Mnuchin to brief lawmakers on easing sanctions against Putin ally

Source: Politico

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday will provide House lawmakers with a classified briefing on the Trump administration's plan to ease sanctions against three companies controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties to President Vladimir Putin.

The closed-door session will take place at 4 p.m. and could include other administration officials, according to a notice of the meeting obtained by POLITICO. The all-member briefing is one of the earliest tangible oversight acts by House Democrats since the new majority was sworn in last week.

The notice comes the day after seven Democratic House chairmen sent Mnuchin a letter asking him "to explain the easing of sanctions on businesses tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska."

“As the chairs of committees with oversight jurisdiction over the U.S. response to Russia’s attempts to interfere in our elections and other hostile actions, we have a number of concerns about the agreement that the U.S. has reached,” the Democrats wrote in the missive and requested a detailed response by Friday.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/09/mnuchin-briefing-russian-sanctions-1070287