Trump May Lift Sanctions On Russia Just As Collusion Investigation Kicks Into High Gear

Just as the FBI’s Russia investigation escalated on Thursday, Donald Trump is reportedly considering “looking at” changing Russian sanctions.

In other words, the president could be on the cusp of lifting or even easing sanctions on the country, despite the fact that Russia was behind a massive attack on last year’s presidential election.

More from the report:

President Trump is weighing changes to U.S. sanctions against Russia, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said Wednesday.

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“I think the president is looking at it,” Cohn told reporters aboard Air Force One, when asked about the president’s position on Russian sanctions. “Right now, we don’t have a position.”

 

Trump arrived in Sicily on Thursday, where he will attend a G7 summit. Cohn said Russia is likely to be a topic of discussion at the meeting. Cohn also said that that Russian sanctions came up earlier in the day, while Trump was in Brussels meeting with NATO leaders.

The report comes as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by GOP Sen. Bob Corker, is considering imposing tougher sanctions on the country in response to Moscow’s meddling in the presidential election.

Despite even Republicans in Congress hoping to hold the Russians accountable, Trump Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is reportedly talking up the “improving” relationship between the United States and Russia in hopes of preventing the tougher sanctions, The Hill adds.

The report notes, “Corker said that unless Tillerson could soon prove to the committee that relations were changing, he would recommend tougher sanctions.”

Not only would it be bad policy for the administration to essentially reward the Russians for meddling in last year’s election, but the optics are just as bad as Trump and many of his associates – including Jared Kushner – are currently under investigation for their questionable links to Moscow.

There are still many unanswered questions and it’s not certain what Trump will ultimately do with respect to Russian sanctions, but one thing is clear: Russia’s attempt to turn Trump into their puppet has been a wild success, whether or not the president and his associates were colluding with them during last year’s election.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.