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Leigh Ann Caldwell, Julia Ioffe, Peter Hamby, Abby Livingston & John Heilemann
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Sunday through Thursday
Puck’s daily political newsletter from Washington—featuring Leigh Ann Caldwell, Julia Ioffe, Peter Hamby, Abby Livingston, and John Heilemann—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, and the campaign trail.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Julia Ioffe
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January 11, 2023
Kevin McCarthy’s Permanent Crisis
With the Speaker’s office on a MAGA leash, Hill insiders worry a shutdown is “guaranteed.” Others fear a disastrous debt ceiling debate, military spending freeze, or government funding limping along on continuing resolutions. Welcome to McCarthy’s Washington.
Julia Ioffe
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January 5, 2023
The War of Boebert Aggression
Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert might grandstand about their opposition to funding the Ukrainian opposition. But the reality is that the majority of our aid is being spent on munitions factories in the ruby red states of their allies.
Julia Ioffe
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December 20, 2022
Africa’s Xi-Biden Power Play
An exit interview with Martin Kimani, the Kenyan ambassador, on the U.N. Security Council, about playing China against the U.S., Africa’s debt conundrum, and standing up for Ukraine.
Julia Ioffe
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December 14, 2022
“Putin’s Chef”: The Man Behind Russia’s Shadow Army
Evgeny Prigozhin, the terrifying and inscrutable muscle behind Russia’s most notorious mercenary group, has been the hidden hand behind some of the worst carnage in Ukraine—and an increasingly vocal threat to Putin, himself.
Julia Ioffe
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December 9, 2022
Inside the Griner Prisoner Swap
Behind the scenes, the White House has alternated between pessimism and fury over Russia’s bad-faith negotiations, which is just how the Kremlin likes it. In the end, Biden had to settle for what he could get: a partial political victory.
Julia Ioffe
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December 6, 2022
Putin’s Shadow Fleet
The West’s blunt new economic policy, designed to starve the Russian petrostate of its lifeblood, could be the end of the global oil market as we know it. The battle of wills is just beginning.
Julia Ioffe
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November 30, 2022
Inside Putin’s War of Attrition
Munitions are running low on both sides of the Ukraine conflict as military suppliers race to keep pace with Russia’s furious, WWI-like shelling. The artillery-heavy strategy is forcing the Pentagon to rethink its very notion of modern war.
Julia Ioffe
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November 23, 2022
Biden’s Price of Peace
Strategic differences between the Pentagon and the White House over the war in Ukraine illuminate the paradox of its endgame: How do you negotiate a peace that neither side can afford to win?
Julia Ioffe
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November 16, 2022
Putin’s Retreat & Kyiv’s Dangerous Hope
If there had been hope in Washington that the capture of Kherson would allow the Ukrainians to return to the negotiating table from a position of strength, that seems unrealistic now. From the Ukrainian vantage point, after all, what would they have to gain, when they still have so much to lose?
Julia Ioffe
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November 9, 2022
How Russia’s Kardashian Came in the from the Cold
The curious case of Ksenia Sobchak illustrates a profound truth about modern Russia, a society where Moscow’s elite are always playing a game of musical chairs for favor, status, wealth, and their very survival. In the context of an imperial war gone terribly wrong, the stakes have never been higher.
