Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We begin with a contrast between Navalny and Putin, with one wanting to see, quote,

the beautiful Russia of the future and the other fixated on historical delusions of reviving

Russian imperialism. Joining us is Daniel Treism, acting director of the Center for European and Russian Studies,

and a professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles,

a leading specialist on the politics and economics of post-communist Russia.

He's the author of a number of books on Russia, including the new autocracy,

information, politics, and policy in Putin's Russia, and spin doctors,

the changing face of tyranny in the 21st century. We will discuss his article at CNN,

the best tribute we can pay to Navalny. Then we will examine House Speaker Mike Johnson's

financial ties to Russian oligarchs in an attempt to

understand why he's cutting off aid to Ukraine when they are running out of ammunition in the war

against Russian imperialism. Joining us is Anna Mosulia, the editor and investigations manager at

Open Secrets, which tracks the influence of money in U.S. politics.

Her research areas also include foreign influence and investigations into opaque spending networks,

trained as a lawyer. She has held additional roles with the D.C. Superior Court senior judges'

chambers, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Underlaw Voting Rights

Project, the D.C. Council Committee on Government Operations, the U.S. House of Representatives,

and the Sunlight Foundation. Then finally, with two juveniles arrested for the mass shooting

that turned the Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City into a tragedy and three first

responders gunned down in Minneapolis today answering a domestic dispute and one killed and five

...