According to a new report from the Senate Intelligence Committee summarizing the findings of their investigation into Russian interference in U.S. elections, the company Rusal, which has already invested some $75 million in a planned aluminum rolling mill in Eastern Kentucky, is a “proxy for the Kremlin.” Overall, Rusal has agreed to contribute $200 million to the project, although as of December 31, 2019, the company had paused their contributions at $75 million until the planned mill’s main operator, Braidy Industries, could procure additional funds. The connection to the Kremlin comes through Rusal’s part-owner and Putin ally Oleg Deripaska, who, although he decreased his ownership stake in response to U.S. sanctions, still apparently owns a significant chunk of the company.
The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report bluntly states:
‘Deripaska’s companies, including RUSAL, are proxies for the Kremlin, including for Russian government influence efforts, economic measures, and diplomatic relations.’
Indeed — if Rusal successfully sees through its plan to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the planned Kentucky mill, then those behind the company would suddenly have economic leverage against certain interests in the United States.
The plans for Rusal investment in the Kentucky mill were announced in April 2019, just a short time after sanctions against the company were lifted. Kentucky’s Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who doubles as the Senate Majority Leader, voted against keeping those sanctions in place, but he’s claimed, dubiously, that the vote had nothing to do with the eventually revealed Rusal investment plans.
Kentucky Democratic Party spokeswoman Marisa McNee said:
It’s time for Moscow Mitch to tell the truth to the people of Kentucky. There are just too many unanswered questions, and too many people from McConnell’s orbit who have been exposed as playing a big role in this deal for him to continue to play dumb. What did he know, and when did he know it?’
When asked about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s conclusion about Rusal’s Kremlin ties, McConnell spokesperson Robert Steurer referred, in part, to a recent statement that the Senate Majority Leader made lauding the committee’s efforts overall. McConnell said:
‘The Committee’s findings, along with other information recently released by the Intelligence Community, confirm what we already knew: Russia, China, Iran, and other foreign actors want to influence our politics, interfere with our elections, and stoke fear and division among Americans.’
The inclusion of countries besides Russia in that list is no doubt intentionally meant as a distraction. While other political meddling may have emanated from elsewhere, Russia remains a chef peddler of election meddling in the U.S.
Thanks to Trump’s compromised one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort, Deripaska ended up just a degree or two away from the Trump campaign for a time. Manafort worked for Deripaska directly and also worked with a Russian intelligence officer, Konstantin Kilimnik, who the committee characterized as Manafort’s “primary liaison to Deripaska.” Manafort’s connections and “willingness to share information… represented a grave counterintelligence threat,” according to the Senate Committee’s new report. Trump, of course, doesn’t exactly seem likely to change his stance that the Russia investigation has been a “witch hunt” from the start.
