Trump helping Russia

JosephDredd

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...?utm_source=reddit.com&utm_term=.f54382c922c6


Congress to ease Russia sanctions amid clamor for tougher measures


Bowing to pressure from the Trump administration, lawmakers unveiled a sweeping defense policy bill Tuesday that would give the president greater power to forgo certain Russia-related penalties.

The move to scale back sanctions stands in sharp contrast to mounting bipartisan fervor in the Senate to get tougher on Russia after a summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that was roundly decried as an embarrassment and a missed opportunity to deal harshly with the Kremlin over election interference.

...

Leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and Banking committees also announced that they would soon hold hearings to address, among other matters, the implementation of sanctions against Russia.

But rank-and-file lawmakers are growing impatient for action, as demonstrated by several bipartisan pairs of senators who have raised and endorsed bills and resolutions demanding an increase in punitive measures against Russian actors caught undermining the United States. On Tuesday, Sens. Menendez and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) teased forthcoming legislation that would immediately step up sanctions on Russian oligarchs and the country’s energy, financial and cyber sectors; tighten reporting requirements to Congress about existing sanctions implementation; and require Senate approval for any bid to withdraw from NATO. Also Tuesday. Sens. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin demanding that the department impose sanctions on the Russians cited in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s latest indictment.

Those moves come on the heels of repeated efforts by Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) to secure a vote in the Senate expressing lawmakers’ conviction that Trump should fully enforce existing sanctions against Russia. In recent days, a wave of Republican and Democratic senators has also signed on to a bill from Sens. Van Hollen and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that would slap new sectoral sanctions on Russia if the director of national intelligence concluded that the Kremlin had tried to interfere in another election, within 10 days of his determination.

In addition to bipartisan efforts, individual senators have also written resolutions to push back against Trump’s erratic Russia diplomacy, such as a proposal from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) opposing any more one-on-one meetings between Trump and Putin without a second U.S. official present. After Russia’s description of “agreements” reached in Helsinki, the administration has been repeatedly pressed to report what happened during Trump’s two-hour-plus meeting alone with Putin.

The lengths his own party has to go to in order to stop him from alleviating punishing sanctions on an enemy nation for attacking America's foundational institutions....

Even though Congress took the unprecedented step of passing sanctions that their own president couldn't veto, Trump still managed to delay them as long as possible for the Russian oligarchs to move their finances around to minimize the damage and it looks like he still didn't even implement them all. No brilliant legal manoeuvring, he just refused to do it.

Full article at link.
 
So you want to nuke Russia is that it?
 
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/0...nctions-makes-a-mockery-of-the-united-states/

Trump’s Attitude Toward Russia Sanctions Makes a Mockery of the United States

The Trump administration shocked Washington when it refused to implement new, legally mandated sanctions against Russia in January. The White House claimed there was no need for new sanctions, because the law itself was already deterring those considering doing business with Russia. Yet, since then, not only did a U.S. grand jury indict 13 Russians for fraud and other charges, but the U.S. intelligence community unanimously told Congress that Russia hasn’t stopped interfering in American democracy. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats even testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the “United States is under attack.” Despite this, the Trump administration continues to stick to its claim that the situation requires no additional sanctions. This is worse than doing nothing.

Deterrence only works if it is credible: The actor threatening retaliation has to be seen as willing to carry it out. By refusing to implement Russia sanctions mandated by Congress despite tremendous political pressure to do so, the administration has sent a clear message: Don’t worry about sanctions, the United States won’t follow through.

The White House has somehow turned lemonade into lemons — taking the one strong piece of legislation intended to both punish Russia for its unprecedented attack on U.S. democracy and deter it from striking again, and instead giving the world a green light to do business with those responsible for attacking the United States. If the Trump administration was trying to purposefully undermine the United States’ credibility, it could not have done a better job.

To date, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which passed Congress with near-unanimous, bipartisan support last summer, remains the only significant U.S. response to Russia’s unprecedented attack on the United States.

