I know there’s a lot going on, what with the Syrian withdrawal, Flynn non-sentencing, Wall-Shutdown idiocy, etc.
But this story:
Trump Administration to Lift Sanctions on Russian Oligarch’s Companies
seems to have slipped under the radar (at least for the moment).
This comes at a time when:
- the outlines of the Election Plot are coming into focus: Russian election aid in exchange for lifting of sanctions.
- Manafort’s antics, coupled with his $17 million debt to Deripaska (Manafort’s in jail, but his family isn’t)
- Manafort’s campaign efforts to provide inside info to Deripaska during the campaign
So in the middle of all of this, Trump throws this kindling on the flames
Soon-to-be-in-power Democrats are on it:
Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who has criticized the administration for being soft on Rusal, said the move to lift sanctions amounted to Mr. Trump “sliding another big gift under Vladimir Putin’s Christmas tree,” referring to the Russian president.
Saying that the plan “appears to be a shell game brokered by a sanctioned Russian bank, VTB Bank, involving one of Putin’s closest buddies, Oleg Deripaska,” Mr. Doggett said it “only encourages Putin to pursue his destabilizing activities around the world.”
He called for a rigorous congressional review of the deal, and said that if it “is what it appears — a Rusal ruse — then we should reject this latest Trump scam.”
More indictments and the Democratic House can’t come soon enough.