Share & Krang & Tell with Michael Cruz Kayne and Katie Nolan

Pablo Torre Finds Out

The episode explores the intersection of high-level political corruption and the commercialization of community institutions. The hosts inve

Key takeaways

• ProPublica investigation suggests Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev may have funded significant expenses for Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding festivities.
• The International Boxing Association (IBA) faces scrutiny over governance scandals and its ties to the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

Main topics

• Russian oligarch wedding funding
• IBA boxing controversies

Notable quotes

The whole thing involves a guy named Umar Kremlev.

Conclusion

The episode highlights a troubling trend where both political influenc

Transcript preview

Speaker 6 (0:00) Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what Speaker 5 (0:04) this sound is. No matter what happens today, Michael, you are not going to throw up. Your butt might throw up, but your face won't. Right after this. Speaker 8 (0:20) Happy birthday. Thank Speaker 5 (0:22) you. To Speaker 8 (0:22) you. Just Speaker 5 (0:23) turned the big 2-4. Delated. Thank you. Speaker 8 (0:25) It Speaker 5 (0:25) was a lie. Yeah. I said thank you. Speaker 6 (0:27) You Speaker 8 (0:27) did. Speaker 5 (0:28) Happy Speaker 6 (0:28) birthday. Speaker 2 (0:28) You're Speaker 6 (0:28) welcome. And thank you. Speaker 8 (0:29) Happy birthday to you. Early happy birthday to you. Speaker 6 (0:32) Yes. Speaker 8 (0:32) That's this weekend. Speaker 6 (0:34) That's right. Whoa. Speaker 8 (0:35) That's right. Speaker 6 (0:36) Big fun time. Speaker 8 (0:37) Early happy birthday to you, Pablo Torre. I Speaker 6 (0:39) thank both of you. And happy birthday to you whenever your birthday Speaker 8 (0:42) is. Speaker 6 (0:42) January Speaker 8 (0:42) 28th. We're not close. J-2 Speaker 6 (0:43) -8. J Speaker 8 (0:44) -2-8. J6. Speaker 6 (0:46) J6. That's your favorite day. Right. And then my birthday is January 28th. A few weeks later. Speaker 8 (0:51) You Speaker 6 (0:51) will be insurrecting your roof again. Speaker 8 (0:53) That's right. Yeah. I'm going up there and I'm saying, where's Pelosi? She's not there. But I'll find her. Speaker 6 (1:01) You used to do fake tans. Speaker 8 (1:03) Me? Speaker 6 (1:04) Yeah. Didn't you? Speaker 8 (1:05) Who the f*** is he talking to? Speaker 6 (1:07) I'm sorry. Let's cut that. No, I don't. Speaker 8 (1:08) I've never. I'm afraid it's going to look orange. Sorry. Speaker 6 (1:11) Fake tanning versus tanning booth. Call both of them. I used to go Speaker 8 (1:14) in a tanning bed. As a Filipino Speaker 6 (1:15) -American. Yeah, Speaker 8 (1:16) sure. Speaker 6 (1:17) My dog. Bow wow. All non-sun tans are fake. Speaker 8 (1:21) Okay, yeah. When I was in high school, I was going to the tanning bed still. That was like, you know, Speaker 2 (1:26) for Speaker 8 (1:26) prom. You're putting on little goggles. Little goggles for eye protection. Speaker 2 (1:30) A Speaker 8 (1:31) little, um, a sticker. You'd put right here so that when you got your tan, you'd peel off the sticker and then, oh, look, you've got a little Playboy bunny on your, I don't know why. Wait, Speaker 5 (1:42) it Speaker 8 (1:42) was a bunny? Speaker 5 (1:42) Yeah, you would get, you'd Speaker 1 (1:43) buy Speaker 5 (1:43) a little sticker Speaker 8 (1:44) and you'd put it on your, somewhere on your body. Oh, Speaker 5 (1:47) it was ornamental. Yes, of course. I thought it was to tell the difference between how much darker you'd gotten. Speaker 8 (1:52) Yeah, it also was that. I Speaker 5 (1:54) never did a tanning bed. Are you? Speaker 8 (1:57) There were some that are laying down. Are you fully clothed? Yes. Yeah, yeah. Going into my sun protection. Let's Speaker 5 (2:02) get Speaker 8 (2:02) a little Speaker 5 (2:02) more specific. Fully naked is Speaker 8 (2:04) what Speaker 5 (2:04) I meant to ask. Fully Speaker 8 (2:04) naked. High school Katie. Speaker 5 (2:06) Okay. Speaker 8 (2:07) Sometimes you'd lay down, but then the lay down ones were weird because, why are we talking about this? The lay down ones were weird because you'd get a weird tan line around your, you don't think about this, and I'm really sorry, but your second time you realize you have to sort of. Speaker 8 (2:22) Spread them when you lay down. Otherwise, your butt cheeks will Speaker 5 (2:26) be Speaker 8 (2:27) a tan line. In your Speaker 5 (2:29) butt cheeks. Right. Speaker 8 (2:29) And then I hated doing that. I didn't like the way that felt. So then I started to do the stand-up ones where you put your hands in the little stirrups like you're at the reverse gynecologist. Speaker 6 (2:38) Oh, you're Ronco rotisserie chickening? Speaker 8 (2:40) Exactly. You just set it and forget it. And then there you stand. I Speaker 5 (2:43) love the idea of reverse gynecologists. Speaker 8 (2:46) Yeah. So that's what we used to do. But now I think those things are illegal. I don't think anyone's operating. I'm probably still on Long Island. Speaker 5 (2:52) Because those are just like just cancer machines. You're just Speaker 8 (2:54) cooking. Yeah. It's not. It's like UV right in your face. Speaker 5 (2:57) UV getting cancer. Speaker 8 (2:59) That's right. UV 40. Red, red wine. What are we going to talk about today, Pablo? This Speaker 5 (3:03) is it, baby. This is the pod. You're already doing it. Speaker 6 (3:22) If you've ever woken up tired and sore, and let's be honest, who hasn't? This one is for you. There are few things that set you up for success like a good night's sleep. And the best way to ensure a good night's sleep is with a mattress that fits your needs. Are you a hot sleeper? A side sleeper? Do you have a partner who tosses and turns all night? Whatever your issue, Helix has a mattress designed for you thanks to 20 different mattress models and a handy quiz on their website. to match a mattress specifically to your needs. That is why this year, I decided to upgrade my setup with the Helix Dusk Elite mattress. And it is a game changer. Since switching, you genuinely notice better sleep, fall asleep faster, fall asleep longer, and you wake up feeling way more ready for the day. So whether your issue is temperature, back pain, or motion transfer, Helix has the perfect mattress for you. Plus, they offer a 120-night sleep trial. and limited lifetime warranty. Rest easy with the Happy with Helix Guarantee, a risk-free, customer-first experience designed to ensure that you're completely satisfied with your new mattress. So go to helixsleep.com slash P-T-F-O for up to 27 % off site-wide. This is exclusive for listeners with the code that is helixsleep.com slash P-T-F-O for 27 % off site-wide. helixsleep.com slash P-T-F-O. I actually wanted to go to the beach. Speaker 6 (4:55) in a story about Donald Trump Jr. Speaker 8 (4:58) Oh, man. Did Speaker 6 (4:59) you guys read this one? DJT. Did you guys read any of this one? I know a little bit about Speaker 8 (5:03) it. Speaker 6 (5:03) I Speaker 8 (5:03) didn't check my DJT newsletter this week. Speaker 6 (5:05) This is the wedding? This is the wedding. So, ProPublica, which is a nonprofit journalistic outfit that does incredible work. They just did this thing about Susan Collins in which they got a check that exposed corruption. Allegedly, I guess I got to say, although the reporting is pretty conclusive, I would say. They've been killing it. The story they did before that that popped into my feed was interesting to me on a couple of levels. One level is that involves wedding planning. The other level we can get to. But the whole story involves a guy named Umar Kremlev. Is it Speaker 5 (5:41) ethnically insensitive to say that sounds like a villain? If it is, cut that out. He is a Russian oligarch. It's the Krem. The Krem is where it got me. Speaker 8 (5:52) The Krem Speaker 6 (5:53) is a bit... It's Speaker 5 (5:54) a little too Speaker 8 (5:54) on the nose. A little obvious. A little too on the nose. But very easy to Speaker 6 (5:57) remember. Kremlev Kremlin Putin oligarch allied guy. Speaker 8 (6:03) Maybe that's why it sounds familiar to me, but it does sound familiar to me. I feel as though I've run into this name before. Speaker 6 (6:10) You're going to want to hold that thought. Speaker 8 (6:11) Okay. As we Speaker 6 (6:12) transport ourselves to the Caribbean. Oh, I love that. Not where Katie got her town. Very different. Very different. Speaker 8 (6:20) Oh, look, beautiful. A thousand likes. Speaker 6 (6:23) So a big part of investigative reporting these days, and I can attest to this because you guys have experienced me attesting to this, I guess, is that you go on Instagram accounts and you just scroll for a while. Speaker 8 (6:34) Sick. I do that anyway, so I'm an investigative reporter, basically. Speaker 5 (6:37) People are just incriminating themselves on Instagram. Is that what you're saying? They're leaving behind clues Speaker 6 (6:42) that perhaps they forget or they assume no one's going to piece this all together. But it turns out that in this photograph with a bunch of likes on it from this is an Instagram gallery posted by a friend of Don Jr.'s bride. Okay. So think of the levels. We all do this, right? You're falling into... clicking on bold-faced names and figuring out who's commenting, who's liking. You get eventually to a friend of Bettina Anderson, now Don Jr.'s wife. And you get to looking through the roster here. Speaker 2 (7:19) And Speaker 6 (7:20) the issue that the reporters at ProPublica faced was that they'd heard a rumor that Umar Kremlev, who sounds villainous and may well be, according to the reporting, in various legitimate ways, had been in attendance at this wedding. Which I just got to stop to say should be just on its face, if true, a Speaker 8 (7:39) big deal. Speaker 6 (7:40) Big Speaker 8 (7:41) if true. Speaker 6 (7:42) Because the whole thing of him being allied with Vladimir Putin and this being Donald Trump Jr. But they had to find proof. And so they were scrolling and zooming and scrolling and zooming. And hence. And they found a bald head. Speaker 8 (7:59) Oh, and he's not prominent. Look how stupid Don Jr.'s face is in that picture. Let's talk Speaker 6 (8:06) about Don Jr. Speaker 5 (8:07) first. For people who can't see this photograph. I would say it looks like a suck-in. Speaker 8 (8:12) It's a suck-in of the stomach. And it also looks like he's going, what? What? Who is? What? And then they took the picture. It looks like he's in the middle of saying something that's like, who? Speaker 3 (8:23) Yeah. I bet you don't even know how to use that thing. Speaker 8 (8:25) What? That's the face he's making. You know, it's the sound I'm making is the face he's making. Close your eyes. That's it. Speaker 6 (8:33) A friend of the bride was like, you know what? I'm going to make sure I look great. Speaker 5 (8:37) The Speaker 6 (8:37) groom, though, is going to look like the dictionary definition of derp. Speaker 5 (8:40) Is that Tiffany? Is Tiffany flanking the bride on the other side? That's right. You never see Tiffany Trump just like doing anything. Tiffany Trump in the wild. I didn't know there'd be an invite. Good for her? I don't know. Sure. Maybe fine. Speaker 8 (8:51) But then in the back. You're seeing, so it's basically two rows of people, the front row with the bride, the groom, Tiff, and then the second row behind them of taller people. And then there is not really a third row except for one, maybe two guys. And you're seeing just the top of a bald head. And that, you're saying, is a very important bald head? That's Speaker 5 (9:14) Umar Kremlev. That Speaker 6 (9:15) is the bald gleaming head of Umar Kremlev. Speaker 5 (9:17) He's in the picture in a way that you're either... trying to not be in the picture or trying to be in the picture, but he's not in the picture. Right. And I think Speaker 6 (9:27) this is a really important sort of metaphor for what happened here. Because you kind of want to allegedly contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to