The White House announced on Thursday a proposal to allow US authorities to liquidate the assets of Russian oligarchs and donate the proceeds to Ukraine, seeking broad new legal powers to extend America’s economic war to the Kremlin amid bipartisan pressure. President Biden will send the new plan to Congress along with a broader request for $ 33 billion to help Ukrainians deal with the Russian invasion. Biden’s request for funding includes $ 20 billion in military aid to Ukraine, $ 8.5 billion in financial assistance and $ 3 billion in humanitarian assistance, including $ 500 million to support US crop production. tackling the global food shock caused by the war. The White House did not disclose the text of the bill behind its proposal for Russian oligarchs, but said the proposal would “improve” the federal government’s ability to send seized funds to Ukraine. Under current law, the United States can usually seize – not seize or liquidate – the assets of individuals subject to sanctions. Civil liberties groups have expressed concern that previous congressional proposals to do so run counter to constitutional protection, allowing federal law enforcement agencies to bypass litigation. It was not immediately clear how the White House would seek to change the existing statutes without violating these protections. “This package of proposals will create new principles for the confiscation of property linked to Russian kleptocracy, will allow the government to use the proceeds to support Ukraine, and will further strengthen its law enforcement tools,” the White House said in a statement. newsletter. The White House’s demands to Congress will now be the subject of intense controversy in the Capitol, as lawmakers face a critical spending controversy in a deteriorating economy. The government is also pushing Congress to approve tens of billions of dollars in funding to fight the pandemic, with the White House warning of cuts in funding for vaccines and other treatments. The White House said the $ 20 billion in military aid it was seeking would help provide Ukraine and its “Eastern Side” allies with artillery, armored vehicles, anti-tank and advanced air defense capabilities, among others. The $ 8.5 billion financial aid will help the Ukrainian government pay for food, energy and health care, while humanitarian aid is intended to tackle a growing international hunger crisis. The Ukrainian government has requested at least $ 2 billion a month from the United States to meet its short-term financial needs. The White House said its plan to liquidate the assets of Russian oligarchs was released in close coordination with the Treasury Department, the State Department and the Commerce Department. Attorney General Merrick Garland has previously told congressional lawmakers that he supports efforts to re-seize seized Russian funds in Ukraine. But even some senior Biden government officials have stressed the need for caution about a potentially significant change to the U.S. foreclosure law. Finance Minister Janet L. Yellen told reporters last week that lawmakers had to be careful when asked about a plan to give Ukrainians billions of dollars in seized Russian bank reserves. “I would say it’s very important and it’s something we have to think about the consequences before we take it,” Yellen told reporters last week. “I do not want to do it lightly and it is something I believe the coalition and our partners should feel comfortable with and support.” The new forces the White House is pursuing reflect pressure on Western allies to step up their economic campaign against Russia over its ongoing war against Ukraine. The Biden government proposal also includes a directive to criminalize “knowingly or intentionally possessing proceeds directly from corrupt dealings with the Russian government,” and Western allies are coordinating a response to Russia’s move to cut off gas. in two. NATO countries. The White House’s latest proposal also calls for improved protection against money laundering and would give the United States the power to freeze proceeds from efforts to facilitate sanctions avoidance. Since the beginning of the invasion, the Biden government has led an international financial attack on people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the seizure of assets such as ships, luxury real estate and private jets. Global law enforcement has also intensified the hunt for their assets. The effectiveness of such measures to prevent war and help the Ukrainians was less clear. The amount of assets of Russian oligarchs that are potentially available to US authorities is unknown, in part because federal law allows oligarchs to effectively conceal their assets. The Treasury Department said in a statement that it had “sanctioned and blocked more than $ 1 billion worth of ships and aircraft, as well as frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in assets belonging to Russian elites in US bank accounts.” Earlier this month, US authorities seized a $ 90 million 255-foot yacht in Spain owned by Russian billionaire Victor Wexelberg. The Spanish authorities froze the boat after the Ministry of Justice received a seizure order with a request for seizure in the federal court of Washington, with a complaint of US bank fraud, money laundering and sanctions violations. These are relatively minor figures, compared to the $ 84 billion damage that Ukraine has suffered in its political infrastructure alone, according to estimates by economists at the Kiev School of Economics. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that his country had so far suffered $ 550 billion in financial losses since the February 24 invasion of Russia. Some Russian experts also said that the oligarchic sanctions could boomerang alienate the Russian economic elite from the West and lead it into closer ties with the Kremlin. The United States has seized a Russian billionaire’s super yacht near Putin But the government’s move comes in response to growing congressional outcry over the reuse of Russian oligarchs’ assets. Parliament passed a largely symbolic bill Wednesday urging Biden to liquidate more than $ 5 million worth of US government-sanctioned assets and send revenue to Ukraine. It passed with bipartisan support in 417 votes against 8 against. A Senate proposal has the support of Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). An earlier version of the House bill would have gone further, giving the president that power, but was repealed after the American Civil Liberties Union warned it could violate constitutional protections by not allowing its goals to challenge the government’s actions. in the court. ACLU officials said the measure would probably have been repealed by the judiciary if it had been passed as proposed, giving Russia a possible propaganda victory over the United States. The bill states that the funds should be used for weapons for the Ukrainian army, for the reconstruction of the country, for humanitarian aid for refugees and for aid to the Russian people. Senators urge US to offer cash rewards for hunting down Russian oligarchs’ assets “The question is where the jurisdiction lies and whether these oligarchs have the ability to protect their property,” said Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center and a member of the External Relations Council. “I am not necessarily in favor of confiscating property without due process. … What is the source of the law for the seizure, let alone for the disposal, of these assets? “ In a telephone interview with reporters, a senior administration official declined to give details, but said the new measures would include mechanisms for judicial review. “With these safeguards, we feel confident that it provides constitutional requirements,” the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s request. Andrew Jeong and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.
