The Mueller project continues on its inevitable path, yet every day the synthetic Trump-Russia collusion scandal appears more absurd. It appears more absurd every day not only because of the absence of evidence of Trump-Russia collusion, but also because of the actions undertaken by the administration adverse to Russian national interests. The Frankenstein monster nevertheless lumbers on.
Yesterday the Trump administration designated five Russian entities and 19 Russian individuals under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) as well as Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, “Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities.” The Treasury Department press release announcing the sanctions is posted here.
In the Treasury Department press release announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is quoted: “The Administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber activity, including their attempted interference in U.S. elections, destructive cyber-attacks, and intrusions targeting critical infrastructure. These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia. Treasury intends to impose additional CAATSA sanctions, informed by our intelligence community, to hold Russian government officials and oligarchs accountable for their destabilizing activities by severing their access to the U.S. financial system.”
And that’s not all. Yesterday Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster called for further U.S. action against Russia as punishment for crimes in Syria, “in a fiery address at an event marking the seventh year of the Syrian Civil War,” as Politico’s Matthew Nussbaum put it. McMaster spoke at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as part of a program on the Syria crisis posted on the White House site under the title “Is the Worst Yet to Come?”
Are you sure Alger done it this way?
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