https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/german-newspaper-cancels-corruption-report-on-bidens-albanian-buddy

In recent months, the Washington Examiner has reported on the strange story of how Albania, a NATO ally that few Americans think about, has become Europe’s own narco-state over the past decade. And has done so with the peculiar tolerance of the Biden administration .

That decade coincides with the rule of Prime Minister Edi Rama and his Socialist Party, which remain in Washington’s good graces despite the involvement of numerous Albanian politicians in drug-fueled corruption.

Things got tricky for Tirana with January’s indictment by the Justice Department of Charles McGonigal, a senior FBI official who went rogue and stands charged with money laundering. As this contributor has reported , the McGonigal scandal, which is highly embarrassing for the FBI, possesses a major Albanian angle. Moreover, McGonigal’s relationship with Rama, including involvement in alleged shakedowns of Albanian businesspeople for millions of dollars, raises troubling questions about who in Washington knew what was going on.

Recently, this contributor speculated that the Biden administration may be preparing to cut ties with Rama and his associates, given the increasingly public nature of the McGonigal scandal. It seems I spoke too soon.

A few days ago, I was contacted by a senior reporter with Bild, a major German tabloid. To be clear, Bild does serious reporting, and it’s Europe’s highest-circulation newspaper. Bild has previously reported embarrassing things about Rama, including wiretaps showing the prime minister’s involvement in vote-buying and blackmail.

I was happy to answer Bild’s questions about Albania, based on my Washington Examiner articles and the fact that I was a top Balkan expert for the National Security Agency. I confirmed that Albania, under Rama, has become Europe's leading narco-state with connections to narcotrafficking interests across the planet.

Bild also asked me about a shadowy Albanian, Dorian Ducka, who appears in the McGonigal scandal (Ducka previously served as a deputy minister in Rama’s government). My answer: "Ducka is a high-level consigliere to PM Rama. He is involved in the McGonigal scandal in an unflattering way. He is alleged to be involved in similar activities in several countries, including Germany, on behalf of the Socialist Party."

None of this is news to anybody who closely follows Albanian media (and it’s definitely not news to Western intelligence and law enforcement agencies). The Bild article was slated to go live this weekend, in time for Albania’s local elections on Sunday — elections which the opposition claims (with agreement from Western experts) have been illegally influenced by Rama and his friends.

However, the Bild reporter informed me, with surprise and dismay, that top editors had killed the story (which included comments from others besides myself, such as top German security experts). When I asked why, the reporter informed me that Bild leadership explained that "Washington stands by Rama," and therefore, the report cannot run.

Rama’s influence in Germany is real.

As the reporter revealed, the Albanian prime minister has cultivated — and likely bought — the political and media landscape in Germany. NATO intelligence officials have told me that Rama has essentially bought off German politicians and influencers.

In other words, Germany’s highest-circulation newspaper, which enjoys a reputation for muckraking journalism, won’t publish negative reports about Rama and his friends lest they offend Tirana – and, more important, Washington.

For years now, we’ve heard a great deal from Democrats and their media allies about democracy "dying in darkness" amid the dire threat of "disinformation." When it comes to Albania, however, it seems that the Biden administration is helping censor free speech when it’s a bad look for their friends. Even, that is, when those friends are corrupt, undemocratic, and close to some of the worst organized crime organizations on Earth.