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U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, stands inside a defendants' cage next to his lawyers after a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended pre-trial detention, on April 23, 2024. | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images | BEHIND CLOSED DOORS — In the heart of the central Russian city of Ekaterinburg sits a vast glass and steel building — a museum honoring the man who led the country out of the Soviet Union, President Boris Yeltsin. Inside, past the exhibition of pictures of the former leader with Western politicians like George Bush Sr., the building opens up into a cavernous hall used for everything from book launches to dance recitals. Lit up by skylights, the architects had tried to create a space reflecting Yeltsin’s vision for a new Russia: modern, cultured, transparent. It’s a vision Yeltsin’s protégé — Vladimir Putin — has utterly destroyed, and one that has even seen the museum itself accused of being a ‘foreign agent.’ Next week, a nearby Ekaterinburg courthouse will play host to the trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and it will be anything but transparent. When the 32-year-old American citizen was detained in the city last March on ‘espionage’ charges, officials refused to release any evidence to support their claims — now, the proceedings will be held behind closed doors. Gershkovich is the first accredited reporter to be detained on spying charges since the end of the Cold War, and President Joe Biden has accused Moscow of carrying out the sham trial while “stockpiling Americans in Russian jails in order to be able to trade them at a later date.” At least a dozen U.S. citizens are languishing in jails in the authoritarian country following a sharp uptick in the wake of the full-scale war in Ukraine, and there’s every indication the Kremlin is using them as bargaining chips. In December, WNBA star Brittney Griner, detained on cannabis possession charges, was released as part of an exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer. The Kremlin said earlier this week that it is in talks that could see Gershkovich freed. Speculation has grown that his unjust stint in jail could be ended if Germany agrees to release Vadim Krasikov, a Russian hitman who killed a Chechen dissident in a Berlin park in 2019. But the practice of jailing innocent foreigners and trading them for others imprisoned abroad has expanded far beyond Russia. Over the weekend, Iran released EU diplomat and former humanitarian aid worker Johan Floderus, who had spent two years in a Tehran jail on similarly spurious spying charges. The Swedish citizen was let go as part of a deal that saw Stockholm release Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prison official convicted of war crimes for his involvement in the killings of thousands of prisoners at the hands of the regime in 1988. That cynical hostage strategy is already paying dividends for countries like Russia and Iran, and it’s proving almost impossible for those on the receiving end of it to counteract. Without the possibility of direct retaliation (unless the U.S. and its allies start picking up innocent civilians themselves), the West needs to consider new ways to keep its citizens safe — lest they be part of a trade for murderers and criminals. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ggavin@politico.eu or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @GabrielCSGavin .
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| | | | | — Alleged domestic abusers can’t own guns, Supreme Court rules: The Supreme Court has upheld the federal government’s power to ban possession of firearms by alleged domestic abusers , signaling limits to the high court’s recent expansion of gun rights through a broad interpretation of the Constitution’s right to bear arms. “Since the founding, our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, adding that the law in question “fits comfortably within this tradition.” The court ruled 8-1 that the ban does not violate the Second Amendment. Only Justice Clarence Thomas dissented. — Crypto crashes Capitol Hill’s stock ban talks: The rise of cryptocurrency is triggering a new fight in Congress . At issue in the conflict is whether bipartisan legislation to restrict lawmakers’ stock trading should also apply to digital assets. The question is dividing Reps. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, and Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, who are spearheading the stock ban proposal. Their bill would force lawmakers to place individual stocks they own into blind trusts, in a bid to curtail the temptation for members to trade based on privileged information. Spanberger and ethics watchdogs, as well as one key drafter of a previous stock trading crackdown, say the bill should treat crypto assets the same as stocks. But Roy is pushing back. — Manhattan DA seeks to largely maintain Trump’s gag order, citing threats to prosecutors: Prosecutors who handled Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial asked a judge to keep in place most of the restrictions imposed by a gag order , but conceded it was no longer necessary to limit the former president’s comments about witnesses who testified against him. In a filing made public today, prosecutors cited “intensified” threats against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, his family and the office’s staff, disclosing that two people involved in the case received bomb threats at their homes on the first day of the trial. Prosecutors described those threats as “directly connected to defendant’s dangerous rhetoric about this prosecution.”
| | CLOSING THE GAP — Donald Trump’s campaign significantly outraised President Joe Biden last month , according to federal filings that detailed the Republican fundraising explosion sparked by Trump’s felony convictions, reports The Associated Press. Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee together raised a robust $85 million in May and reported $212 million in the bank at the end of the month. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee said it raised a jaw-dropping $141 million in May, including tens of millions donated immediately after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in the New York hush money case. Overall, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee reported more than $170 million in the bank at the end of May, although Biden’s campaign questioned whether the groups were devoting resources to cover Trump’s legal fees. BOTH SIDES NOW — International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien plans to address the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next month , in what would be a rare appearance by a high-profile labor leader at the GOP’s quadrennial meeting, reports HuffPost. Trump announced the news via Truth Social today. A Teamsters spokesperson confirmed the planned appearance in an email and said O’Brien had asked to speak at both the Democratic and GOP conventions.
WATCH OUT FOR FAKE OR DOCTORED VIDEOS! CONTEXT CLUES — In the last two weeks, conservative news outlets, the Republican National Committee and the Trump team have circulated videos of President Joe Biden that lacked important context and twisted mundane moments to paint him in an unflattering light, reports The New York Times. Among the videos:
- Wandered off during a meeting with other Group of 7 leaders, an image that The New York Post ran on its front page (he was greeting paratroopers)
- Was escorted out of an event by his wife, Jill Biden, while President Emmanuel Macron of France stayed behind to greet veterans (a longer video showed Mr. Biden greeting veterans before his exit and then walking out with Dr. Biden)
- Struggled to sit down at a D-Day commemoration ceremony (after seemingly hesitating for an uncomfortable few seconds, he eventually took a seat when the next speaker was announced, as did others)
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Moldova's President Maia Sandu gestures to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as they arrive to address the media at the Moldovan Presidential Palace in Chisinau on May 29. | Elena Covalenco/AFP via Getty Images | LONG ROAD AHEAD — The EU will launch accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday, prompting gratitude in Kyiv and Chișinău. “I am grateful to everyone on our team who worked hard to make this historic step a reality,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “Millions of Ukrainians, and indeed generations of our people, are realizing their European dream. Ukraine is returning to Europe, where it has belonged for centuries, as a full-fledged member of the European community.” Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that “becoming an EU member is our path to peace, prosperity, and a better life for all citizens.” The accession talks are set to start in Luxembourg on Tuesday afternoon via two intergovernmental conferences that the EU will hold separately with Ukraine and Moldova. The opening of negotiations is the next step in what is likely to be a tough, yearslong journey toward membership. Ukraine and neighboring Moldova both applied to join the EU in 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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| | | LIKE A DOG — Could the secret to our health be moving like a four-legged animal ? The so-called quadrupedal workout — in which you crawl on all fours across the floor — is gaining popularity on TikTok, where the workouts have million of views. The idea of it is “reconnecting with our natural selves”. But does crawling around like a creature really help your health? For The Guardian, Madeleine Aggeler tried the workouts herself — and was surprised by how difficult they are. Aggeler reports on how an exercise trend can take off from TikTok and its actual benefits.
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On this date in 1993: Four Somalis pass by a U.N. tank on their way to a heavily guarded food distribution site in southern Mogadishu, Somalia. Under tight security, food distribution by humanitarian aid organizations resumed for the first day since June 5th for Somalis living in the south of Mogadishu. | Hansi Krauss/AP | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here .
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