REGISTER: ‘Trump-Russia/Money Laundering 101’ with Martin Sheil & NEW SERIES — ‘Russia in Africa’ with Philip Obaji Jr
Bette members—register for Speakeasy series with retired IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil on Trump-Russia/Money Laundering 101 and our Happy Hour series with Philip Obaji Jr on Russia in Africa
***Bette members will find the registration links below the paywall. To join our community events and to help support independent investigative journalism in a time of grave peril, please upgrade to a paid membership.***
Bette’s multi-part lecture series with global experts on Trump-Russia and Ukrainian and Soviet history has proven invaluable. We launched with a four-part Speakeasy series with Ukrainian historian Tetiana Boriak.
We followed that up with a brilliant, 3-part Speakeasy series with New York Times bestselling author Craig Unger. Those new to Bette Dangerous can check out one of my previous interviews with Unger here:
Follow the Money
I am very excited about our next Speakeasy series with Martin Sheil, which launches Sunday, January 18, at 11 am Pacific, with retired IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil, who will give us a money laundering tutorial, a Trump-Russia ‘follow the money’ briefing, and a Q&A on what we’ve learned.
Full details on this series here:
And this just in: We are bringing in award-winning Nigerian journalist Philip Obaji Jr for a two-part Happy Hour series beginning this Tuesday, January 20, at 11 am Pacific. In Part 1, he will detail Russia’s in human rights abuses and exploitation by Russian paramilitaries deployed in West and Central Africa. Part 2 on January 27 is a Q&A session.
You will find the registration links for both series below the paywall.
I developed the multi-part lecture series concept after a recent realization that pro-democracy writers are competing for headline attention against very well-financed and coordinated ‘clickbait fascism’ and to write one-off reports on a subject that deserves multi-part exploration is to surrender in advance.
So please calendar these upcoming events. And if you are not yet a paid member, please consider upgrading.
The following series are open to all levels of paid membership.
Details below:
BETTE’S SPEAKEASY SERIES WITH MARTIN SHEIL ON TRUMP-RUSSIA/MONEY LAUNDERING 101
Sunday, January 18: Bette’s Speakeasy Series with Martin Sheil, Part 1 — Money Laundering 101
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
Sunday, January 25: Bette’s Speakeasy Series with Martin Sheil, Part 2 — Trump-Russia/Following the Money
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
Sunday, February 1: Bette’s Speakeasy Series with Martin Sheil, Part 3 — A Q&A session
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
BETTE’S HAPPY HOUR WITH PHILIP OBAJI JR ON RUSSIA IN AFRICA
Tuesday, January 20: Bette’s Happy Hour Series with Philip Obaji Jr, Part 1 — Russia’s Infiltration and Human Rights Abuses in Africa
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
Tuesday, January 27: Bette’s Happy Hour Series with Philip Obaji Jr, Part 2 — A Q&A session
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
Registration for all events can be found by scrolling all the way to the end of this post.
More about Philip Obaji Jr
In the last seven years, Philip Obaji has documented up to 100 human rights abuses and exploitation by Russian paramilitaries deployed in West and Central Africa. He has investigated and reported gut-wrenching massacres, rape, torture and oppression of vulnerable villagers by mercenaries from the Wagner Group and its successor, the Africa Corps, in the Central African Republic (CAR) and in Mali, despite threats in an incredibly risky context including being held hostage by CAR rebels and detained by CAR soldiers who tortured him on the orders of Russian paramilitaries. Obaji, whose investigative work has been published by some of the world’s most authoritative media outlets including USA Today, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera and The Daily Beast, has received several recognitions for his work, including winning the 2022 Jaime Brunet International Human Rights Prize, the 2023 One World Media International Journalist of the Year award, the 2024 Homo Homini award, and the 2025 Knight International Journalism Award.
If you can, please consider contributing to Obaji’s GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/philip-obaji-uncover-russian-atrocities-africa
Daily Beast links: https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/philip-obaji-jr/
TESTIMONY AT U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION
Philip Obaji appears before United States Senators and House Representatives in the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing on Russian imperialism in Washington DC: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/philip-obaji-jr-1185a613_what-a-privilege-to-appear-before-united-activity-7242839561096024064-qBRQ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
TRUTH TO JUSTICE CONFERENCE, BERLIN: How Russian disinformation threatens Africa, hurts Europe, and demeans the West:
More about Martin Sheil here:
Martin J. Sheil is a retired supervisory agent for IRS Criminal Investigation with 30 years experience, including service as coordinator of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) for the Gulf Coast Region, Branch Chief for the North Texas District (Dallas), Special Agent in Charge for the South Texas District (San Antonio) and as Director of IRS CI Asset Forfeiture in Washington, D.C. Sheil supervised the largest most successful undercover money laundering operation ever conducted against organized prostitution called Operation Outcall.
After retirement from the IRS, he was hired as a contractor by Deloitte to work a contract between Deloitte and OCDETF — Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces — which led to Sheil being embedded in DEA offices in Chicago with the one-line mission objective to follow Cartel money wherever it took him for the purposes of seizing and forfeiting to the Feds as much drug money as possible.
A heartfelt thank you to those of you who are renewing your memberships at the full annual fee and to those who continue to support me at the Founding Member level. Your support means everything to me and allows this project to continues.
Those on a tight budget, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at bettedangerous/gmail as I offer a discount for fixed income members and those dedicated to pro-democracy activism.
Also, sincere gratitude to those of you who offered additional support in our membership + donation drive. You keep this project going.
Please keep scrolling below the paywall for the registration links.
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I expose the corruption of billionaire fascists, while relying on memberships for support.
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More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Her Hot Type column appears in Byline Supplement. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
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Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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