Section: Kleptocracy Initiative (USA)
Kleptocracy Weekly: 6/19-6/23
The latest on KI’s blog: Natalie Duffy discusses how the Armed Services Committee has a revolving door all its own. U.S. U.S. lawmakers are launching a fresh effort to outlaw “shell companies” amid fears that Russia is exploiting such opaque corporate vehicles to spread its influence. Op-ed by Representative Tom Suozzi: Americans must unite...
Kleptocracy Daily: June 23, 2017
News A Trump appointee to an advisory board is also a well-paid lobbyist for Saudi Arabia, making $430,000 from the kingdom — sparking ethics concerns about the President’s “drain the swamp” pledge. Defense lawyers say a recent Supreme Court ruling could change the way the SEC enforces the FCPA, the U.S. foreign-bribery law. EU leaders...
Kleptocracy Daily: June 21, 2017
The latest on KI’s blog: Natalie Duffy discusses how the Armed Services Committee has a revolving door all its own. News A bill to expand sanctions against Moscow and wrest greater control over Russia policy from the White House has hit a snag in the House of Representatives after passing in the Senate last week. The U.S. Treasury...
Kleptocracy Daily: June 20, 2017
News Senators are calling on the secretaries of State and Treasury to review whether a potential Russian takeover of petroleum company Citgo could threaten national security and violate economic sanctions. [Citgo, owned by the government of Venezuela, risks defaulting on a loan from Rosneft, a Russian state-owned energy company. Rosneft could...
Kleptocracy Daily: June 19, 2017
News U.S. lawmakers are launching a fresh effort to outlaw “shell companies” amid fears that Russia is exploiting such opaque corporate vehicles to spread its influence. The EU Foreign Ministers extend sanctions against Crimea. An investment group that U.S. authorities say is run by Russian mobsters and linked to the Russian government sent at...
Kleptocracy Weekly: June 16, 2017
On Wednesday, KI launched Weaponizing Kleptocracy: Putin’s Hybrid Warfare by Marius Laurinavicius at Hudson Institute. Watch the event and read the report. United States Senators passed a major new Russia sanctions bill. Germany threatened retaliation if the measures harm its commercial interests. (Atlantic Council, Reuters) Rep. Tom Suozzi...
Kleptocracy Daily: June 16, 2017
A two-year investigation has unearthed documents suggesting that UK police ignored the suspicious deaths of a circle of operatives linked to Putin critic Boris Berezovsky. (BuzzFeed) The U.S. Department of Justice is moving to seize $540 million assets allegedly purchased using funds stolen from the Malaysian 1MDB scheme. (NYT) China has launched...
Kleptocracy Daily: June 8, 2017
News U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will speak at an EB-5 investment industry gathering co-sponsored by related companies in late July; the news comes as Jared Kushner is under fire for his family company’s use of the controversial visa program. Trump’s nominee for FBI director is a partner at the law firm representing Russia’s national oil...
Kleptocracy Weekly: May 22-26
U.S. Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser Michael Flynn and believed they could use him to influence Trump and his team. Miami’s Porsche Design Tower developers— whose luxury condominium on Sunny Isles once featured Alicia Keys as...
Kleptocracy Daily: May 25, 2017
News Democratic lawmakers asked Deutsche Bank to hand over its findings on two politically charged matters — its banking on behalf of now-President Trump and trades from the bank’s Moscow operation that helped move some $10 billion out of Russia. Read the original letter here. A former Trump campaign aide has registered to lobby on behalf...
