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Russian sanctions


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  • Dutch
    2018-01-31 11:50:00 AM
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    I'm flabbergasted! How is it possible that the congress with an huge majority voted at least 6 month ago to implement new sanctions on Russia, which was eventually (under pressure) signed by Trump, but still has not been implemented?

    Thus in other words, the signature of this President means nothing. At Monday night, the time to implement ran out; Trump said "It is no longer needed" with that statement he overruled his own "signature" as well the Congress. I absolutely don't understand how such is possible without consent of the Congress. Actually he did "obstruct" the law again. Who is going to do something about that? The list of criminal activities by Trump and recorded by Mueller only becomes longer.

    Comments?

  • Schmidt
    2018-01-31 06:02:51 PM
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    Dutch -- Yes I also do not understand, but perhaps should not be surprised. The Trump supporters are on a mission to stop the Mueller investigation and Nunes is doing his part to undermine the legitimacy of Rosenstein, the FBI and the Justice Department. The only person really standing in Nunes et al way is Rosenstein. Get rid of him and replace him with a Trump crony and it's a game shifter in Trump's favor.

    Trump has them all believing that the Russian investigation is a hoax. The vote if it were taken today to impose sanctions on Russia would be much closer. It just shows how much progress Trump has made in twisting people's minds. No Republicans will speak out against Trump's "non-actions".

    His approval rating just went up again.

  • planethead
    2018-01-31 06:50:46 PM
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    Yes saw that last night. Heard nothing about potential actions by the Dems but don't get this. I'm not the best with how it works, but is there something in place for these kinds of situations? Probably not, I bet this is the first time something like this has happened.

    What has happened between the vote and now?? Is there blackmail, coercion, or just plain idiocy among the R's? It's one of the reasons I'm not sure the country can survive this president, because a form of autocracy has taken hold in reality, even though it's not formally being called that yet.

  • Dutch
    2018-02-03 11:01:47 AM
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    The latest news on AM Joy was that the heads Russian spy agencies met with Pompeo in D.C. According, to the news Trump arranged that meeting somehow. Indeed very weird. I hope this meeting was recorded and a copy was sent to Mueller. Also it was made clear that the original sanctions list approved and voted on by the Congress was drastically changed related to who or what would be sanctioned. What games are being played?

    Hearing this story it is clear that Trump never wanted anymore sanctions and does everything to please the Russians. In other words WHAT HAS HE TO HIDE????? I hope and pray that Mueller finds out what "ties" Trump to Russia.

  • Schmidt
    2019-01-13 09:20:38 AM
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    Dutch started this thread a year ago, but I guess it was dropped from interest as there was no new news to report. However, now the media are reporting that Secretary of Treasury, Steve Mnuchin plans to lift sanctions imposed in April on the core businesses of Deripaska, including aluminum giant Rusal, its parent En+ and power firm EuroSibEnergo, watering down the toughest penalties imposed since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

    Mnuchin states that the companies agreed to restructure to reduce Deripaska’s stakes and the oligarch remains on the sanctions list.

    “Treasury will be vigilant in ensuring that En+ and Rusal meet these commitments. If these companies fail to comply with the terms, they will face very real and swift consequences, including the reimposition of sanctions,” Mnuchin said in a statement released before a closed-door briefing for the House of Representatives."

    Both Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer found Mnuchin's explanation in a closed hearing inadequate. Schumer says he will force the Senate to vote on the Trump administration's decision to relax the sanctions on the three Russian companies connected to oligarch Oleg Deripaska. However, it is unlikely that Senate Republicans will vote against Trump's plan to lift sanctions. Hence Trump and Mnuchin will get their way...and Putin will nod his approval.

    This strikes me as just another blatant example of Trump's capitulation to Putin, but what is harder to understand is how Republicans are circling the wagons around Trump to protect him. Do they really see the Democrats as the enemy more than Russia?

  • TJ
    2019-01-13 09:50:01 AM
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    History will be very unkind to this president. The truth will paint a true picture and shame will certainly follow. He won't care because he will have profited significantly and money is all that really matters. Sad how far we have fallen.
  • Chet Ruminski
    2019-01-13 12:25:33 PM
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    planethead Wrote:

    Yes saw that last night. Heard nothing about potential actions by the Dems but don't get this. I'm not the best with how it works, but is there something in place for these kinds of situations? Probably not, I bet this is the first time something like this has happened.

