Topic: Orange Revolution

An Associated Press investigation by Jeff Horowitz reveals that Paul Manafort worked for Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska starting in 2004. Memos suggest Manafort proposed plans to influence U.S. politics to favor Vladimir Putin's interests and undercut the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. The White House maintains that Manafort's historical business dealings have no connection to President Donald Trump.

A former official from the Gorbachev administration analyzes the Crimea situation, attributing the crisis to "terrible errors" by the Ukrainian elite and the European Union. He argues that forcing Ukraine to choose between Europe and Russia was a path to breaking up the society. The segment also references Mikhail Gorbachev's view that the annexation was a redress of Nikita Khrushchev’s 1954 "historic injustice" of attaching Crimea to Ukraine.

The 2002 assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is revisited as a cautionary tale of political suppression. Fortuyn, who campaigned against the "Islamification" of the Netherlands, was murdered weeks before an expected landslide victory. This event is compared to the modern hijacking of political movements, suggesting that co-opting a movement is a more "friendly" alternative to assassination.

The Ukrainian presidential election results, showing a victory for Viktor Yanukovych over Yulia Timoshenko, are discussed. Timoshenko is characterized as a pro-Western figure aligned with NATO and the European Union. The hosts suggest that the CIA often uses "hit squads" and street protests to destabilize leaders who do not align with Western interests, referencing the book *Legacy of Ashes*.