Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch known as Putin's chef, is laughing at newly announced U.S. Treasury Department sanctions against him.
AP:
Prigozhin tells the state RIA Novosti news agency that he's not worried by the U.S. sanctions list. He says he has no business in the U.S., and he adds he won't eat at McDonald's in response to the penalties.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted Prigozhin and 12 other Russian nationals for interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections. Prigozhin is accused of financing the effort.
While the sanctions list copying the Mueller indictment makes it increasingly difficult for President Trump to continue to call the Russia investigation a "hoax" and "witch hunt," a closer look at the names and entities shows the sanctions are not likely to have any punitive impact on Russia or Putin.
It is not clear whom of the individuals or which of the entities identified would have any financial interests in or connected to the United States that would be crippled by sanctions. Prigozhin is the only known oligarch with ties to the Kremlin.
The FSB (the successor to the KGB) and the GRU (Russia's military intelligence) already were under sanctions. In fact, the Trump administration made an adjustment to sanctions on the FSB in February 2017 which would "allow U.S. companies to make limited transactions with FSB that are needed to gain approval to import information technology products into Russia."
In December [2016], Obama expelled 35 suspected Russian spies and sanctioned two spy agencies. He also sanctioned four Russian intelligence officers and three companies that he said provided support to the cyber operations.
NYT:
The four Russian intelligence officials are Igor Valentinovich Korobov, the chief of the G.R.U., and three deputies: Sergey Aleksandrovich Gizunov, Igor Olegovich Kostyukov and Vladimir Stepanovich Alexseyev.
Those four are part of Treasury's just-named 19 individuals. The only two new names (not including Mueller's 13) are Sergei Afanasyev and Grigoriy Molchanov. The two are identified as senior officials in the GRU, and as The New York Times noted in December 2016 when President Obama implemented sanctions, "G.R.U. officials rarely travel to the United States, or keep assets here."
Foreign Policy explains how Thursday's sanctions fall far short of what the law requires.
The legislation, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, mandates that the Trump administration name the individuals in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. It mandated the drafting of an “oligarch’s list” that could form the basis for future sanctions efforts. The unclassified version of the list appeared to be copied from the Kremlin website and Russian Forbes.
Treasury officials hinted this month that some of those oligarchs would be hit with sanctions, yet “nobody has been sanctioned as yet from the classified Kremlin list,” says Anders Aslund, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
Lawmakers are reacting to the news.
“The sanctions today are a grievous disappointment and fall far short of what is needed to respond to that attack on our democracy let alone deter Russia’s escalating aggression,” Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who is the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “If President Trump believes that today’s action sufficiently addresses the sanctions package Congress sent to respond forcefully to Moscow’s election interference, then he is sorely mistaken.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reacted by highlighting the impact the sanctions list will have on President Trump's habit of trying to discredit the Russia investigation.
“The fact that the administration has issued sanctions against individuals and entities indicted by Special Counsel Mueller proves that his investigation is not a ‘witch hunt’ as the president and his allies have claimed.
“It’s more clear than ever that the president must not interfere with the special counsel’s investigation in any way.”
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the Trump administration has a long way to go if it wants to stop Russian aggression.
... I am glad to see this Administration finally heeded our call to use some of the new tools Congress has mandated over the past year. However, the previous Administration had already sanctioned many of these individuals and entities. The Russian government continues to aggressively attack democratic institutions and incite destabilizing behavior; its brazen chemical weapons strike on British soil is the latest example of what will happen if there are no serious consequences for the Kremlin’s actions. I expect to see additional sanctions in short order against specific Russian entities responsible for undermining our democracy, including those like Glavset which was recently indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The longer we wait, we know the Russian government will continue to shift resources to other propaganda factories that spew disinformation and lies. I look forward to a full briefing from the administration on its next set of targets.
(...)
"Alongside these new sanctions, we need a coordinated, whole of government initiative to counter hybrid Russian government interference and aggression at home and abroad. Imposing sanctions sends an important signal, but should not be confused with a comprehensive strategy to defend our democratic institutions and those of our allies.”
Even House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) issued a statement welcoming the administration's action but also noting it must do more.
Today’s action, using authorities provided by Congress, is an important step by the administration. But more must be done. The Foreign Affairs Committee will continue to closely track implementation of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and keep pushing to counter Russian aggression.”
The Latest: Prominent Russian scoffs at new US sanctions (AP)
SCHUMER: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RUSSIAN SANCTIONS PROVE MUELLER’S INVESTIGATION IS NOT A “WITCH HUNT” (press release)
MENENDEZ STATEMENT ON U.S. TREASURY RUSSIA SANCTIONS FOR ELECTION MEDDLING, CYBER ATTACKS (press release)
Chairman Royce Welcomes Admin Sanctions on Russian Cyber Actors (press release)
Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking (NYT)
U.S. makes limited exceptions to sanctions on Russian spy agency (Reuters)
Trump Finally Rolls Out Some (Limited) Russia Sanctions (Foreign Policy)