The US sanctions bill is a timebomb for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin

[blaze]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/28/us-sanctions-bill-timebomb-donald-trump-vladimir-putin?CMP=share_btn_tw

Not only would Russia’s wealthiest come under unprecedented American scrutiny but the same would happen to their family members, and anyone doing business with them in the west. As such, the scope of the bill goes much further than anything undertaken to date against members of Putin’s entourage. As sanctions go, and depending on the bill’s implementation, this has the potential to destabilise the regime, not just create unpleasantness for a few Putin insiders.

Law firms have reportedly told oligarchs to divorce their wives and register their assets in their former spouses' names

As a result, there’s been a whiff of panic among Russian oligarchs. Dan Fried, a former Obama administration sanctions coordinator now working at the Atlantic Council thinktank, recently told me he’s never seen anything like it. Russian oligarchs have been flooding Washington with lobbyists and lawyers to try to fathom what may be coming at them. “They want to know whether a blacklist of names will be drawn up,” says Fried, who’s been contacted by some of these emissaries and smells “desperation”. Reporting from Russia, the Moscow Times adds that Russia’s wealthiest are at a loss as to how to circumvent the coming blow. Some law firms have reportedly advised oligarchs to divorce their wives and register all their assets in the names of their former spouses as a way of keeping them safe.

[uponit7771]

1. Betting on Red Don putting a stop to the sanctions somehow

[ATL Ebony]

2. Still awaiting your signature DJ. . . time is running out -- tick, tock, tick, tock!