Thank you for jumping on this, Jay. I suppose that in some odd way we should be happy, or at least relieved, that the would-be tyrants can still shock us. The treatment of Ms. Petrova would be outrageous if it took place in Putin's Russia. It is even more so in the United States. This whole episode is a disgrace, and an embarrassment to all Americans. It must be put right as soon as possible. I checked your link, which goes to a page from ICE in New England. It does not say, but I gather that the charge was brought in the District Court in Massachusetts. Here in Boston, we have a pretty decent group of federal judges; the 1st Circuit is somewhat less reliable, but better than many of the others. So, it seems likely to me that the charges will be thrown out at some point. I wonder whether the case can be transferred to the judge in Vermont, but I do not know the criminal rules. Still, I should think that if the judge in Vermont rules that there is no reason to hold Ms. Petrova, a judge in Boston is likely to grant bail on the criminal charge. That would at least get her released while the case goes forward. And were it to go to trial, I think they'll have a very hard time getting a Massachusetts jury to convict.
Here in VT we are waiting to see if Judge Reiss will hold the bail hearing next week, but what I have gathered from colleagues (biologists from Harvard and other institutions who are following this) they expect the next hearing to be in Massachusetts.
For (at least) decades the US scientists have had excellent rapport with scientists & researchers all over the world. These vicious & illegal acts by trump et al will have a serious chilling effect on US participation in international scientific research.
So sad to see all the progress in medical research made in our universities now fleeing our shores…the lively collaboration was so important…and spread to labs around the world. We are too quickly losing too much!
I remember the exodus of U.S. researchers when bush 2 turned towards anti-science…and bush 2 efforts were minimal compared to the slide into idiocy/idiocracy by trump/rfk. We are quickly becoming a kingdom of dunces & other nations are benefitting from our losses as brilliant minds are again finding warm welcomes elsewhere.
It seems the flaunting of the rule of law has now become the policy of this administration. As 45/47 noticeably deteriorates, the Stephen Millers and Russ Vought seem to be calling the shots, which, of course, pushes ambitious JD Vance to the sidelines. This is like watching a blender full of gazpacho swirling. Who is going to be that one cucumber piece that missed the blades?
To me, the unusual and false grounds for retaining and charging Kseniia Petrova is a clear signal that anyone who flees Russia after expressing a dissenting opinion and goes to the US will now be returned to Russia as a courtesy to Putin, Donald's dear friend and wannabe.
To some degree I believe all these seemingly random arrests/indictments are payback for the arrests, indictments, prosecution, and impeachments of Trump. It doesn’t matter who pays for the “injustices” done to him; anyone will do , and the message is that no one is safe. Collective punishment. And most important: vengeance.
There are indeed some parallels: 1) both returning to a temporary work assignment in a foreign country, 2) both arrested for a customs violation, 3) both thrown in prison. But after that the cases diverge, i. e. the political reasons for their detention seem quite different: 1) Russia used Griner's arrest to get a high-level prisoner exchange with the US; the US used Petrova's arrest for the reasons Jay outlines, but not among them is a prisoner exchange. 2) Griner wants to return to the US; Petrova has no desire to return to Russia. 3) Russia detained Griner for the long term and to use as leverage to get concessions from the US; the US detained Petrova in the short term only as an excuse to ultimately deport her and justify Trump's anti-foreigner agenda, 4) the courts in Russia are 100% behind Putin, the US courts, at least so far, are 100% against Trump.
Of interest would be if the discovery of Petrova's frog embryos was simply fortuitous for the US government as Griner's hash oil for the Russian. Or whether Trump had effected increased scrutiny of internationals returning to the US, especially academics, in hopes of advancing his deportation and anti-university agenda. I suppose autocrats sometimes just luck out.
Nitpick: I'd like to think that the courts are not against Trump so much as *for* an actual sane interpretation of the law and stare decisis. There are very few judges like Cannon who are so blatantly in thrall to the man that they'll sacrifice their principles and risk censure or reversal. There is the fifth circuit whose "conservative" ideological principles are clearly interfering with their jurisprudence and making them a go-to for judicial venue shopping. Then we have this SCOTUS whose conservative majority manages to twist itself into nonsensical multidimensional pretzels in order to adhere to some performative originalist interpretation of the constitution -- only when it's convenient. When scholars look back at this first quarter century (if they are able), they will find SCOTUS's three rulings that contributed the most to the dissolution of the republic: an individual right to bear arms (Heller), Citizens United, and absolute presidential criminal immunity for official acts. The last one is IMHO, the most egregious because it directly allows the executive to disregard or dismantle the judiciary itself.
In my view, Ms. Petrova's detention is entirely the work of Stephen Miller. tRump is Miller's mouthpiece and order taker. They should both be consigned to El Salvador's mega-prison.
Seems to me the orders likely came from Trump himself. He's not only the driver of extreme cruelty to set constant examples, but his bff, Putin, undoubtedly wants this person back in his hands so he can make an example of her. It's a win-win for dictators everywhere
Tom Homan is an arrogant authoritarian, and was probably the instigator of the criminal charge in conjunction with Ms ICE Cosplay Noem. I doubt the matter was elevated to 45.
Chilling. Goes hand in hand with Trump’s embrace of Russia, Qatar, UAE. We must keep the pressure on and Kip’s column is excellent and hopefully will be restacked and referenced many times over.
