Bronx, NY—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement on the Treasury Department’s sanctioning of Andreii Derkach for election interference:

“Andreii Derkach, the man whom this administration’s Treasury Department has now singled out for interfering in our election, has also been supporting the Senate Republican-led smear campaign against President Trump’s political opponent. For months, I have warned that the Senate committees and Secretary Pompeo, who is providing them with thousands of State Department documents, are amplifying the Russian disinformation campaign. That’s why I launched a probe into the misuse of State Department resources to abet that effort. Secretary Pompeo’s refusal to cooperate with that investigation, including defiance of a duly authorized subpoena, is why the Committee is moving forward with contempt proceedings.

“First, President Trump tried to coerce Ukrainian President Zelensky to manufacture dirt on the Bidens. Then, when Trump’s corrupt gambit failed, Andreii Derkach, deemed an ‘active Russian agent’ by the Treasury Department, has shown up as a supplier of information to the Senate Committees. So I’m glad that the Administration is imposing sanctions on Derkach, who has bragged about sending documents to the two Senate Committees. But the penalty rings hollow when President Trump and the two Senate Chairmen are pursuing the very smear against Vice President Biden that this Russian agent peddled.

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