House Speaker Mike Johnson, self-proclaimed champion for human rights and freedom, and enemy of dictators everywhere, inched closer to getting Ukraine aid after eight months of successfully delaying it, empowering Russia's genocide. Kremlin state TV repeatedly praised Johnson for assisting their brutal invasion, which, as discussed in this week's bonus show, emboldened Iran to unleash a shocking swarm of drones and missiles against Israel.

The Ukraine aid package still faces delays, thanks to MAGA, and will have to go back to the Senate before it reaches President Biden's desk. The Trump-proposed changes, of structuring some of the aid as a loan, can be forgiven by the President, including partial loan forgiveness by Biden on his way out, should he lose the election. If Trump wins, he could force Ukraine to repay what's left of the loan and refuse to send ATACMS, the long-range missiles that have made Ukraine effective at blowing up Russian planes and other military targets that slaugher civilians. The compromise in this aid package, far less than what Ukraine actually needs to win the war, adds to the urgency to ensure Trump loses the electoral college. It's going to be a nailbiter, for America and the world. 

This week's bonus show includes reports that Paul Manafort is back to help Trump (and Russia) win the 2024 election. Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman and analyst Monique Camarra of the Kremlin File podcast join Andrea to discuss Manafort's dark arts and how they may help Trump and Russia illegally hijack our democracy once again.

Ari Berman of Mother Jones stops by Gaslit Nation next week to discuss his new must-read book Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It. Ari will share his insights on how we got here and what must be done to save our democracy.

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Show Notes:

 

Johnson's plan to send aid to Ukraine moves closer to reality "Democrats will not be responsible for this bill failing," one Democratic lawmaker pledged on Thursday morning. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/18/johnson-plan-send-aid-ukraine-moves-closer-becoming-reality/

 

Putin Ally Declares Mike Johnson 'Our Johnson' https://www.newsweek.com/putin-ally-declares-mike-johnson-our-johnson-1890071

 

Europe is already planning for what happens if Ukraine loses. It's ugly A newly energized Russia is already escalating grey-zone operations in Eastern Europe, says Estonia's defense minister. https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/04/europe-already-planning-what-happens-if-ukraine-loses-its-ugly/395715/

 

Why Did U.S. Planes Defend Israel but Not Ukraine? There are lessons for other nations in the events of the past few days. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/04/ukraine-israel-war-comparison/678077/?gift=hVZeG3M9DnxL4CekrWGK3zBTrwyTVOGzmWK5yps1Kck&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

 

U.S., NOT ISRAEL, SHOT DOWN MOST IRAN DRONES AND MISSILES American forces did most of the heavy lifting responding to Iran's retaliation for the attack on its embassy in Damascus. https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/iran-attack-israel-drones-missiles/

 

How Israel and allied defenses intercepted more than 300 Iranian missiles and drones https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/04/14/middleeast/israel-air-missile-defense-iran-attack-intl-hnk-ml

 

To be clear, if someone does trigger a motion to vacate -- anyone, MTG or Massie -- it would be incredibly perilous for Johnson. But remember: the first step is a motion to table. And Democrats could vote to table, and that's that. https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1780240955196539137

 

Why Israel's attack on Iranian consulate in Syria was a gamechanger Peter Beaumont and Emma Graham-Harrison A war long fought through proxies, assassinations and strikes outside Israel has spilled into the open https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/14/why-israel-attack-on-iranian-consulate-in-syria-was-a-gamechanger

 

Video Shows Ukrainian Plane Being Hit Over Iran The New York Times has obtained video of the moment a Ukrainian airliner was hit minutes after takeoff from Tehran. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/video/iran-plane-missile.html

 

The Great Oligarchs Escape: 'The Ground Is Trembling. They Will Stream Into Israel' As Ukraine war rages and the West tightens the screws on Russian oligarchs, many of them look to Israel to escape. Some hold Israeli citizenship, exactly for these kinds of circumstances. Billionaires will benefit from Israeli law, allowing them to hide sources of income for a 10-year period https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-03-10/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/the-great-oligarchs-escape-the-ground-is-trembling-they-will-stream-into-israel/0000017f-f2d9-df98-a5ff-f3fd182d0000

 

EXCLUSIVE: Ukrainian President @ZelenskyyUa said he spoke to lawmakers and the president about Ukraine's urgent need for wartime aid and stressed "please just make a decision," during an interview with @IAmAmnaNawaz. Stream more tonight at 6 ET online: https://to.pbs.org/3MzB3rB https://twitter.com/NewsHour/status/1779985953966219589