The administration’s willingness to implement the sanctions has long been in doubt. From the very beginning of the Trump administration, it sought to remove sanctions on Russia. When Congress first took up the legislation, the administration said new sanctions were unnecessary and lobbied against the bill. When its passage looked inevitable, the administration pushed to water it down. And when Congress passed the sanctions nearly unanimously, the president grudgingly signed the bill into law, letting the world know he thought it was “seriously flawed.” Then, in October, the administration missed an initial implementation deadline.

The Trump administration therefore began the sanctions implementation process with no credibility, and with congressional oversight as the only hope for salvaging trust. Unfortunately, by making a mockery of the process, the administration essentially destroyed that hope.

First, the administration did not even acknowledge what the sanctions are for: Russia’s interference in U.S. democracy. The White House’s statement announcing its decision did not make reference to Russia’s interference in the United States, citing only Russia’s “aggression in Ukraine, interference in other nations’ domestic affairs and abuses of human rights.” Ignoring this is a flagrant disregard for the clearly outlined intention of the legislation.

Second, the administration did not impose a single sanction. Law required the government to meet a deadline on Jan. 31 imposing sanctions related to the Russian defense and intelligence sectors. Rather than comply, the State Department decided not to impose any, instead releasing a statement saying that sanctions “will not need to be imposed because the legislation is, in fact, serving as a deterrent.”

To be clear, implementing sanctions, particularly on defense-related sectors, is a complicated and delicate matter, and the agencies responsible should be granted a degree of flexibility. For example, the legislation enables the United States to sanction “persons” doing business with the Russian defense industry, which would include Eastern European NATO members. While no one expects the U.S. government to levy sanctions against the defense officials of NATO allies, the administration should be ratcheting up the pressure to deter countries, including allies, from considering buying Russian equipment.

But none of this appears to have happened. In fact, since the sanctions have gone into place, a series of large agreements to purchase Russian weapons — including by U.S. allies Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar — have taken place. Clearly they are not deterred.

Third, the Trump administration made a mockery of an important report on Russian oligarchs — either intentionally or out of sheer incompetence. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act requires the administration to deliver a report mapping out the network of Russian oligarchs and regime insiders, collectively known as the “Kremlin list,” specifically identifying people by “their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth.” Those placed on this list could face potential sanctions, having their visas banned, and assets frozen.

But what the Trump administration delivered was laughable. Despite serious work by career officials to develop a list as required, the administration instead released an all-inclusive list that appears, quite literally, to be a copy-and-paste job from the Forbes ranking of the wealthiest Russians and Russian government websites. This makes the list pointless: If everybody is on the list, then in effect, nobody is on it. What’s worse is that someone high up in the government reportedly replaced the list at the last minute.

Before the deadline, Russia’s oligarchs were aflutter with apprehension, hiring lobbyists, hiding assets, conducting private diplomacy, and even stress-testing their businesses as they braced for impact. After its release, they met it with laughter and mockery. It all seemed to be a big joke. No oligarchs could now seriously think this administration will sanction them.

Lastly, the Trump administration found a way to turn a report designed to deter Russia from interfering in elections into a way to put Russia at ease. Congress required the administration to assess the effects of expanding sanctions to Russian sovereign debt and derivatives. This was a new and potentially very powerful tool, which some financial analysts have even referred to as the “nuclear option.” But the report the administration released warned that Russia’s sovereign debt market was too dangerous to sanction without risking “negative spillover effects into global financial markets and businesses.” After its release, the Russian stock market rallied, as investors (rightly) interpreted the report as an indicator that the administration won’t expand sanctions.

With its failure to implement this important legislation, the Trump administration in one fell swoop made a mockery of the U.S. Congress and America’s standing overseas, while delivering a huge gift to the Kremlin.

The question now is whether Congress will do anything about it.

Trump's shitty implementation of the sanctions actually bolstered Russia's economy.
 
