The Trump administration has failed to place new sanctions on Russia, further deepening allegations the president is soft on Russia.
New sanctions resoundingly flew through both chambers of Congress in July, President Donald Trump signed the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” on August 2. The bill called for fresh sanctions not only on Russia but Iran and North Korea as well.
But the administration missed the October 1 deadline to “issue regulations or other guidance” to indicate who from Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors—like its powerful Federal Security Service—would be targeted by the new sanctions.
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The bill did give Trump until early next year to actually impose new sanctions on specific parts of Russia’s economy like finance and energy, according to LawFare.
The White House and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s requests for comment.
The bill was a direct result of Russia’s meddling in last year’s election, though Trump has not completely accepted Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s efforts or even agreed with the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that the Russians intentionally interfered in order to help Trump claim the White House over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
At the time of the bill’s signing, Trump did not have media or photographers present, unlike many of his other signings, and he lamented the bill’s challenge to his power as head of the executive branch. The measure included a clause that allowed Congress to review any lifting of sanctions should Trump try do so.
On the campaign trail, Trump spoke about improving relations with Russia and to date has failed to criticize Putin. During the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, in July, Trump met with Putin for the first time and said he asked him twice if Russia had meddled in the election. Putin supposedly denied any Russian involvement, and Trump later said he believed him.
