March 02, 2018

The Controversy Over Trump And Russia Sanctions Isn’t Going Away

Source: Huffington Post

Journalist: Akbar Shahid Ahmed

The Trump administration has yet to prove it is fully complying with new Russian sanctions legislation just over one month after the State Department sparked a wave of criticism by announcing it would not yet apply any of the new penalties the law permits it to enact.

The legislation, passed last summer in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 election, requires the State Department to work to curb Moscow’s income by discouraging foreign countries and companies from doing deals with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors and sanctioning those who go through with major purchases.

But the department has refused to give reporters specifics on what ― if anything ― it’s doing. And it has given lawmakers no new details on its work since a classified briefing on Jan. 29, the day the decision was announced, according to aides for two of the Senate’s top foreign policy figures, Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

Read the full article in HuffPost

Author

  • Peter Harrell

    Former Adjunct Senior Fellow, Energy, Economics and Security Program

    Peter Harrell is a former adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He is a leading expert on U.S. economic statecraft, including sanctions, export cont...