Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Putin weaponized the justice system; he went after the media, the universities, and even pulled a comedy show off the air because it made fun of him. On this episode of Open Book, I sit down with Jamison Firestone, a guy who survived mobsters, bugged the Russian police, and watched his friend Sergei Magnitsky get tortured and killed for exposing the truth. We talk Yeltsin, Putin, Navalny, and yes, I ask him what Putin actually has on Trump. His answer might surprise you.
Jamison Firestone established the first independent foreign law firm in Russia, where he lived for eighteen years. He was a member of the board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia for the last six of those. He is a co-founder, along with Sir William Browder, of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, which created the Magnitsky human rights and anti-corruption sanctions regimes. He also ran the Navalny 35 campaign promoting the sanctioning of corrupt oligarchs and officials identified by Alexei Navalny. He currently works to seize Russian state assets for the benefit of Ukraine and has been featured on the BBC, Bloomberg, and CBC, as well as in several documentaries.
Get your copy of this truly brilliant book, "Rule of Lies: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin's Russia" here: amzn.to/4gr0hKq
Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio.
Pre-order my next book, All the Wrong Moves: How Three Catastrophic Decisions Led to the Rise of Trump, out on the 17th of September in the UK and the 22nd of September in the US: scaramucci.net/allthewrongmoves
Timestamps
0:00 Jamison Firestone Introduction
3:17 Why study Russia?
4:55 Arriving in Russia in 1991 as the USSR collapses
8:39 Mafia threats, armed raids, bugging corrupt police
14:42 The story of Alexei Navalny
15:53 Predictions on Russia's future, war in Ukraine, and Putin's succession
18:01 Does Putin have leverage over Trump?
19:05 Is Russia's authoritarian turn permanent?
20:20 Trump/Putin playbook comparison
22:58 Five Words
25:03 What's next for Jamison?
Putin weaponized the justice system; he went after the media, the universities, and even pulled a comedy show off the air because it made fun of him. On this episode of Open Book, I sit down with Jamison Firestone, a guy who survived mobsters, bugged the Russian police, and watched his friend Sergei Magnitsky get tortured and killed for exposing the truth. We talk Yeltsin, Putin, Navalny, and yes, I ask him what Putin actually has on Trump. His answer might surprise you.
Jamison Firestone established the first independent foreign law firm in Russia, where he lived for eighteen years. He was a member of the board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia for the last six of those. He is a co-founder, along with Sir William Browder, of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, which created the Magnitsky human rights and anti-corruption sanctions regimes. He also ran the Navalny 35 campaign promoting the sanctioning of corrupt oligarchs and officials identified by Alexei Navalny. He currently works to seize Russian state assets for the benefit of Ukraine and has been featured on the BBC, Bloomberg, and CBC, as well as in several documentaries.
Get your copy of this truly brilliant book, "Rule of Lies: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin's Russia" here: amzn.to/4gr0hKq
Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio.
Pre-order my next book, All the Wrong Moves: How Three Catastrophic Decisions Led to the Rise of Trump, out on the 17th of September in the UK and the 22nd of September in the US: scaramucci.net/allthewrongmoves
Timestamps
0:00 Jamison Firestone Introduction
3:17 Why study Russia?
4:55 Arriving in Russia in 1991 as the USSR collapses
8:39 Mafia threats, armed raids, bugging corrupt police
14:42 The story of Alexei Navalny
15:53 Predictions on Russia's future, war in Ukraine, and Putin's succession
18:01 Does Putin have leverage over Trump?
19:05 Is Russia's authoritarian turn permanent?
20:20 Trump/Putin playbook comparison
22:58 Five Words
25:03 What's next for Jamison?
