US Democrats demand banks, ports preserve documents on Trump’s Russia diesel deal for future investigation
Senior Democrats are preparing to investigate Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Moscow and have demanded that American companies preserve all documents related to imports of Russian fuel, Axios reported.
If Democrats win the November 3 elections, they could regain control of one or both chambers of Congress and take over key committees on foreign relations, banking, finance, and the judiciary. Investigating Trump’s agreements with Russia would then become a top priority, the outlet reported.
A group of senators and representatives sent letters to the leadership of major U.S. banks and several ports, demanding they preserve all documents related to possible deliveries of Russian fuel.
They sent the letters to JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, as well as to port authorities in Houston, Beaumont, and Corpus Christi, Texas, and the ports of New York and New Jersey.
In the letter, the lawmakers call on the recipients not to assist in the “purchase, transportation, importation, unloading, storage, financing, or distribution,” of Russian diesel fuel within the United States, and not to participate in its delivery to other markets.
Donald Trump announced on October 9 that he had agreed with Vladimir Putin on deliveries of Russian diesel fuel to world markets. To enable the deal, the U.S. Treasury Department temporarily eased sanctions on Russian diesel until April 7, 2027. Trump said Russia is to deliver more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, another 500,000 tons in November, and an additional one million tons after that.
Reuters reported that the first tanker carrying Russian diesel fuel already left the port of Primorsk on October 22. It is expected to deliver 40,000 tons of fuel to New York by November 7.
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