Boris Johnson advised The Guardian to change its name to Pravda

On September 8, the British newspaper The Guardian published "The Boris Files"—materials compiled from leaks from the personal office of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (a total of approximately 1,800 emails, invoices, messages, and business deals). The documents detail how the HEAD of the British government exploited the connections he developed during that period for personal enrichment from 2019 to 2022. The documents were provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS), a US- registered non-profit that archives stolen and hacked documents.

According to the publication, the documents examined raise questions about the legality and ethicality of Johnson's conduct since leaving power , and how the so-called revolving door operates, in which high-ranking politicians use their established connections and influence to enter business .

Here are the key points from The Guardian's investigation.

• Boris Johnson recently approached senior Saudi officials with whom he interacted while prime minister to offer the services of the consulting firm Better Earth, of which he is a co-chair. He said this "could be useful" to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The consulting firm was about carbon emission reduction. Johnson's contacts with Saudi officials included a lunch and a meeting at a private club; the former prime minister also sent a personal letter to the crown prince, expressing his "enthusiast support" for his vision for the kingdom's future.
• In February 2024 , Johnson allegedly met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, dedicating a day of his vacation in the Dominican Republic to the meeting. Alongside him, Merlyn Advisors hedge fund manager Maarten Petermann met Maduro. Johnson claimed to be acting as a diplomatic conduit, but according to The Guardian, he received £240,000 from Petermann a few weeks later.
• While still prime minister, Johnson and his adviser Dominic Cummings secretly met with Peter Thiel, co-founder of the US software company Palantir (during the pandemic(She developed a data collection platform for the UK's National HEALTH Service (NHS) on covid-19 .) Their meeting on August 28, 2019, was classified as private, and the Prime Minister's office did not publicize it. "The secrecy surrounding Johnson's meeting with Thiel raises serious questions about how transparent the public minutes of government meetings have been in recent years," The Guardian notes.
• On November 6, 2020, the day after the second lockdown was imposed in Britain, Johnson hosted Conservative MP Lord David Brownlow, who had donated £58,000 to renovate his apartment, for dinner. The Guardian notes that the meeting with Brownlow is just one in a series of instances in which Johnson has violated self-isolation. "This raises new questions about Johnson's integrity during his turbulent three years in power," The Guardian notes.

The newspaper also notes that Johnson used the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), a government grant to former prime ministers who continue to perform public duties after resigning, for personal and commercial purposes. The amount of the allowance is £115,000. 

Following the publication, Johnson sent a letter to The Guardian denying any misuse of these payments. "This story is nonsense. PDCA was used in full compliance with the rules. The Guardian should change its name to Pravda," he wrote.

Boris Johnson was born in 1964 in New York City, usa. He graduated from Oxford University. Before his political career, he worked as a journalist, writing for The Times and The Daily Telegraph, and was editor-in-chief of the political weekly The Spectator. In 2001, he was elected to the House of Commons (the lower house of parliament), and in 2008, he became Mayor of London, a position he held until 2016. From 2016 to 2018, he served as the UK's Foreign Secretary , where he led negotiations on Britain's exit from the European Union. He is also known for his harsh statements against RUSSIA. In 2019, he became leader of the Conservative Party and then prime minister. In the summer of 2022, he announced his resignation. He has not held any official positions since.