Thank you for jumping on this, Jay. I suppose that in some odd way we should be happy, or at least relieved, that the would-be tyrants can still shock us. The treatment of Ms. Petrova would be outrageous if it took place in Putin's Russia. It is even more so in the United States. This whole episode is a disgrace, and an embarrassment to all Americans. It must be put right as soon as possible. I checked your link, which goes to a page from ICE in New England. It does not say, but I gather that the charge was brought in the District Court in Massachusetts. Here in Boston, we have a pretty decent group of federal judges; the 1st Circuit is somewhat less reliable, but better than many of the others. So, it seems likely to me that the charges will be thrown out at some point. I wonder whether the case can be transferred to the judge in Vermont, but I do not know the criminal rules. Still, I should think that if the judge in Vermont rules that there is no reason to hold Ms. Petrova, a judge in Boston is likely to grant bail on the criminal charge. That would at least get her released while the case goes forward. And were it to go to trial, I think they'll have a very hard time getting a Massachusetts jury to convict.
Here in VT we are waiting to see if Judge Reiss will hold the bail hearing next week, but what I have gathered from colleagues (biologists from Harvard and other institutions who are following this) they expect the next hearing to be in Massachusetts.
For (at least) decades the US scientists have had excellent rapport with scientists & researchers all over the world. These vicious & illegal acts by trump et al will have a serious chilling effect on US participation in international scientific research.
Europe and China are already capitalizing on our fall from leadership here.
So sad to see all the progress in medical research made in our universities now fleeing our shores…the lively collaboration was so important…and spread to labs around the world. We are too quickly losing too much!
I remember the exodus of U.S. researchers when bush 2 turned towards anti-science…and bush 2 efforts were minimal compared to the slide into idiocy/idiocracy by trump/rfk. We are quickly becoming a kingdom of dunces & other nations are benefitting from our losses as brilliant minds are again finding warm welcomes elsewhere.
It seems the flaunting of the rule of law has now become the policy of this administration. As 45/47 noticeably deteriorates, the Stephen Millers and Russ Vought seem to be calling the shots, which, of course, pushes ambitious JD Vance to the sidelines. This is like watching a blender full of gazpacho swirling. Who is going to be that one cucumber piece that missed the blades?
Sounds like Pam Bondi and Stephen Miller. Evil and hateful
To me, the unusual and false grounds for retaining and charging Kseniia Petrova is a clear signal that anyone who flees Russia after expressing a dissenting opinion and goes to the US will now be returned to Russia as a courtesy to Putin, Donald's dear friend and wannabe.
I suspect that could be part of this persecution. But it also could be anti Harvard animus. Or both.
It is almost as though they think Republicans don't get cancer, just spinelessness.
To some degree I believe all these seemingly random arrests/indictments are payback for the arrests, indictments, prosecution, and impeachments of Trump. It doesn’t matter who pays for the “injustices” done to him; anyone will do , and the message is that no one is safe. Collective punishment. And most important: vengeance.
Is there anything I can do specifically on her behalf to help her?
There is a GoFundme set up by her housemate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-kseniia-a-harvard-scientist-in-need
Thank you! Donated.
Thank you. I donated and shared the link in my Facebook feed and Jay's post.
Another Deb: that was my question, too
The parallel between this and the US basketball player that was detained in Russia is chilling
There are indeed some parallels: 1) both returning to a temporary work assignment in a foreign country, 2) both arrested for a customs violation, 3) both thrown in prison. But after that the cases diverge, i. e. the political reasons for their detention seem quite different: 1) Russia used Griner's arrest to get a high-level prisoner exchange with the US; the US used Petrova's arrest for the reasons Jay outlines, but not among them is a prisoner exchange. 2) Griner wants to return to the US; Petrova has no desire to return to Russia. 3) Russia detained Griner for the long term and to use as leverage to get concessions from the US; the US detained Petrova in the short term only as an excuse to ultimately deport her and justify Trump's anti-foreigner agenda, 4) the courts in Russia are 100% behind Putin, the US courts, at least so far, are 100% against Trump.
Of interest would be if the discovery of Petrova's frog embryos was simply fortuitous for the US government as Griner's hash oil for the Russian. Or whether Trump had effected increased scrutiny of internationals returning to the US, especially academics, in hopes of advancing his deportation and anti-university agenda. I suppose autocrats sometimes just luck out.
Nitpick: I'd like to think that the courts are not against Trump so much as *for* an actual sane interpretation of the law and stare decisis. There are very few judges like Cannon who are so blatantly in thrall to the man that they'll sacrifice their principles and risk censure or reversal. There is the fifth circuit whose "conservative" ideological principles are clearly interfering with their jurisprudence and making them a go-to for judicial venue shopping. Then we have this SCOTUS whose conservative majority manages to twist itself into nonsensical multidimensional pretzels in order to adhere to some performative originalist interpretation of the constitution -- only when it's convenient. When scholars look back at this first quarter century (if they are able), they will find SCOTUS's three rulings that contributed the most to the dissolution of the republic: an individual right to bear arms (Heller), Citizens United, and absolute presidential criminal immunity for official acts. The last one is IMHO, the most egregious because it directly allows the executive to disregard or dismantle the judiciary itself.
Fucking bastards.
In my view, Ms. Petrova's detention is entirely the work of Stephen Miller. tRump is Miller's mouthpiece and order taker. They should both be consigned to El Salvador's mega-prison.
Seems to me the orders likely came from Trump himself. He's not only the driver of extreme cruelty to set constant examples, but his bff, Putin, undoubtedly wants this person back in his hands so he can make an example of her. It's a win-win for dictators everywhere
Tom Homan is an arrogant authoritarian, and was probably the instigator of the criminal charge in conjunction with Ms ICE Cosplay Noem. I doubt the matter was elevated to 45.
Thanks for keeping attention on these cases.
Chilling. Goes hand in hand with Trump’s embrace of Russia, Qatar, UAE. We must keep the pressure on and Kip’s column is excellent and hopefully will be restacked and referenced many times over.
The ICE people should be thepeople deported. Kitiscriminal tosend her back. She will be immediatelybe imprisoned
Tell me again about Joe Biden weaponizing the DOJ.