Feb 6, 2019

Treasury misses deadline to hand over documents on Deripaska sanctions

Mnuchin and Maxine Waters

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and House Financial Services chair Maxine Waters. Photos: Eitan Abramovich; Pete Marovich via Getty Images

The Treasury Department missed a Tuesday deadline to hand over documents to the House Financial Services Committee explaining its decision to ease sanctions on companies owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, Politico reports.

The big picture: The Trump administration's decision to drop sanctions on companies owned by Deripaska, an ally of Vladimir Putin and former employer of Paul Manafort, drew bipartisan ire from lawmakers last month. Financial Services chair Maxine Waters spoke to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Wednesday in an effort to find a "mutually agreeable date" for him to testify before the committee, a Treasury spokesperson told Politico. Mnuchin declined an offer to do so next week, but may face a subpoena if he continues to resist.

Go deeper: Listening for whispers in the court of Putin

Go deeper