By AFPMore by this AuthorWASHINGTON,Three influential US Democratic lawmakers asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to justify lifting sanctions against Russian aluminum giant Rusal and two related companies, a move they said leaves "many" unanswered questions. Eliot Engel, the chair of the House foreign relations committee, asked in a tweet on Friday if lifting the sanctions was related to President Donald Trump's "business dealings in Russia" or his "cozy relationship" with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The letter was signed by Mr Engel as well as Maxine Waters, the chair of the House financial services committee and Adam Schiff, who heads the House intelligence committee. "UNUSUAL"The Treasury Department lifted sanctions against Rusal and the related companies on Sunday after blacklisted billionaire Oleg Deripaska took action to sharply cut his stake in them. The lawmakers wrote in the letter that Mr Manafort at one point "owed Deripaska close to $20 million and may have leveraged his position as campaign chairman to negotiate that debt in exchange for providing briefings to Deripaska related to the campaign".

Source: Daily Nation February 02, 2019 04:41 UTC