Adamenko

MEMORANDUM ***

Angela Adamenko petitions for review of the immigration judge’s decision to deny her claims of asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). 1 We omit the relevant facts as they are known to the parties.

Initially, Adamenko contends that the IJ erred in making an adverse credibility determination. We reject this claim because the IJ’s determination was limited to Adamenko’s initial statement, appended to her 1-589 asylum application, which she subsequently disavowed as a complete fabrication. Adamenko’s admission that the first statement was false is surely a specific and cogent reason for the IJ’s disbelief. See Gui v. INS, 280 F.3d 1217, 1225 (9th Cir.2002). The IJ found credible Adamenko’s second statement and her testimony at the September 19, 2002 hearing, and the IJ determined her eligibility for relief on the basis of those allegations.

Adamenko claims that she is eligible for asylum because she suffered persecution in her native Latvia on account of her Russian ethnicity or her status as a non-citizen. We hold that the evidence of record does not compel a finding that Adamenko was subject to past persecution.…