Sordid story or ridiculous confabulation?
An Eric Zuesse post on substack caught my attention. At first I thought i was learning something of the way things are behind the scenes. But I soon got to thinking it was all too James Bondish.
So I asked AI to tell me what it thinks of it.
This is what AI (our recorded mass mind) thinks and this is a link to the original:
https://ericzuesse.substack.com/p/does-this-sordid-history-explain?r=b7hw3&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
AI:
This text falls into the category of a ridiculous
confabulation—specifically, a classic web of grand conspiracy
theories that weaves real-world political figures, actual financial
scandals, and genuine deaths into a dramatic, fictional narrative.
While the excerpt references real historic events and real people,
it fundamentally twists the facts to create a grandiose storyline.
Fact vs. Fiction: Deconstructing the Claims
1. Martin A. Armstrong & The Princeton Economics Fraud
The Claim: Armstrong was targeted by U.S. intelligence
because he refused to hand over his economic prediction model, and
he was jailed merely on “contempt” charges as part of a
government cover-up.
The Reality: Armstrong ran Princeton Economics
International. In 1999, he was charged by the SEC, CFTC, and U.S.
prosecutors with running a massive $3 billion Ponzi scheme
that cheated Japanese investors. He was held in civil contempt for
seven years for refusing to hand over approximately $15 million in
assets (including gold and rare coins) to the court. He eventually
pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud in 2006 and served a prison
sentence.
2. Edmond Safra’s Death & “Ninja” Attackers
The Claim: Bankers and intelligence agencies had
banker Edmond Safra murdered via a hit squad using black ninjas
because of his involvement in a scheme against Russia.
The Reality: Edmond Safra died of smoke inhalation in
his Monaco penthouse on December 3, 1999. His American nurse, Ted
Maher, invented the story about two hooded intruders (“ninjas”)
to make himself look like a hero for fighting them off. Maher had
actually set a small fire in a wastebasket to stage a dramatic
rescue attempt to earn Safra’s favor, but the fire quickly spiraled
out of control. Maher was convicted of arson resulting in death by a
Monaco court.
3. The $7 Billion IMF / Bank of New York Scandal
The Claim: Safra and Wall Street bankers tricked Boris
Yeltsin into stealing $7 billion from the IMF to set him up for
blackmail, forcing him to pick Vladimir Putin as a savior.
The Reality: The Bank of New York money laundering
scandal in the late 1990s was a massive flight-of-capital scheme
involving Russian businessmen and corrupt officials moving money out
of post-Soviet Russia to evade taxes and capital controls.
Comprehensive audits by international firms (such as PwC) and U.S.
federal investigations found that IMF funds were not stolen or
laundered in the BNY accounts. Furthermore, Yeltsin appointed
Putin as Prime Minister and successor due to internal Kremlin power
dynamics, political fealty, and Putin’s rising popularity—not an
IMF blackmail plot engineered by New York bankers.
4. Sergei Magnitsky & Bill Browder
The Claim: Sergei Magnitsky was an accountant caught
up in Safra’s scheme, and the US Magnitsky Act was passed under
fraudulent pretenses.
The Reality: Sergei Magnitsky was a Russian tax lawyer
who uncovered a $230 million tax fraud scheme perpetrated by corrupt
Russian law enforcement officers and officials who had hijacked
companies belonging to Hermitage Capital. After reporting the
officials, Magnitsky was arrested by the very officers he
implicated, held without trial, beaten, denied medical care, and
died in a Moscow prison in 2009. The Magnitsky Act was subsequently
passed to target those specific human rights abusers.
Why These Theories Persist
Authors like Eric Zuesse and figures like Martin Armstrong
capitalize on the complex financial and geopolitical chaos of 1990s
post-Soviet Russia. Because the privatization period in Russia was
genuinely marked by rampant corruption, oligarchic power grabs, and
western financial missteps, it provides fertile ground for “grand
puppet-master” narratives that blame all outcomes on secret
CIA/Wall Street cabals.