Casten Presses Secretary Mnuchin on Lifting Russian Sanctions
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) at a House Financial Services Committee hearing questioned Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about his decision to lift sanctions against Russian company, Rusal, largely owned by Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
In April 2018, The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Deripaska and Rusal as a part of targeted strategy against oligarchs believed to be close to Putin and were designed to punish him for subverting Western democracies. Deripaksa was detailed in the Mueller Report to have had financial dealings with Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, who is now in prison. Specifically, Manafort collected $10 million a year starting in 2006 from Deripaska to advance Putin's interests with Western governments. But Secretary Mnuchin decided to lift these sanctions against Rusal in December 2018.
In April 2019, after the sanctions were lifted against the company, Rusal announced that it was investing $200 million into a new project in Kentucky. Today, Casten questioned Mnuchin on who he spoke to before lifting the sanctions as well as if there was political involvement by Leader McConnell and Secretary Chao.
To watch Casten's questions to Secretary Mnuchin click the image above or click here.
Casten said, "Today, I questioned Secretary Mnuchin on his decision to lift sanctions against Rusal, a company owned by Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska an ally to Vladimir Putin. The timeline of these transactions raise serious concerns about why the sanctions were lifted and its connection to the substantial foreign investment in Kentucky. We must get to the bottom of this. I will continue to fight against foreign interference in our elections and corruption, wherever it may lie."
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