Three senior Trump administration officials on Tuesday refused to tell senators whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has any assets in the U.S. that might be seized or blocked pursuant to U.S. sanctions policy, but agreed to have a classified discussion on that issue.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked officials from the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Treasury what assets Putin controlled in the U.S., but none of them answered.
“I would defer to my colleagues in the intelligence community and I would be happy to talk to them about providing you a briefing on that subject,” said Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary of treasury for terrorism and financial crimes.
“Well, they’re not here, but you are,” Kennedy said. “So let me ask you again. Does Mr. Putin personally own assets in the United States?”
“Again, senator, that’s not something that we can discuss in an open or public setting, but we’d be happy to sit down with you and provide a classified briefing with our intelligence community colleagues,” she said.
When he asked Christopher Krebs, undersecretary of homeland security for national protection and programs, whether he had anything to add, Krebs said, “No, sir.”
He asked the same of Christopher Ford, assistant secretary of state at the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, who replied, “No, senator.”
Lawmakers have been pushing for ways to either threaten or to impose new sanctions against Russia in the run up to the 2018 midterm elections, over fears that Russia will meddle in the election. Kennedy seemed to get Mandelker to agree to a private briefing on the matter.
“I think Mr. Putin does own assets in the United States,” Kennedy said. “And I think the Treasury knows what those assets are. And whether we do it in a classified or unclassified setting, that’s above my pay grade. But I would like us to have a frank and honest discussion about the ramifications of seizing those assets.”
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Trump officials refuse to tell Senate if Putin owns US assets https://t.co/ynk1SLR1fA
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 21, 2018
If they won’t answer that means the answer is “yes”.
Putin owns one asset — Trump.
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