might have been legal, the contribution itself but the way the money was earned was illegal. So we have solid reason to believe that some [US] intelligence officers accompanied and guided these transactions. So we have an interest in questioning them. The Washington Post and The New York Times rated Putin's claim about the funding "false," noting that there is no evidence to substantiate it. Politifact gave it a "pants on fire" rating. Bill Browder, in his own article for Time, called the accusation "so ludicrous and untrue that it falls into delusion." He maintains that Putin continues to make false allegations against him in response to Browder's involvement with the Magnitsky Act. Browder also says that he is a British citizen and no longer American, therefore Trump would be unable to respond to Putin's request. Der Spiegel articles On November 22, 2019, German news magazine Der Spiegel published an article in which it claimed Browder accusations concerning the "Magnitsky Case", do not withstand thorough examination. The English version appeared on November 26, 2019. After Browder filed a complaint against this article with chief editorship of Der Spiegel and the German Press Council, Der Spiegel published a further article, releasing its evidence and emphasising its stance on the matter. References External links https://www.npr.org/2022/04/16/1093189691/freezing-order-is-the-true-story-of-money-laundering-murder-and-putins-wrath book by Bill Browder Profile of Browder, Stanford Business School alumni magazine Video – Bill Browder: Sergey Magnitsky case reveals Russia's ugliest face, Opalesque FIVE Minutes, 02/17/2010 "The Browder Ultimatum", Tatler magazine, June 2010 Video – Interview with Browder, Charlie Rose Show 1964 births Living people American emigrants to England American expatriates in Russia American non-fiction writers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Boston Consulting Group people Businesspeople from Chicago Corruption in Russia Gazprom people Place of birth missing (living people) Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Colorado alumni British expatriates in Russia Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British businesspeople British non-fiction writers British people of Russian-Jewish descent Bill Magnitsky Act