Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will brief congressional Democrats on his recent decision to lift sanctions on three Russian companies associated with a blacklisted Russian oligarch, the Washington Examiner has confirmed.
Mnuchin will meet with lawmakers on Thursday afternoon for a classified discussion, according to a Democratic aide. A group of seven newly-minted House Democratic committee chairmen requested the meeting in a Tuesday letter that said they were skeptical about the decision to remove sanctions from three companies owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
Deripaska was sanctioned for his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and for aiding “the Putin Regime’s malign activity against the United States.” Mnuchin notified Congress of his decision to lift the sanctions last month.
Democrats demanded the briefing on Tuesday, and it will let Mnuchin elaborate on the Treasury Department assessment that Deripaska has been sidelined at the three companies.
“Treasury sanctioned these companies because of their ownership and control by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, not for the conduct of the companies themselves,” Mnuchin explained in a Dec. 19 announcement. “These companies have committed to significantly diminish Deripaska’s ownership and sever his control. The companies will be subject to ongoing compliance and will face severe consequences if they fail to comply.”
The sanctions drew immediate criticism from Putin’s team, which called it the latest in a series of “hostile displays” from American officials.
“We are not inclined to wear rose-colored glasses and are aware that such unfriendly manifestations are still predominant, to our regret,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to TASS, a state-run outlet.
