| Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. On this day 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson shocked America by declaring, "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President." | Biden team ethers 'misinformed' Russian leader | | Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference Wednesday in Algiers, Algeria where he suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin's advisers are afraid to tell him the truth. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool) | | | The message went out Wednesday from every corner of President Biden's national security team: Vladimir Putin's advisers have been lying to him about how badly his Ukraine military campaign is going and how hard international sanctions are hitting his faltering economy. Not from Biden himself, though. Asked about the claim as he received his second covid booster shot, the president declined to comment on what aides described as declassified intelligence Putin not only has been misinformed about the war but knows his advisers have lied to him. | - "We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth," a U.S. official said in a statement released on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the administration.
| Trying to embarrass Putin? | | At the White House, Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield told reporters "Putin felt misled by the Russian military," resulting in "persistent tension" between him and its leaders. "His senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth," she said. | | Why make the information public now? "Putting forward this information simply contributes to a sense that this has been a strategic error for them," said Bedingfield. She denied the goal was to embarrass Putin or change his calculus when it comes to Ukraine. And she declined to say who had ordered the declassification, or to characterize the intelligence community's level of confidence (high, medium, or low). Describing either or both of those things is commonplace when the U.S. government makes this kind of disclosure. The audience for the message was unclear. Was it Putin, to sow additional mistrust in the former KGB officer's inner circle? His advisers, to frighten those facing his wrath? The international community, to further tarnish Russia's image? The White House did not return an email asking whom they sought to influence. | - But Reuters quoted an anonymous U.S. official as saying the release "could make Putin reconsider whom he can trust." And a European official, asked by the Daily 202 what the purpose was, replied using words from Matthew 5:30, which includes the admonition "if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee."
| | There have been reports of turmoil among those close to Putin. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu went missing for 12 days this month. Top intelligence officials have reportedly been jailed. That Russia badly miscalculated Ukrainian resolve, how quickly and thoroughly the United States and its allies would close ranks to help Kyiv, and how poorly his military would perform in the field has become conventional wisdom, at least among supporters of Ukraine. A well equipped army doesn't typically fall back on swaddling its tanks in tree branches and straw. But how and why did the miscalculation occur? Did Putin's spies and military aides paint too rosy a picture? Did he disregard accurate information as too pessimistic? During a trip in Algeria, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "One of the Achilles' heels of autocracies is that we don't have people in those systems who speak truth to power or have the ability to speak truth to power. And I think that is something that we're seeing in Russia," John and Paul reported. | The perils of a misinformed Putin | | Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the information gap, if accurate, could create situations that were "particularly very perilous." | | "If Mr. Putin is being kept in the dark by his Ministry of Defense, when he does learn the truth, when he actually begins to realize how badly his military is doing in Ukraine, you don't know what kind of reaction that's going to cause in him," Kirby told MSNBC. "So, there's a real potential here for potential escalation." It could also affect ongoing negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Kirby said. "If Mr. Putin is being not informed about what's going on, on the ground," he said, "it could affect the way they're negotiating, certainly, and lead to worse outcomes for Ukraine potentially as a result." | | In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Washington doesn't have "any real information" about the Kremlin or Putin, my colleague Ellen Francis reported. "They don't understand President Putin," Peskov said. "They don't understand the decision-making mechanism, and they don't understand our style of work." Russia's Tass news agency also quoted Peskov as saying the Kremlin was concerned, "because such utter misunderstanding results in wrong decisions, in careless decisions that have very bad consequences." | Biden taps oil reserve for 6 months to control gas prices | | An American flag flies at the Valero Energy Corp. oil refinery in Memphis, Tenn., on Feb. 16, 2022. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg) | | | "Biden is ordering the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve for six months, the White House said Thursday, in a bid to control energy prices that have spiked as the U.S. and allies imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine," the Associated Press's Zeke Miller and Josh Boak report. The formal announcement is expected this afternoon. | A key inflation gauge sets 40-year high as gas and food soar | | "An inflation gauge that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.4% in February compared with a year ago, with sharply higher prices for food, gasoline and other necessities squeezing Americans' finances," the Associated Press's Christopher Rugaber reports. "The figure reported Thursday by the Commerce Department was the largest year-over-year rise since January 1982. Excluding volatile prices for food and energy, so-called core inflation increased 5.4% in February from 12 months earlier." | Temporary Mariupol cease-fire agreed to ahead of Red Cross evacuation | | "Officials from Russia and Ukraine said Thursday they have agreed on a temporary cease-fire in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol to allow civilians to evacuate and humanitarian aid to enter. Neither side specified when the cease-fire and humanitarian corridor would end, but Ukraine said its soldiers would 'guarantee a full cease-fire regime' and that it was sending 45 buses into Mariupol to evacuate residents," Adela Suliman, Amy Cheng, Andrew Jeong, Ellen Francis and Jennifer Hassan report. Key updates: | Turkish prosecutor asks to move Khashoggi murder trial to Saudi Arabia | | "In a dramatic about-face, a Turkish prosecutor requested Thursday to move the trial of suspects linked to the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, which sent the operatives who carried out the deadly assault, according to local media and a person who attended