Don Jr.'s wedding weekend, but you also don't want to be, I guess, caught unless... You do want to poke your head above. Like if you wanted to hide. Speaker 5 (9:47) You Speaker 8 (9:47) just go to the bathroom. Just don't be there. But Speaker 5 (9:49) the way that he's in this picture is kind of like, have you ever told somebody, hey, I'm sick and I can't come to your thing. But then you go to a different thing. And at the different thing, they take a picture. Everybody get in the picture. You don't want people to know you're trying to not be in the picture. So you get in the picture, but just what's about to be taken. You don't Speaker 8 (10:07) stand up for yourself. You don't go, hey, I don't think anyone can see me. If the camera Speaker 5 (10:10) can't see you, you're like, that's what I want. I want the camera not to see me. That's what he's doing. Speaker 8 (10:14) Seems Speaker 6 (10:14) like. Oh, he was doing the, if I don't move, they can't see me. Speaker 8 (10:18) Yeah. Speaker 6 (10:19) Treating us like a Speaker 8 (10:20) bear? Speaker 6 (10:20) Jay Park again. Speaker 8 (10:21) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 6 (10:22) So anyhow, Don Jr., secret benefactor, as the Arrow helpfully points out, thanks to ProPublica, the controversy that followed once it was reported in public, you got to understand what happened when they went to Don Jr. and Bettina Anderson for comment. Because in a statement, Bettina Anderson stated that Kremlev did not pay for her wedding. I have heard this part. I love this part. What did he do instead, according to Bettina Anderson, Michael? Speaker 5 (10:50) I think it was that he paid for like an after party, basically, right? He paid for the days of festivities Speaker 6 (10:57) afterwards. It's very much like we didn't get a bribe for that. Bettina claimed that those events were part of an already planned trip that initially had nothing to do with her wedding to Don Jr. And that the couple decided later to tack their wedding onto the front of the trip. Speaker 6 (11:17) as all of us have experience doing. Speaker 5 (11:20) Yeah, and she's pretty upset about it. She's like, there's never any contrition in any of this from this particular group of people. I Speaker 6 (11:28) will point out, the ceremony was on a Friday. And in fairness to Umar Kremlev and Bettina Anderson, no Russians there. Sponsored entirely by Chick-fil-A. Speaker 6 (11:40) Allegedly. But the first dance. Speaker 8 (11:43) No, what? No. Speaker 6 (11:44) That was paid for by Umar Kremlin. Speaker 8 (11:46) No, what? Sorry, what? What? How do you have your first dance not at your wedding? Speaker 5 (11:50) Did they not have a reception? Speaker 8 (11:52) Did they not touch each other or dance during their wedding? Because otherwise, any dancing that happened right after getting married counts as your first dance. Speaker 5 (12:00) Well, Speaker 6 (12:00) these are the constitutional questions our Republic Speaker 8 (12:02) has to Speaker 6 (12:02) grapple with. Speaker 8 (12:03) Did Speaker 6 (12:03) ProPublica get into this, what we're talking about right now? Speaker 8 (12:06) ProPublica? If I know them. Speaker 6 (12:08) Very importantly noted that Bettina Anderson wore her wedding dress. Oh, Speaker 8 (12:13) my Speaker 6 (12:14) God. To me, that's still part of your wedding. Speaker 5 (12:16) Well, I Speaker 8 (12:17) also feel like if you're taking funding, which I have many questions, and this isn't the first of them. It's just the one we're running into first. If you're taking secret, creepy funding for your maybe wedding or the things around your wedding, you're wearing the same dress. Use that money to buy yourself a bunch of different... I have Speaker 5 (12:34) poor friends who are doing costume changes at their weddings. That have worn two, dress for Speaker 8 (12:38) the ceremony, dress for the party. Speaker 5 (12:40) Yeah. Speaker 8 (12:41) She's wearing the Speaker 5 (12:42) same dress. The next day? I mean, honestly, I think that's feminist. I