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Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
A Russian aluminum company has approved a $200 million investment in a planned mill in Ashland, Ky., to which Democrats wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, calling on the Trump administration to investigate the deal, expressing concern about Russian influence and national security.
"Russia remains a central threat to U.S. national security and prosperity and is, along with China, one of our most aggressive and capable adversaries. The proposed investments by En+ - a company that is majority owned by a U.S.-sanctioned Russian national and Russian state bank - in an American aluminum mill, raises serious questions of national security, particularly given the mill promises to supply materials to the Department of Defense."— House Democrats in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
Why it matters: The Russian aluminum company, Rusal, was sanctioned last year, banning the business from U.S. operations. Its owner, oligarch Oleg Deripaska, had been accused of "malign activity." House Democrats are "deeply alarmed" the company's U.S. investment.
Go deeper: U.S. lifts sanctions on 3 Deripaska-linked companies