    What has happened between the vote and now?? Is there blackmail, coercion, or just plain idiocy among the R's? It's one of the reasons I'm not sure the country can survive this president, because a form of autocracy has taken hold in reality, even though it's not formally being called that yet.

    All the more reason to outlaw a plutocracy.

  • Chet Ruminski
    2019-01-13 12:29:33 PM
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    But nothing new. I fought against the same mindset 45 years ago when money and unregulated profit were the idol of America. But just like traffic lights, tradgedy not common sense is the operative.
  • Schmidt
    2019-01-22 01:16:33 PM
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    Getting back on topic, Ken Vogel of the New York Times has an excellent article that discusses the hidden motives behind the Senate's lifting of Russian sanctions.

    Deripaska and Allies Could Benefit From Sanctions Deal, Document Shows

    "When the Trump administration announced last month that it was lifting sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch, it cast the move as tough on Russia and on the oligarch, arguing that he had to make painful concessions to get the sanctions lifted. But a binding confidential document signed by both sides suggests that the agreement the administration negotiated with the companies controlled by the oligarch, Oleg V. Deripaska, may have been less punitive than advertised.

    "The confidential document, titled “Terms of Removal,” contains provisions that free him from hundreds of millions of dollars in debt" while leaving him and his allies in the Kremlin with majority ownership of his most important company.

    "The document is signed by executives representing Mr. Deripaska’s three companies as well as the official in the Treasury Department who oversees the division that handled the negotiations."

    This appears to be just another example of possible collusion between the Trump administration and the Russians in real time. Is this another favor to Trump with hidden motives? Why did the Republicans in the Senate fold and approve this lifting of sanctions?

    You can read more about the deal in Vogel's article at the above link.

  • Dockadams
    2019-01-26 04:20:56 PM
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    Dutch Wrote:

    I'm flabbergasted! How is it possible that the congress with an huge majority voted at least 6 month ago to implement new sanctions on Russia, which was eventually (under pressure) signed by Trump, but still has not been implemented?

    Thus in other words, the signature of this President means nothing. At Monday night, the time to implement ran out; Trump said "It is no longer needed" with that statement he overruled his own "signature" as well the Congress. I absolutely don't understand how such is possible without consent of the Congress. Actually he did "obstruct" the law again. Who is going to do something about that? The list of criminal activities by Trump and recorded by Mueller only becomes longer.

    Comments?

    I don't know the news agency, but as I was signing on today (internet), I remember seeing a photo of Nancy Pelosi and a question in the caption saying she wondered what Russia (Putin) has on trump. She seems headed in the correct direction here.
  • Schmidt
    2019-01-27 09:09:43 AM
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    It seems so obvious to many people including Speaker Pelosi that Trump has been compromised. The Russians have targeted him a long time ago, perhaps starting with his 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, or even earlier in 2011 when he was on his crusade to make Obama a "secret Muslim not born in the USA".

    The Russians knew of his precarious financial situation years ago, and saw him as a possible "asset" if they could make him beholden to them for real estate and golf course loans when the US banking system had cut him off as a bad credit risk. That is what many legal experts are wondering, and I'm sure Nancy Pelosi as well. They just need to prove it, and then Trump is finished as both President and as a businessman.

  • Dutch
    2019-01-27 12:33:24 PM
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    Schmidt Wrote:

    It seems so obvious to many people including Speaker Pelosi that Trump has been compromised. The Russians have targeted him a long time ago, perhaps starting with his 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, or even earlier in 2011 when he was on his crusade to make Obama a "secret Muslim not born in the USA".

    The Russians knew of his precarious financial situation years ago, and saw him as a possible "asset" if they could make him beholden to them for real estate and golf course loans when the US banking system had cut him off as a bad credit risk. That is what many legal experts are wondering, and I'm sure Nancy Pelosi as well. They just need to prove it, and then Trump is finished as both President and as a businessman.

