Sisi and desist

Somebody is releasing unauthorized recordings of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his top aides, and what’s on them doesn’t reflect very well on Egypt’s Pharaoh Khedive Supreme Leader Imperator President for Life:

For months, a steady trickle of leaked audio recordings has appeared to offer a rare chance to eavesdrop on embarrassing conversations among the inner circle of army generals around President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.

Mr. Sisi and the generals can be heard laughing at their Persian Gulf patrons; pulling strings to manipulate the courts, the news media and neighboring countries; and stashing billions of dollars in special military accounts outside the control of the civilian government — if the recordings are accurate.

Now, some evidence has emerged to suggest that they are. In three reports submitted to the British police, a respected audio forensics firm has found “moderately strong” evidence to authenticate Mr. Sisi’s voice on two of the recordings and the voice of a top general, Mamdouh Shaheen, on another.

An Egyptian president stealing public money isn’t exactly uncharted territory, but Sisi better stop throwing shade at his Gulf pals in the presence of recording devices, lest he wake up one morning to find a horse’s head in his bed that he’s suddenly out of money.

Some of the stuff on these recordings is really funny, like the discussions about how to get Egyptian media to talk more about what a gosh darn amazing historic figure President Sisi is:

Naming several prominent talk show hosts, General Kamel says that they should remind the public that Mr. Sisi is “this brave, special, free and patriotic Egyptian,” and so criticizing him is “slandering this beautiful thing we have found in our lives.”

“Our dear Egyptian people, do you like this being done to the man who labored and sacrificed?” General Kamel suggests.

Then he turns to his listener: “Are you listening? Are you writing this down or not?” He asks the questions repeatedly. “Stir up the people with it!”

Mr. Sisi himself says in another leak that he wants to be seen as a man “on a nearly impossible mission” who is “carrying the responsibility of a country in an existential crisis,” an image that has indeed permeated his portrayal in the news media here.

Newt Gingrich was born in the wrong country.