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While Van Ausdal's campaign offered few details about his reasons for stepping down, several supporters have suggested he pulled out of the race due to harassment and "serious death threats" from other members of the QAnon community. A campaign spokesperson quashed the rumors, saying neither Van Ausdal nor his staffers had received any threats. Some remained unconvinced, however, pointing to a statement from the campaign noting that the candidate "is safe."
Running in a reliably Republican district in the Deep South, Van Ausdal's campaign was something of a long shot, but his resignation nonetheless surprised fellow Democrats, with Cathy Griffith, the chair of the Catoosa County party, stating she "didn't know about it until this morning."
Though the Democratic Party of Georgia said it intends to "name a replacement as soon as possible," state law may preclude that possibility, as it sets a 60-day deadline for replacement candidates in the case of a withdrawal. As of Friday, there were just 53 days left until the election, leaving it unclear how the party will proceed.
Van Ausdal's sudden pull-out came just hours before Georgia Republican Tom Graves announced that he would not finish out his term, saying he would retire early next month. Graves, who currently holds the same seat in Georgia's 14th District sought by Greene, previously said he would not run for re-election. With Van Ausdal's withdrawal and a chance that no Democrat will replace him, Greene is all but assured of victory come November.
Russian police are searching for a woman who was with Alexey Navalny before his alleged poisoning in August. Marina Pevchikh, who was in Tomsk alongside the opposition figure, left Russia after refusing to answer police questions.UPDATE 12/09/2020: The mysterious Maria Pevchikh has surfaced, claiming she had always been available for questions:
Pevchikh left for Germany on August 22, when Navalny was taken to Berlin for treatment at the request of his associates.
"To date, five out of the six citizens who accompanied Navalny during the trip have been interviewed: Vladlen Los, Georgy Alburov, Ilya Pakhomov, Kira Yarmysh, and Pavel Zelensky," said the police department's statement.
"Marina Pevchikh, who was with Navalny and permanently resides in Britain, refused to give her side of the story on August 20. According to the investigation, on August 22, she flew to Germany, and therefore it was not possible to question her."
The police note that the investigation is ongoing, and they are also establishing the whereabouts of passengers who flew on the plane with Navalny.
In response to the incident, officials from NATO and the European Union have demanded that Russia conducts a "full and transparent" investigation. Despite no conclusion yet being reached, some have called for Moscow to be sanctioned over the alleged poisoning, which the Kremlin has called "absurd."
On Wednesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry lodged a formal protest with Germany's ambassador, calling suggestions of state involvement "unfounded."
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that Navalny's associates are now "slowly beginning to move to Germany," which, in the context of the country's accusations against the Kremlin, is "very unpleasant."
"It is still in the interests of our German colleagues to protect their reputation and provide all the necessary information that would somehow shed light on the so-far unfounded accusations," Lavrov said.
Russian police say they are searching for a woman who was with Alexey Navalny in Tomsk before his alleged poisoning, last month. They claim 'Marina Pevchikh,' who left Russia after refusing to answer police questions.
Investigators said on Friday morning that the woman left for Germany on August 22, when Navalny was taken to Berlin for treatment at the request of his associates.
However, later the same day, Pevchikh herself apparently spoke and insisted that Russian law enforcement officials had not tried to contact her, even though her Russian phone is always on. She added that she was never summoned for interrogations and questioning, nor she did not receive any summons.
The woman also clarified that her name is Maria, not Marina. She was speaking to Meduza, a Western state-funded Russian language news site, based in Latvia.
Russian investigators are now looking into the events surrounding Navalny's illness, which quickly left him incapacitated. The police have researched what he did in Tomsk, including who he met, where he stayed, and where he ate. The investigation led authorities to Pevchikh, who they claim previously refused to answer police questions.
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