Posted on 12/15/2024 3:21:13 PM PST by Kazan
On Jan. 11, 2024 conservative US YouTuber Gonzalo Lira died in a Ukrainian prison, where he was held for the crime of criticizing the war, and the US and Ukrainian governments. Now, a FOIA request by Judicial Watch sheds stark light on the Biden Regime’s complete failure to stand up for a US political prisoner in a Ukrainian prison. The e-mails reveal the US Embassy was aware of threats to Gonzalo Lira’s life, which it considered “no rush.”
After Gonzalo Lira’s death, the Embassy was mostly concerned with spin control and how to “beef up press guidance” to address the question of “why didn’t the U.S. government do more to assist Mr. Lira?”
YouTuber Gonzalo Lira (aka “Coach Red Pill”) was arrested in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 1, 2023, by a heavily armed SWAT team of the Ukrainian SBU secret police for the crime of “justifying Russian aggression,” which translates as “criticizing the war and the government.” On July 6, he was released on bail and attempted to leave the country for Hungary on his motorcycle, posting a video on the way. On Aug. 1, he was rearrested and imprisoned in solitary confinement (SIZO) in Kharkiv.
Gonzalo Lira married a Ukrainian woman and moved to Ukraine in 2020, with whom he has two children. They later separated. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2021, he found himself in the middle of a shooting war. In his videos, he frequently criticized the mainstream media, the Ukrainian and US governments, and specifically former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2021-2024) Victoria Nuland.
The Gateway Pundit filed a FOIA request on Jan. 15, 2024, four days after his death, for all communications concerning the death of Gonzalo Lira between Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink. Eleven months later, the State Department is stalling on this request and recently wrote that the request would not be completed until March 31, 2026. We have now applied for expedited processing due to the overwhelming public interest in this case, which involved the death of a US citizen held as a political prisoner in a country that has received $113 billion in US aid.
After our FOIA request, Secretary of State Antony Blinken suddenly announced the retirement of then-Acting Deputy SecState Victoria Nuland on March 5, surprising many. Ukraine policy architect Nuland was widely considered to be vying for the top job until the Lira case blew up. In September, Nuland joined the board of the Deep State front organization National Endowment for Democracy.
Meanwhile, Judicial Watch has filed a more general FOIA request pertaining to the case of Gonzalo Lira, which does not focus specifically on the communication between Nuland and Ambassador Brink.
The Department of State released 769 heavily redacted pages to Judicial Watch in May, October and November 2024. The Gateway Pundit has received these documents from Judicial Watch and can report exclusively on the State Department’s egregious failure to save Gonzalo Lira’s life and subsequent attempts at spin.
The documents show that the U.S. Embassy became aware of Gonzalo Lira’s arrest on May 11 via mail from the Ukrainian secret police SBU dates May 2. “He is formally charged with a violation of Article 436-2 part of the (Ukrainian) criminal code “Justification, recognition as legitimate, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants.” Mr. Lira operates a YouTube site where he posts numerous videos that criticize the Ukrainian and U.S. governments, to whom he attributes blame for the war in Ukraine”, an Embassy staffer wrote to Ambassador Bridget Brink Aug. 3, with a full timeline of events to date (see photos at link).
After Lira’s attempt to leave the country for Hungary and his rearrest on July 31, the US Embassy American Citizen Services (ACS) Department spoke to him on the phone on August 4, 2023, and “tried to ask Mr. Lira about his mental and physical health. Mr. Lira repeatedly interrupted this inquiry with extended monologues about threats to his life and safety, believing the Ukrainian government would actively conspire to have him killed by inmates in prison”, an embassy e-mail reads. The names of the embassy personnel are redacted. (Emphasis added by TGP.)
The emails make it clear the embassy did not attach a high priority to helping Lira and referred to his attempt to escape alive as “his attempt to abscond to Hungary.” There is no evidence the US embassy took any steps to allow Gonzalo Lira to leave the country, which ultimately took his life until Jan. 8, 2024, when it was too late.
A subsequent August 4 e-mail noted that “he (name redacted – possibly Lira’s public defender) requested that the U.S. Embassy reengage with local authorities regarding Mr. Lira’s case, which had decreased in frequency when Mr. Lira was released on bail.”
The e-mails show how the State Department willfully parroted the false charges of being a “Russian agent” that cost Gonzalo Lira’s life.
On Aug. 3, American Citizen Services (ACS) Kiev wrote to ACS offices in Hungary, Moldavia, Slovakia, and Romania – the general direction in which Gonzalo Lira was attempting to flee Ukraine “as a heads up from Kyiv (sic) ACS, most relevantly to Hungary, but potentially to all our neighbors. Gonzalo Lira is a U.S. citizen and outspoken pro-Putin blogger previously arrested in Ukraine on charges related to wartime propaganda. Mr. Lira is very popular among certain niche populations, (That’s us – TGP editor’s note) and our public inbox is full of his followers. (We do not engage or respond.) After his arraignment, the Ukrainian government released him on bail without an ankle monitor and gave him back both his motorcycle and passport. He’s been a bit of a headache to the Ukrainian government, so we suspect they’re hoping he’ll quietly disappear from the country.”
