Anti-Corruption Protests Shake Moscow

Hundreds arrested in anti-corruption protests in Russia, including Putin opposition leader Alexei Navalny. We’ll look at this latest crackdown. Plus: Democrats call for House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes to recuse himself.

Tens of thousands of Russians out in the streets last weekend in cities from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, protesting vast corruption in the government of Vladimir Putin. The same Putin that US president Donald Trump has lavished praise on for his leadership. Police cracked down. The protest leader is in jail. Other opponents are dead. Poisoned. Shot. Dropped out of windows. This hour On Point, protest in Putin’s Russia, and the latest on the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation. — Tom Ashbrook

Jake Rudnitsky, Moscow reporter for Bloomberg News. (@Rudnit)

Alexandra Vacroux, executive director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition leader and vice chairman of the pro-democracy movement, Open Russia.

Bloomberg News: Putin Critic Jailed as Mass Rallies Energize Russian Opposition — "Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was jailed for 15 days after the largest anti-government demonstrations for at least five years energized President Vladimir Putin’s critics as presidential elections loom."

New York Times: Aleksei Navalny, Top Putin Critic, Arrested as Protests Flare in Russia — "The protest in the capital took the form of a synchronized walk along a major shopping street to avoid a ban on unsanctioned stationary gatherings. It was one of 99 similar rallies in cities and towns across the country — from Vladivostok in the far east to Kaliningrad in the west — according to the organizer, Mr. Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation."

The Wall Street Journal: Thousands Protest Corruption in Russia in Challenge to President Vladimir Putin -- "Police officials told news agency Interfax that 7,000 to 8,000 people participated and around 500 were arrested. The radio station Echo of Moscow, drawing on unofficial estimates, put the number of participants in Moscow much higher."

Emmarie Huetteman, Congressional reporter for the New York Times. (@emmarieNYT)

New York Times: House Democrats Ask Devin Nunes To Recuse Himself From Russia Inquiry — "Top House Democrats on Monday called on the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to recuse himself from the panel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, thrusting the entire inquiry into jeopardy amid what they described as mounting evidence he was too close to President Trump to be impartial."