By Ian Talley
WASHINGTON -- The recent federal indictment of Russian
intelligence officers by the special prosecutor investigating
Moscow's election interference and possible Trump campaign
collusion lays the groundwork for Washington to slap more sanctions
on its former Cold War foe.
The question is whether President Donald Trump will levy
them.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 12 officers from
two cyber units in Russia's military-intelligence agency, the Main
Intelligence Directorate of General Staff, or GRU, provides the
evidentiary basis the Treasury Department needs to impose new
sanctions.
A law passed last year by Congress and signed by Mr. Trump,
along with existing executive orders, mandate punitive measures in
response to Kremlin election interference, cyberattacks and
military interventions in Ukraine and Syria.
The new law, known as Countering America's Adversaries Through
Sanctions Act, or Caatsa, was invoked after Mr. Mueller in February
obtained indictments against several Russian companies and citizens
for their alleged involvement in election interference. In that
instance, the Treasury Department sanctioned the defendants.
The July 13 indictment of more Russians provides Treasury
officials with information on additional Kremlin-linked actors with
which to take similar action. But Mr. Trump's challenges to Mr.
Mueller's investigation have fueled skepticism he will approve more
sanctions, leading to demands for action.
"Congress has provided important tools to hold Russia
accountable for its meddling," said Rep. Ed Royce, the California
Republican who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The
administration needs to use them to the fullest extent."
A White House official, asked if the president would impose
additional sanctions, said the administration is "always preparing
for the possibility" of additional actions. The National Security
Council referred sanctions questions to the Treasury
Department.
Treasury is working speedily to use "all the authorities that we
have," a senior national security official said. Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin promised earlier this year his office is readying
new sanctions, including against Moscow's intelligence services and
military.
But while Treasury can draft sanctions, Mr. Trump can say when
and whether to pull the trigger. That is why Treasury hasn't
imposed scores of sanctions targeting North Korea and its alleged
abettors. "We had hundreds of new sanctions ready," Mr. Trump said
last month amid high-level negotiations with Pyongyang. "But I said
I'm not going to put them on until such time as the talks break
down."
The administration contends it is being tough on Russia and
executing all of its obligations under the law.
"We want to do everything within our power to protect the
integrity of our elections, and we're going to look at that on a
number of fronts," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said
Wednesday."
Since Mr. Trump took office, the U.S. has expelled Russian
diplomats, closed a Russian consulate and sanctioned several key
allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, including billionaire
owner of aluminum giant United Co. Rusal, Oleg Deripaska.
Mr. Royce pushed the administration in March to sanction Russia
for using chemical weapons in violation of international law after
Moscow was accused of poisoning a former spy with a deadly nerve
agent on British soil.
But many legislators, including high-ranking members of his own
Republican party, have chided the president for not using the full
array of powers authorized by Congress. While diplomatic tensions
between the two powers have escalated, Mr. Trump's overtures to Mr.
Putin, a former intelligence officer, fomented concerns he is
pulling his punches with Moscow.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said that before another meeting
between Messrs. Putin and Trump takes place, Mr. Trump should work
with Congress to craft fresh sanctions to deter Mr. Putin from
meddling in the midterm elections. The White House has said it is
working on a bilateral summit in Washington this fall.
"We need new sanctions, heavy-handed sanctions, hanging over his
head," Mr. Graham said Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation.
Lawmakers also are watching to see if the administration will
use the power they gave the White House to impose sanctions on
Russian and European companies working on major new Russian
natural-gas pipelines into Europe. U.S. officials have for months
threatened to blacklist those firms, but Washington hasn't done
so.
Congressional aides also say the administration could have
sanctioned scores of entities involved in Moscow's military
campaigns. "There's low-hanging fruit related to Iran and Syria,"
an aide said, referring to Russia's support of both
governments.
While many sanctions laws force White House action, others
provide legal wiggle room that makes them effectively
discretionary. For example, Congress last year ordered the
president to sanction Russia's defense and intelligence sectors,
but lawmakers didn't set a deadline. And in legislating sanctions
against Russia's pipelines, lawmakers only said the president "may"
penalize those associates.
Some lawmakers are considering axing those loopholes, passing
new laws compelling Mr. Trump to act.
Many lawmakers are calling for even tougher sanction laws,
worried about Mr. Trump's commitment to punish Russia.
"Ratchet up -- not water down -- sanctions against Russia," New
York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, urged
Republicans Monday on the Senate floor.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R., Texas), said
Congress should "consider additional sanctions that would actually
discourage and hold accountable the Russians for their election
meddling."
Siobhan Hughes, Joshua Jamerson and Peter Nicholas contributed
to this article.
Write to Ian Talley at ian.talley@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 22, 2018 14:25 ET (18:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.