The American Citizen Services department in Kiev thus agreed with Gonzalo Lira’s estimation of his July 31 video on the way to the border: that he had been given a wink by Ukrainian authorities to go ahead and jump bail to leave the country.
Amazingly, no one at American Citizen Services Kiev seems to have had any interest in assisting this American Citizen in leaving the war-torn country that was out to get him.,P.
Contradicting his hunch the Ukrainians may want to get rid of him, Lira was arrested at the Hungarian border and sent back to prison in Kharkiv, where ACS spoke with his lawyer on August 21 ahead of his hearing on August 22.
Lira’s lawyer “commented that he believes the court does not think that the US embassy is interested enough in Lira’s case and that this might impact the court’s decision. However, Kyiv (sic) ACS believes (the lawyer’s) characterization is predicated on his desire to use the U.S. Embassy as a part of his defense strategy by over-emphasizing our role. Kyiv ACS plans to attend tomorrow’s hearing and will follow up to report the events of the day.”
After the hearing on August 23, the Embassy noted that Lira’s lawyer “did not notice any visible signs of physical abuse from this latest detention. He requested that the U.S. Embassy reengage with local authorities regarding Mr. Lira’s case.”
There is no indication the U.S. Embassy did so in any meaningful way in the e-mails.
Speaking to Tucker Carlson, Gonzalo Lira’s father claimed Lira was tortured in prison in Kharkiv by inmates at the behest of the authorities in the Fall of 2023.
In November 2024, Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Alexander Dubinsky claimed he had irrefutable proof that Gonzalo Lira was murdered by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), TASS reported.
Dubinsky claimed Lira’s captors broke the reporter’s ribs and threatened to gouge his eye out with a toothpick, TASS reported.
In December, Lira was scheduled to have another hearing as public interest began ramping up due to the Tucker Carlson interview. The Gateway Pundit began directing inquiries about Gonzalo Lira’s well-being and their efforts to secure his release at this time. These e-mails from The Gateway Pundit are also included in the Judicial Watch FOIA release.
A Dec. 6, 2023 e-mail from the U.S. Embassy Kiev ahead of Lira’s Dec. 21 hearing reads:
“On December 6, Kyiv (sic) ACS had an hourlong virtual visit with U.S.-Chilean dual citizen Gonzalo Lira”, the Embassy wrote, noting that “Mr. Lira was agitated and uncooperative throughout the conversation, often berating and threatening ACS… He spoke about his chronic heart issues and requested that the Embassy assist in getting him access to his personal e-mail…
Press. Mr. Lira explained that representatives of Tucker Carlson have attempted to contact him and his family for interviews. He demanded that the Embassy assist with scheduling. ACS offered to relay a request for more frequent contact to his attorney, but we do not intend further action for his request to organize media interviews.
Allegations against the U.S. government. Mr. Lira accused the U.S. government of (1) conspiring with the Ukrainian government to allow him to die in prison; (2) hindering progress in his criminal case; (3) obstructing his access to the Chilean embassy; and (4) failing to advocate for his release due to discrimination. Kyiv ACS rejects these allegations.
Threats to U.S. government officials. Mr. Lira claimed that he had provided the names of Kyiv ACS officers to third parties, who have doxxed these officials. (Our cursory online searches have not corroborated this claim.) Throughout the conversation, he made therats against numerous other U.S. government officials in the Administration and the State Department, including unspecified harm as well as litigation for unspecified claims.
Prosecution. Mr. Lira accused the Ukrainian government of prosecutorial misconduct. He believes the court-appointed translator to be “incompetent” and unable to capture the nuances of his allegedly seditious statements. ACS assured Mr. Lira that we will raise these issues with his attorney.”
As Lira responded with increasing anger and fear for his life, the U.S. Embassy appears to have done nothing to intervene on his behalf, instead responding haughtily and defensively:
“This visit does not sound pleasant and I don’t think anyone deserves to hear this garbage (yes, garbage)”, an unnamed Embassy official wrote in response on Dec. 6. “Question – What were the exact nature of the threats…? Justification – we of course want to provide consular services, but this should not come at the cost of being threatened and having colleagues’ (personal information) out there.”
“No need to answer now, no rush,” the same unnamed official wrote later that day.
My understanding is that he said mean (but truthful) things about Victoria Nuland, hence the Biden Administration gave him the Death Penalty.
Ucraycray peeps will be upset (that the info was released).
Really? What was his screen name?
Nuland, the Biden/Obama administration and the Democrat enablers are flat-out evil and Hell will not be hot enough for them. People are completely dispensable to their outlandish lust for power. This account is irrefutable evidence that Lira was not only expendable, they tacitly allowed Ukraine to murder him and were only concerned about any political fallout. Evil.
Just like Hillary and Benghazi. So where are all the FReeper Zelenskyy lovers?
What was his FR name?