    Schmidt that is what you get if you don't "educate" people in this country. Can you imagine if Obama had done the same thing? The so called "legal " experts are here only to make an "circus" of it, because no one ever made proper laws related to Presidents and their limits of power. (the present limits are a joke) A "captain" of a plane knows exactly his limits as well that of the plane; also strict operating manuals (with limits) apply, but not used for Presidents. It has now become an "experiment" to figure out 1800's laws which did forget a lot of things applicable for 2019 and how an "mafia mob" got elected and how they operate in modern times. Every day a new "never happened before" issue pops up. Lots of fun for sure for lawyers and the history books; but sorry but we've become the "entertainment government" of the century. Sorry but the "plane" may crash, because it is operating outside its "limits" with an pilot who flunked the exam. (pappy paid for it).
  • Schmidt
    2019-01-27 05:26:44 PM
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    Dutch -- No the plane is not going to crash. It is going through some turbulent weather now, but the plane will make a course correction and land softly under the guidance of Speaker Pelosi. She is a check on the Executive branch of government now, something that didn't happen under Paul Ryan who let Trump fly without real navigators willing to steer him in the right direction.
  • that guy in AZ
    2019-01-29 03:11:31 PM
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    Yesterday morning, the senate lifted sanctions on 3 Russia companies, despite opposition even from Republican senators. The owner of one of the companies is a business partner of Paul Manafort. In addition, a major donor to Mitch McConnell,Len Blavatnik, also will benefit financially from the lifting of the sanctions. Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham also have received lots of money from Blavatnik.

    Here is a key phrase from the article:

    "The real question is, why would McConnell and Trump do something so stupid as to lift Russian sanctions just as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s collusion investigation is beginning to blow wide open? They have to know they are under a microscope. Why pick now?"

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/28/1830431/-Mitch-McConnell-now-tied-to-Putin-Oleg-Deripaska-and-Russian-companies-after-lifting-sanctions?detail=emaildkre

  • that guy in AZ
    2022-03-03 11:22:00 AM
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    The sanctions imposed on Russia are starting to cause some real pain.

    French authorities seized a $120 million superyacht owned by Russian oil magnate Igor Sechin on Wednesday – the latest sign of an escalating crackdown on Russia’s oligarchs in response to the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

    French customs officials took control of the luxury vessel as it attempted to leave the port of La Ciotat in southern France – in violation of European Union sanctions targeting Sechin and other Russian oligarchs.

    “Thanks to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Union’s sanctions against those close to the Russian government,” France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted Thursday alongside a letter detailing the yacht seizure.

    The superyacht arrived at the port in early January for repairs and was not scheduled to depart until April 1 as it underwent repairs. According to the letter, the 280-foot vessel was “taking steps to sail off urgently, without the repair works being over” – prompting customs officials to take control.

    Igor Sechin is CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft.

    The massive boat – called “Amore Vero” – is technically owned by a company in which Sechin is the majority shareholder, according to France’s finance ministry. The yacht was built by Oceanco and completed in 2013.

    The Amore Vero is one of the largest ships of its kind in the world and won “best yacht design over 50 meters” at the World Yacht Trophies, according to Oceanco. The yacht has a swimming pool on its main deck that converts to a helicopter platform, as well as a sundeck with a jacuzzi and various other ritzy features.

    A close ally of Putin, Sechin is the former deputy prime minister of Russia and current CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft. The European Union described Sechin as one of Putin’s “most trusted and closest advisors, as well as his personal friend.”

    As Page Six reported, a growing number of superyachts owned by Russian billionaires have fled to the Maldives and Seychelles as authorities in the US and abroad crack down on the wealth of oligarchs. The international community is attempting to ratchet up pressure on Putin’s allies as part of its effort to end Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

    Yachts are just one target of the crackdown. On Wednesday, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich said he would sell Premier League club Chelsea as he faces mounting international pressure.

    President Biden signaled his administration would aggressively pursue assets held by Russian oligarchs during his State of the Union address.

    Igor Sechin and Vladimir Putin

    Igor Sechin is a close ally and adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    SPUTNIK

    Igor Sechin Yacht

    The superyacht arrived at the port in early January for repairs and was not scheduled to depart until April 1 as it underwent repairs.

    https://nypost.com/2022/03/03/france-seizes-russian-oligarch-igor-sechins-120m-superyacht/

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