A bipartisan Senate group is prepping a fresh new round of Russia sanctions, per Politico. There are 10 co-sponsors, including Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, John McCain, Ben Cardin, Ben Sasse and Rob Portman.
The new sanctions would:
- Freeze assets and impose visa bans on hackers and those deemed to be tied to hackers
- Impose sanctions on bank transactions with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors.
- Put Obama's 2014 Russia sanctions into formal law.
- Ban any recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea.
- Authorize $100 million for the U.S. government to counter "fake news," among other provisions.
Why it matters: Trump and his Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson, have signaled they'll be friendlier to Russia than the Obama administration. This is a sign that Trump will have to battle Congress to make that happen.