Viktor Bout’s lawyer worked to chip away Monday at the credibility of a government undercover witness. Albert Y. Dayan pressed the informant, saying he had made $250,000 from the U.S. and suggesting he might make more if Bout is convicted on the conspiracy charges against him. Bout had to borrow a yellow tie when he showed up in the New York federal courtroom.
—AFP, “Bout, a legendary player in the murky world of arms shipments to Africa’s many wars, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers say he was out of the cargo business by then and that any promises he made to selling weapons to the pretend FARC members were a ploy in aid of his real goal, which was to sell off the last two cargo planes in his possession.”
—CNS, “Viktor Bout beamed with excitement as he described an online video showing Columbian guerrillas loading explosives into gas tanks, a confidential informant testified at the suspected arms smuggler’s trial Monday. According to transcripts of secretly recorded conversations, Bout gushed, “Uh, I saw on YouTube, uh, gas tank system. Congratulations! Genius. Genius. Genius.”