I used to watch Lira when he was on The Duran and found his knowledge to be eye opening. He was on the ground there and his reporting was the exact opposite of what the MSM was peddling. Zeepers here claimed he was a Russian agent and a communist and said the same of anyone who listened to him, but I thought the stories he had to tell were worth hearing. I try to be a free thinker and that requires exposure to alternate news sources. I find it hilarious that Zeepers do the exact opposite.
Something folks need to understand. We are not dealing with human beings here. We are dealing with psychopathic monsters who do not deserve respect or compassion you would normally extend to another human being.
There were actually Zeepers here that celebrated Lira’s death, including one that posted on this thread.
Well stated.
What Ukraine supporters understood, before we were called Zeepers, before most of his supporters started paying attention to him, is how full of crap Lira was. He was a clout-chasing grifter looking for notoriety more than money.
"There is no evidence Gonzalo Lira had any ties to Russia."
The first time he was arrested in April 2022, he was caught taking pictures of Ukrainian positions in Kharkiv and selling them to Russian agents. He made a plea deal and gave up a half dozen Russia agents in exchange for house arrest and prosecution after the war, or leaving the country. After a few months of increasing paranoia that the SVR would kill him, he left for Poland.
He was arrested when he returned to Ukraine. To return to Ukraine means he was not in Ukraine. Between approximately June 2022 and May 2023 when he was arrested again, he was living outside Ukraine. In his infamous debate with Lazerpig and Destiny, he let it slip out he was actually living in the Netherlands.
While he pretending he was "live from Kharkiv", he was lying about where he was the entire time.
Then there is what his wife was saying about him during his divorce. Coach Red Pill was a dead-beat dad who cheated on his wife before reinvented himself over Ukraine.
"So where are all the FReeper Zelenskyy lovers?"
Russia invaded Ukraine and has repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure. That makes delivering medical care to anyone in Ukraine that much harder. A known Russian agent awaiting trial, already on his deathbad in a prison hospital is going to get top medical care just because a few American journalists and bloggers are complaining about it.
The irony is he died in a Ukrainian hospital, the country he wanted to see destroyed.
Whatever. Maybe the guy was a sleaze, but he still had the right to consular services from the State department. Except we hear this: “Justification – we of course want to provide consular services, but this should not come at the cost of being threatened and having colleagues’ (personal information) out there.”
Suspiciously similar to the excuses the FEMA employees used to refuse services to those they believed to be Trump supporters in North Carolina.
He wasn’t pro Russian, he was for the truth. That condemned him to death. Gonzalo died because he had the wrong opinion of the war. The freedom loving democracy in Ukraine and Joe Biden’s state department couldn’t stand Gonzalo’s opinion because it was different than theirs. Such freedom lovers. I blame Americans more than Ukrainians for his death. We gave Ukraine billions but they wouldn’t lift a finger to keep an American alive.
Lira had three online consular visitations and could have gone to the US embassy in the weeks after his release and before his attempt to flee Ukraine. Go to the GP article at its source, look at the pictures they posted, and read what they have to say. This is part of what GP posted:
", Consul General (b)(6) held a virtual prison visit with Mr. Lira. He appeared to be in good physical health and stated that he was being treated well by the Ukrainian prison guards and that they had been very respectful of him. He also stated that he was in a detention area with seven other detainees and that he had good relationships them. Lira was unaware of the fact that he had a hearing scheduled for June 26 and stated that he could post bail for pre-trial release. He would discuss this with his lawyer and hoped to make this case during the hearing. Lira stated that he is ready to plead guilty to the charges against him and would like to be expelled from Ukraine in lieu of a prison sentence. He mentioned rumors in the detention center that certain pro-Russia detainees are planning to target him in order to create an international incident that would cast Ukraine in a negative light. He said that he has not been directly threatened, but that other detainees have warned him. Lira said he feels sufficiently safe and did not express concern about his security. After the call, Kim asked the PG's office about the process for Lira to submit a plea and if this process can be expedited in light of the rumors that Lira relayed."Examining what the embassy reported and what Lira said about it doesn't add up. He says he was beaten up badly on June 21, leaving bruises and scratches on he left eye with a toothpick. When he had his consular visit on June 23 two days later, he said nothing about it. The consul did not report seeing obvious bruising like a swollen eye. Lira said he was being treated well, was prepared to plead guilty, and afraid the pro-Russian prisoners would beat him up to make Ukraine look bad. Lira had several chances to report this to the US embassay. He didn't. He choose to flee, brag about it online, and got caught.
While talking to the US consul, he said one thing. When fleeing Ukraine, he said the opposite. It paints of picture of man willing to say whatever is necessary, to tell any lie or half truth, to avoid facing the consequences of his actions.
Those who looked into his background long before his second arrest in Ukraine already knew this about him. The fact that he spent a year pretending to report from Kharkiv while in the Netherlands shows how much a fraud he was. Even Scott Ritter and Richard Spencer had the common sense to distance themselves from him.
There you go with Democrat tactics. Deflect and trash the victim. So what if he did what you claim. He’s an American citizen. The guy had right to consular services. You’re trying to excuse a foreign nation of mistreating an American citizen.
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