election, but it never got off the ground. Note that have already shown their willingness to play political games in countries where they have real estate deals: Jared Kushner’s hotel project in Serbia has coincided with Don Trump Jr’s visit to Serbia, during which he expressed his support for the prime minister, “a trip that offered perhaps the most explicit mixing so far in President Trump’s second term of U.S. foreign policy and the Trump family’s financial interests” according to the New York Times.
April 22
Trump-linked lobbying firms reported massive Q1 profits after organizations – including those targeted by the Trump administration and those seeking tariff carveouts – sought inroads to influence the president. For instance, Ballard Partners and Mercury Public earned $14 million and $5.1 million, respectively, last quarter alone, compared to total annual revenues of $19.3 million and $11.4 million each in 2024.
Firms that are politically connected to the administration, like Reyes Holdings – the owners of which have donated millions of dollars to Republican causes – are reportedly receiving tariff exemptions from the Trump administration.
Trump Media announced an agreement with Crypto.com and Yorkville America Digital to launch a series of exchange traded funds (ETFs) for investment products, including cryptocurrency. Remember, this is a sitting president, allegedly pursuing the public interest, continuing to enter business deals which enrich himself.
April 23
Trump announced that he would host a private dinner at his members-only Virginia golf club, followed by a tour of the White House, for the top 220 investors of his memecoin, $TRUMP. This is access, pure and simple, in exchange for money. Trump’s continued crypto-self-enrichment scheme comes as Paul Atkins – a friend to the cryptocurrency industry – was sworn in as SEC chairman this week.
April 24
Trump ordered the DOJ to launch an investigation into ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s core fundraising platform. This is an abuse of a government agency for the president’s personal political purposes, a classic example of state capture.
Roger Ver, a crypto entrepreneur known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus,’ facing federal fraud and criminal tax charges, paid Roger Stone Jr. $600,000 to lobby Trump to eliminate the tax provisions at the center of his indictment.
To-Read List: Money in Politics
Tim Mak, who writes and curates the great Counteroffensive substack, has identified Steve Witkoff’s business partner. It’s Len Blavatnik, a Russian-linked American businessman who made most of his money in Moscow in the 1990s. This link cannot fully explain Witkoff’s gullibility, or his apparent belief that Putin wants to be his friend. But it’s food for thought (and please subscribe to get all of Tim’s excellent work on Ukraine).
Tariffs are more than just a burden for the economy, they can also be a tool of political influence. An academic journal, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (JFQA) looked at Trump’s first term tariffs, and showed that that administration gave favorable tariff treatment to firms that were close to the administration, and punished firms that donated to Democrats. The much bigger tariff regime of this second term will give the president even more opportunities to reward allies and punish opponents. Read the article here:
Alphonse Mucha
If you happen to be in Washington, DC., do visit the Phillips Collection, a smallish gallery based in a Dupont Circle mansion. You should go there anyway, if only to visit Renoir’s The Boating Party, but right now they are also showing the work of the Czech Art Nouveau artist and graphic designer, Alphonse Mucha. You’ve probably seen his designs, or echoes of them (the Phillips shows some of those imitators). But this show puts him in his historical context.
Mucha opposed the idea of “art for art’s sake,” instead designing theater posters, advertisements, and prints to be sold cheaply to the public. The idea was that art should be both accessible and beautiful. Just because something was made to reach a lot of people didn’t mean it had to be ugly. As he got older, Mucha, probably influenced by the Czechoslovak national movement, also became more interested in older Slavic traditions and designs - the show contains some of his awkward early photographs of ladies posing as Czech peasants. At the end of his life he went entirely in that direction, spending years at work on a set of historical murals in a Czech castle. He died in 1939, a few months into the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, not long after being interviewed by the Gestapo.
Here are two of his portraits of the great actress Sarah Bernhardt, who played men as well as women
And here are three women, among them Diana Ross (she’s on a sixties album cover, not a 19th century poster, but you can see the influence)
Kleptocracy tracker is a great resource. Keep it growing and penetrating . As an American born , 25 years + Moscow entrepreneur, now retired in U.S,. I would add FYI: 1 . Lev Blavatnik is a British citizen , who to my knowledge , is a good man and great philanthroprist. 2. Trump Tower was joke in Russian circles when Don Junior walked around its proposed site 15 years ago. It was to be built in Moscow City a collossal failure , which current Mayor Sobanin calls , 'the worst thing that has happened to Moscow in 800 years'. More than half the m2 (ft2) today in Moscow City are leased by federal government agencies , or state owned companies , who were ordered by Putin to move there , Its raison d'etre is that an earlier 18 year Mayor Luzhkov acquired the land, before designating the site , roughly modeled on Paris La Defense.. He made billions.. No one except Trump's lapdogs would build a typical Trump laundry there now.
Great information thanks Anne applebaum