the hearing," Kareem Fahim reports. | Bono to receive Fulbright Prize | | | | Lunchtime reads from The Post | | Unaccountable: A policing strategy abandoned after Breonna Taylor's death spreads to other cities | | Then-Maj. Richard Foy drives Oct. 4, 2021, in a part of Dallas designated by the police as a city grid needing special attention to reduce crime. (Cooper Neill for The Washington Post) | | | "A crime-reduction strategy abandoned by Louisville police after the March 2020 fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor has since spread to other major U.S. cities, gaining favor with police chiefs for its potential to reduce violent crime despite its ties to the case that sparked widespread calls for police reform," Amy Brittain reports. "At the time of Taylor's death, Louisville was one of three cities to try the strategy. It later scrapped the initiative. Now, at least nine jurisdictions either plan to or have already adopted a similar model, according to a Washington Post review." | 1950 census data to be unveiled Friday, after 72 years under wraps | | On Friday, 72 years will have elapsed since census officials gathered the personal details of life for 151 million Americans who had just emerged from an era of cataclysmic war and economic depression — and then locked away the results. "The National Archives will unveil a huge batch of the intimate details from the 1950 Census — on 6.4 million pages digitized from 6,373 microfilm census rolls," Michael E. Ruane reports. | Reuters special report: Putin targets enemies at home as his missiles strike Ukraine | | "Throughout 2021, the Kremlin tightened the screws on its opponents — including supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny — using a combination of arrests, internet censorship and blacklists. The crackdown accelerated after Russia invaded Ukraine. Now a Reuters data analysis and interviews with dozens of people chart these tactics' success in eroding civil freedoms," Lena Masri reports. An analysis of purported foreign agents: "A widely used weapon in the Kremlin's armoury is the state's register of 'foreign agents.' People whose names appear on this official list are closely monitored by the authorities." "Since late 2020, Russia has added dozens of Kremlin critics to its register of 'foreign agents.' Reuters contacted them to find out how the designation has changed their lives." | | The website aims to help Americans find covid antiviral pills and other useful information. "People can also find the locations of vaccination and testing sites and places to acquire high-quality masks; fill out a form to order eight free at-home coronavirus tests per household; view their community's risk level according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and get general information on Covid symptoms, treatment, testing and travel," the New York Times's Isabella Grullón Paz reports. | Here's the background on Biden's massive oil release | | President Biden receives a Pfizer covid-19 booster shot after delivering remarks on covid-19 on Wednesday. (Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) | | | "The Biden administration [was weighing] a plan to release roughly a million barrels of oil a day from U.S. reserves, for several months, to combat rising gasoline prices and supply shortages following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg's Alberto Nardelli, Jennifer Jacobs, and Saleha Mohsin reported Wednesday. "The total release may be as much as 180 million barrels, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official move." | Passports with 'X' gender marker to become available on April 11 | | "Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday announced passports with an 'X' gender marker will be available on April 11," the Washington Blade's Michael K. Lavers reports. "Blinken last June announced the State Department will allow passport applicants to self-select their gender as 'M' or 'F.'" | Private concerns mount about Biden's new Covid czar | | "In the weeks since [Ashish] Jha's announcement, administration officials' surprise over the selection has given way to skepticism, with some privately questioning how an academic well known for his television commentary will manage a complex operation that touches every part of the federal bureaucracy," Politico's Adam Cancryn reports. | Biden administration to lift pandemic border restrictions | | "The Biden administration is planning to lift the Title 42 border controls that authorities have relied upon during the past two years of the pandemic, but the restrictions will not end immediately, according to two officials familiar with the preparations," Maria Sacchetti and Nick Miroff report. | Biden presses Congress for new covid funding, gets second booster shot | | "Assuring Americans that 'covid-19 no longer controls our lives,' President Biden on Wednesday announced the launch of covid.gov, a 'one-stop shop' to find vaccines, tests, treatments and masks, while again urging Congress to pass a stalled funding package to support the nation's virus response," Dan Diamond reports. | Manchin, Sinema, Kelly sink Biden labor nominee | | "David Weil's bid to head the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division was dealt a fatal blow Wednesday, after a trio of Senate Democrats voted against moving forward on his nomination," Politico's Nick Niedzwiadek reports. | | | | Russia's military activity, visualized | | FEC fines DNC, Clinton for violating rules in funding Steele dossier | | Hillary Clinton speaks during the New York State Democratic Convention in New York on Feb. 17. (Seth Wenig/AP) | | | "The FEC, in its statement dated March 29, said the fine for the Clinton campaign was $8,000 and the fine for the DNC was $105,000," Eugene Scott reports. "The dossier, which BuzzFeed published in January 2017 just days before Donald Trump was inaugurated, was largely the foundation for theories about a 'well-developed conspiracy of cooperation' between the Trump campaign and Russia and was cited by critics as proof of why Trump was unfit to be president." | The world failed to act in 2020 when Azerbaijan attacked Armenia. In Ukraine, history repeats itself. | | "A country led by an authoritarian launches an unprovoked war claiming sovereignty over historical lands. Thousands of innocent lives are upended. Fathers leave children behind to defend their country. Churches and hospitals are bombed. War crimes are committed," Stephan Pechdimaldji writes for the Boston Globe. "Sound familiar? While this might depict events currently unfolding in Ukraine, it also describes what happened to Armenians living in their ancestral homeland of Nagorno-Karabakh when Azerbaijan started a war in the fall of 2020." | | At 1:30 p.m., Biden will speak about his administration's efforts to ease gas prices. And Friday: Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will visit the United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss how the U.S. and international community can best support women and girls in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. | If, like Olivier, you didn't know until this week what a 'key bump' is: | | Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow. | | |
