Hello,

This week reminded me why we started this newsletter. Sometimes the stories that seem unconnected are the ones that matter most.

A former ally of Donald Trump is facing espionage charges. Iran has walked away from a decade-old deal that was supposed to keep the Middle East stable. And a New York City politician has reiterated his intention of doing something that most others would never risk.

Different stories, right? Maybe not. They're all evidence of what happens when the rules start breaking down, or when those with power decide they don't apply anymore.

Let's dig in.

In today’s edition:

Trump's Former NSA Indicted Under Espionage Act

Zohran Mamdani Vows to Arrest Netanyahu in NYC

Russia has a window problem

Iran Formally Ends Nuclear Deal

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, has been indicted on 18 counts under the Espionage Act for allegedly mishandling classified information. He is accused of sharing more than 1,000 pages of material related to national defense with unauthorized individuals.

The indictment marks the third time in recent weeks the Department of Justice has secured criminal charges against one of Trump's critics, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

According to the prosecutors, Bolton had shared classified national defense information, including intelligence briefings and discussions with foreign leaders, with unauthorized individuals between 2018 and 2025.

Prosecutors also allege that Bolton’s personal email, containing classified files, was hacked by Iran-linked cyber actors. He reported the breach but didn’t disclose that classified material was stored there

Although the indictment doesn’t mention who the unauthorized individuals are, some reports have speculated that they could be Bolton’s relatives and that the material may have been related to a book he was writing.

When asked by reporters at the White House about the Bolton indictment on Thursday, Trump said: "He's a bad guy."

Interestingly, Donald Trump himself was previously charged under the same law for classified records kept at his Florida home.

However, the case had to be dropped after he won the 2024 reelection.

"Not guilty, your honor," Bolton, 76, said in court. He added he had "become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he [Trump] deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts."

Bolton was released on his own recognizance and a hearing in the case is scheduled for November 21.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has said that he stands by his promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, if the Israeli leader visits New York City.

In an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, Mamdani said it is important that “New York City is in compliance with international criminal law.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister in 2024.

However, the U.S. is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, and does not recognize its authority.

Mamdani's stance was not only criticized by the Republicans but also confused his allies.

Murad Awawdeh, head of the New York Immigration Coalition, said that arresting the Israeli prime minister was not a priority for them, while Representative Jerry Nadler said that the proposal was “simply unrealistic.” "The City of New York has no jurisdiction to do such a thing," he added.

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On the morning of October 7 in Moscow, Vyacheslav Leontyev, who was once the powerful head of Soviet-era newspaper Pravda (Russian for ‘truth’), fell from his sixth floor apartment window.

Leontyev took charge of Pravda, a powerful mouthpiece of the Communist Party, in 1984 and led its restructuring during the collapse of the USSR in early 1990s.

He was known to have been privy to the financial workings of the Communist Party and reportedly had insights into ‘secret wealth’ associated with the Kremlin. He himself was often described as an ‘underground millionaire’ by people close to him, indicating significant accumulated influence and wealth.

Leontyev was reportedly under considerable stress recently and was dealing with personal difficulties, including his wife’s recent hospitalization. Russian authorities ruled out any foul play in his death.

They had also ruled it out when Transneft Vice President Andrei Badalov fell. They ruled it out when Lukoil Chairman Ravil Maganov fell. They ruled it out when politician Pavel Antov fell. They ruled it out when Judge Natalia Larina fell…."

Investigations into each of these deaths ended quickly and all of them were either declared an accident or suicide.

Ravil Maganov succumbed to his injuries after falling from a hospital window in Moscow in September 2022. His company had recently issued a statement calling for an end to the war in Ukraine. His death was ruled a suicide, citing illness and depression.

Three months later, Pavel Antov, a regional politician and a wealthy businessman, fell to his death from a hotel window in India while celebrating his birthday.

He had also criticized the war before retracting his comments. The police in India reported “no suspicious circumstances."

Judge Natalia Larina, who presided over many sensitive cases in the Moscow City Court, died after a fall from her apartment in April 2024, with authorities describing the incident as a suicide.

Transneft Vice President Andrei Badalov was found beneath the windows of his home in Moscow in July 2025. He was reportedly under pressure because of Western sanctions on his company.

Then there were others. Kristina Baikova, vice-president of Loko Bank, who fell from her 11th-floor apartment in Moscow. Singer Vadim Stroykin, a vocal critic of the invasion of Ukraine, who fell from a kitchen window in St Petersburg. Ballet dancer Vladimir Shklyarov, who plunged from a balcony under circumstances that remain unclear.

Individually, these cases may appear unrelated. However, there is a distinct pattern in all of them that the Russians have begun to grimly nickname “the window problem.”

In Leontyev’s case, state news agency TASS reported that he “jumped from the window of his apartment” following a breakdown. No signs of forced entry or struggle were cited. The case was formally under investigation, but no third-party involvement has been publicly confirmed.

In Maganov’s case, hospital staff reportedly found security cameras switched off for maintenance. The official report mentioned a “longstanding illness.” Meanwhile, independent reporters noted inconsistencies in the described height and location of the fall of Andrei Badalov.

Each case concludes the same way: a fall, an official statement, a closed file. Independent verification remains difficult in a country where most major media outlets are either state-controlled or careful not to cross official narratives.

In Vladimir Putin's Russia, fear has long been a tool of governance, a legacy of the former communist Soviet Union. The victims are either part of powerful networks or unafraid to speak against them. Some possessed knowledge of state finances or operations that authorities may have viewed as threatening. Others had spoken publicly against the government or the war in Ukraine. Each fall, regardless of the official reasons given, reinforced the same unwritten rule: those who don’t toe the line are not safe in Russia. In such an environment, uncertainty is weapon enough.

A fall that might have been an accident still serves its purpose. It keeps people guessing. It keeps them afraid. In Putin's Russia, you can be wealthy, powerful, or prominent. What you cannot be is out of line. Proximity to power or willingness to question it has proven dangerous.

Vyacheslav Leontyev's death may have been what authorities say it was. But we will never know the truth. Because in Putin's Russia, truth has a way of falling out of the window.

Ten years to the day after the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran was adopted, Tehran has declared the deal dead.

On October 18, the Iranian foreign ministry issued a statement saying: “From now on all of the provisions (of the 2015 deal), including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the related mechanisms are considered terminated.”

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran and six world powers in 2015. As per the deal, Tehran agreed to strict limits on uranium enrichment, reduced its stockpiles, and opened its facilities to international inspectors. In exchange, the West lifted the crippling sanctions on its economy. 

However, in 2018 President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement, which he called “the worst deal ever” and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

The European powers tried to resurrect it, but without the U.S. the economic incentives weren’t there for Iran.

Tehran responded by gradually disregarding the limits on enrichment and stockpiles. Following the 12-day war with Israel in June, it passed a resolution cutting off cooperation with the IAEA. 

Europe had no choice but to trigger the JCPOA's "snapback" mechanism, which  reimposed all UN sanctions that had been lifted in 2015.

Although Iran insists its program remains peaceful and energy-focused, without any checks in place it can now enrich uranium to any level, stockpile any amount, and pursue advanced centrifuge research without limits.