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U.S. Lawmakers Warn Banks Against Trump's Russian Diesel Deal
oilprice.com

... A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has warned American banks, port authorities, and fuel-industry groups against facilitating imports of Russian diesel, raising the prospect of congressional investigations and legal action over President Donald Trump's decision to ease restrictions on Russian fuel.

In letters sent to the chief executives of major US banks and the heads of several port authorities, the lawmakers warned that importing Russian diesel could violate federal law and expose companies to civil and criminal liability.

They also said the imports would raise national-security concerns by providing Moscow with revenue to help finance its war against Ukraine.

The intervention comes after Trump recently announced an arrangement with Russian President Vladimir Putin under which Moscow would supply hundreds of thousands of metric tons of diesel to the United States, with additional shipments planned in the coming months. The US Treasury Department subsequently issued General License 135, granting a six-month exemption from certain sanctions restrictions.

The letters signal a potential new front in the political and legal battle over the administration's Russia policy. Democrats could gain significant investigative powers if they regain control of one or both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.

"Any importation of Russian diesel into the US raises significant legal questions and may be subject to legal action, as well as congressional investigations," the lawmakers wrote. ...


More from the article ...

... "There's not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we're withholding, we're actually not withholding anything based upon [national defense information]," said Blanche, who was deputy attorney general at the time.

But the contents of at least three documents in the massive tranche of files indicate classified information was included in files collected by the DOJ.

One of the documents shows Blanche's Office of the Deputy Attorney General itself received classified material related to Epstein in March 2025. By law, material can only be classified for national security purposes.

What exactly was classified and why remains a mystery. ...

Clues about classified material

Included among the Epstein files is an eight-page timeline of the FBI's New York office's initial efforts last year to track down and deliver its voluminous files to the Justice Department's Washington headquarters.

On March 25, 2025, one document shows delivery of "16 Epstein items to ODAG," referring to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. Among them, items No. 2 and No. 6 are described as "Epstein Transparency Project - Classified Material" and "CDs with classified materials (x2)."

The Epstein Transparency Project refers to the Justice Department's effort to review the files and redact, withhold or clear them for release. It is not clear what exactly was identified as classified. Each CD was likely capable of holding hundreds of megabytes of material. ...


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