| Advertisement |
Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The House overwhelmingly voted Thursday against President Donald Trump's plan to ease sanctions for companies with ties to a Russian oligarch and ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The 362-53 vote included some 130 Republicans who broke ranks with their party.
Advertisement
The Treasury Department proposed lifting sanctions imposed last April by the Trump administration against companies controlled by Oleg Deripaska, but keeping penalties in place against the oligarch. On Wednesday, the department extended the sanctions against the companies -- including one that's a producer of aluminum -- through Jan. 28.
Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin -- ahead of a briefing with the House -- said the department plans to lift the sanctions on the companies because they are being restructured to "sever Deripaska's control and significantly diminish his ownership."
"One of the goals of sanctions is to change behavior, and the proposed delistings of companies that Deripaska will no longer control show that sanctions can result in positive change," he said.
Deripaska and his companies were among dozens of individuals and entities sanctioned a year ago in reaction to "the Kremlin's malign agenda" that includes cyberattacks and aggression in Ukraine and Syria. At the time, Mnuchin said the Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and Russian elites.
Deripaska, a senior government official involved in the energy sector, has said he doesn't separate himself from the Russian state. He has acknowledged possessing a Russian diplomatic passport and claims to have represented Moscow in other countries. He's been investigated for money laundering and accused of threatening the lives of business rivals, illegally wiretapping a government official and taking part in extortion and racketeering. He has also been accused of bribing a government official, ordering the death of a businessman and having links to a Russian organized crime group.
