Mnuchin promises more sanctions on Russia after outrage over report

Source: The Hill | January 30, 2018 | Sylvan Lane

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday the Trump administration will impose financial sanctions on dozens of wealthy Russians despite the president declining a congressional deadline to do so.

Mnuchin took heat from Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee over the administration’s decision to not impose sanctions by a Monday deadline.

“This should in no way be interpreted as we’re not putting sanctions on anyone in that report,” Mnuchin said at a hearing.

He added that the report issued Monday on suspected financiers of Russian government political efforts is not a substitute for financial restrictions Congress mandated in a bill passed last year.

Trump announced Monday night that the current regiment of financial sanctions on Russia was doing enough to deter the country’s unstabilizing political and military actions, declining to add others.

Democrats excoriated Trump, whose campaign is the subject of a special counsel investigation over possible collusion with Russia, for declining to follow Congress’ directive. Some Republicans also expressed concerns about the lack of new sanctions.

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“There will be sanctions that come out of this report,” Mnuchin said, saying they could be issued within two or three months.

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The Treasury Department released a list of Russian business and political figures as part of the legislation meant to punish Moscow for election meddling, including senior members of the Kremlin.

The list includes 114 senior political figures with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian oligarchs with a net worth of or more than $1 billion. Even so, the administration clarified the report was not meant to be a “sanctions list.”

The oligarch list was widely criticized and even mocked by senators for its overlap with the Forbes list of wealthiest Russian businessmen. A Treasury Department spokesman told Buzzfeed that the Forbes ranking was one of several public sources of information used by the department. 

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