In March 2010, Browder meets in Washington DC with Jonathan Winer, an attorney who was once the deputy assistant secretary of state concerned with the Russian Mafia. Winer gives Browder chapter and verse on whom to contact in the US government for help. In particular, he suggests Browder ask the State Department to impose visa restrictions on corrupt Russian officials, saying, “It would really get under the Russians’ skin if they were slapped with that” (291).

At the State Department, Browder meets with Kyle Scott, of the Office of Russian Affairs. Scott presents Browder with a two-paragraph statement of concern from the US regarding the Sergei case. Browder, however, wants more: he asks for visa restrictions against the relevant Russians. Under the Obama administration, relations with the Russians are being “reset,” meaning the US plays nice as long as Russia goes along with trade and disarmament issues: “[T]he main policy was for the United States to do absolutely nothing about them” (293). The meeting is a failure.

His last stop in Washington is with another Kyle—Kyle Parker of the US Helsinki Commission. Parker has tried and failed to get action on the Hermitage case in the past, and he surprises Browder by admitting that he cried when he read the Sergei report, saying, “This murder—it’s one of the worst things that’s happened since I started my career” (296).