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/15/trump-finally-rolls-out-some-limited-russia-sanctions/

Trump Finally Rolls Out Some (Limited) Russia Sanctions
The Treasury Department sanctioned Russian intelligence agencies and officials — again. But lawmakers and experts wonder when the real response will come.


The Trump administration on Thursday slapped financial sanctions on a group of two dozen Russian government officials and entities. But most of them were already under U.S. sanctions or were previously named in an indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller, making many lawmakers and experts question what impact the new measures might have.

The designations announced Thursday come as part of a long-delayed effort by the Trump administration to implement some of the sanctions mandated in a bill passed overwhelmingly by Congress last summer. The delay in implementing the sanctions has drawn intense criticism on Capitol Hill.

Trump sanctioned people already under sanction, refused to sanction new people. You know, sanctions that would affect somebody.
 
I kept posting, "WHERE ARE THE SANCTIONS?" for what seemed like months, he finally implemented some, and his bots hailed him as strong and bold
 
Maybe he should wait until after the election where he has more flexibility
 
Maybe he should wait until after the election where he has more flexibility

Then you for reminding us what it looks like when you have a president who is capable of being both diplomatic and tough. Many Trump fucktards seem to think there's nothing between nuclear war and licking Putin's balls.
 
I had this discussion with some friends. They think I'm crazy but I think it's stupid for Russia and U.S. to not be friends and allies. We should thaw relations and work towards cooperation. I'm sick of everyone trying to resurrect this cold war shit.
 
Then you for reminding us what it looks like when you have a president who is capable of being both diplomatic and tough. Many Trump fucktards seem to think there's nothing between nuclear war and licking Putin's balls.

Lol
 
I had this discussion with some friends. They think I'm crazy but I think it's stupid for Russia and U.S. to not be friends and allies. We should thaw relations and work towards cooperation. I'm sick of everyone trying to resurrect this cold war shit.
Russia needs to stop dicking with our elections and poisoning people abroad and such.
That's the first step towards friendship, not abandoning your sensible caution and pulling your pants down as you bend over.
 
Russia needs to stop dicking with our elections and poisoning people abroad and such.
That's the first step towards friendship, not abandoning your sensible caution and pulling your pants down as you bend over.

To be fair we do it too, just rarely get caught. SAD SOG FTW.

I get it, they are being dickish, Putin REALLY needs to go, old-school KGB still has hurt feelins from their collapse.
 
I had this discussion with some friends. They think I'm crazy but I think it's stupid for Russia and U.S. to not be friends and allies. We should thaw relations and work towards cooperation. I'm sick of everyone trying to resurrect this cold war shit.

You want America to overlook fundamental attacks on its institutions in the name of friendship, even though Russia is not only continuing those attacks, but is ramping them up in the next election?

You are fucking crazy.
 
So he eases sanction on the Russian Metal Giant?


As a non American I think that is very kind of Trump in the Past 20 years Metal has been increasingly getting marginalized and getting sidelined compared to other contemporary popular Music genres.

I think he should give Putin the rest of our uranium
 
You want America to overlook fundamental attacks on its institutions in the name of friendship, even though Russia is not only continuing those attacks, but is ramping them up in the next election?

You are fucking crazy.

Like I said I see your points about their current leadership, they need to go, a majority of russians don't hate America. It's the fucking douchebag leadership there that are still old-school KGB and Oligarchs who got their fingers into everything. They badly need a coup.
 
You can see how deranged and stupid people like TS are. While you’re crying Russia, China is completely taking over Africa and the pacific and a lot that’s in between.

Russia and their piss ant economy are not your enemy unless you try way too hard to make them one. There’s no reason to antagonise them. For what? Syria and Ukraine? Russia is not going to invade Europe.

You’re just completely brainwashed.

Interesting set of stupid talking points. Maybe you can explain these two points:

Why should America ignore an enemy nation who is continuing its attacks on fundamental American institutions?

Why Trump should have pulled out of the TPP if you're concerned about declining American influence being replaced by Chinese influence?
 
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