The US added more sanctions on Russia. Five more Russian officials were added to the blacklist that prevents them from doing business with Americans and freezes any assets they have in America. Via ABC News:
The outgoing Obama administration on Monday blacklisted five Russians, including a senior law enforcement official close to President Vladimir Putin, as the two nations’ feud over U.S. election hacking escalated. The founder of WikiLeaks, publisher of the election-related emails, denounced last week’s U.S. intelligence report about the hacking as a “press release.”
The economic sanctions against the five Russians are not related to the U.S. intelligence agencies findings, officials said, and instead are connected to a 2012 U.S. law punishing Russian human rights violators. Americans are now banned from doing business with the men and any assets they may have in the United States are now frozen.
But the symbolic effect of the new penalties was more significant, following weeks of accusations that Moscow spearheaded a campaign designed to help Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in November’s presidential election. And their timing was unmistakable: Just three days after U.S. intelligence agencies connected Putin directly to the hacking of Democratic accounts.
According to U.S. intelligence agencies, Russia provided the emails to WikiLeaks. The website’s founder, Julian Assange, denies that is the case, but Democrat and GOP lawmakers have largely backed the accusation and many have demanded a sterner response for meddling in America’s democratic process. Monday’s action could go some way to answering those calls.
Trump, however, could repeal these sanctions when he takes office next week. The billionaire businessman has expressed an interest in warming relations with Russia and has voiced skepticism about the intelligence agencies’ conclusions.