US news has been dominated by Donald Trump’s tweet banning transgender people from the military and new communications director Anthony Scaramucci’s expletive-heavy interview with the New Yorker but both stories could have been an attempt to distract the media from testimony about Russia at the Senate.

Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from US financier Bill Browder about the shadowy, violent business environment in President Vladimir Putin’s (pictured) Russia and the role of Russian spies in the US.

In pre-prepared remarks, Browder said: “I hope that my story will help you understand the methods of Russian operatives in Washington and how they use US enablers to achieve major foreign policy goals without disclosing those interests.”

Last Wednesday Browder was scheduled to testify when Trump surprisingly tweeted that transgender people would not be allowed to serve “in any capacity” in the military.

Browder’s testimony was delayed until Thursday when Scaramucci’s gave his infamous interview to the New Yorker, which dominated the news cycle.

Browder’s testimony was given little coverage as a result. He told senators how as he made a fortune in Russia he discovered a “kleptocracy” of wealthy officials that used corruption, blackmail, torture and murder to stay in power, led by Putin.

Browder testified: “Effectively the moment that you enter into their world, you become theirs.”

When Browder, who now lives in London, discovered a corruption scheme benefiting Putin, he and his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, reported it to the Russian government.

“And we waited for the good guys to get the bad guys,” Browder testified. “It turned out that in Putin’s Russia, there are no good guys.”

He was accused of tax evasion and banned from re-entering Russia after leaving the country. His lawyer, Magnitsky, was allegedly beaten to death in prison in 2009.

Browder said: “Sergei Magnitsky was murdered as my proxy. If Sergei had not been my lawyer, he would still be alive today.”

In 2012 the Maginstky Act was passed by the US Congress to target Russian human rights abusers by barring them from the US and freezing their financial assets.

As a consequence, Browder said: “Putin was furious. Looking for ways to retaliate against American interests, he settled on the most sadistic and evil option of all: banning the adoption of Russian orphans by American families.”

Here is a section of Browder’s testimony in full.

Since 2012 it’s emerged that Vladimir Putin was a beneficiary of the stolen US$230 million that Sergei Magnitsky exposed.

Recent revelations from the Panama Papers have shown that Putin’s closest childhood friend, Sergei Roldugin, a famous cellist, received US$2 billion of funds from Russian oligarchs and the Russian state.

It’s commonly understood that Mr Roldugin received this money as an agent of Vladimir Putin. Information from the Panama Papers also links some money from the crime that Sergei Magnitsky discovered and exposed to Sergei Roldugin.

Based on the language of the Magnitsky Act, this would make Putin personally subject to Magnitsky sanctions.

This is particularly worrying for Putin, because he is one of the richest men in the world. I estimate that he has accumulated US$200 billion of ill-gotten gains from these types of operations over his 17 years in power.

He keeps his money in the west and all of his money in the west is potentially exposed to asset freezes and confiscation. Therefore, he has a significant and very personal interest in finding a way to get rid of the Magnitsky sanctions.

The second reason why Putin reacted so badly to the passage of the Magnitsky Act is that it destroys the promise of impunity he’s given to all of his corrupt officials.

There are approximately 10,000 officials in Russia working for Putin who are given instructions to kill, torture, kidnap, extort money from people and seize their property.

Vladimir Putin. Picture credit: Kremlin