US expels Russian diplomats, imposes new round of sanctions

[left-of-center2012]

The Biden administration on Thursday announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and sanctions against dozens of people and companies as it moved to hold the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year's presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies. The 10 diplomats being expelled include representatives of Russian intelligence services, the Biden administration said.

The actions, foreshadowed for weeks by the administration, represent the first retaliatory measures announced against the Kremlin for the hack, familiarly known as the SolarWinds breach. In that intrusion, Russian hackers are believed to have infected widely used software with malicious code, enabling them to access the networks of at least nine agencies in what U.S. officials believe was an intelligence-gathering operation aimed at mining government secrets.

Besides that hack, U.S. officials last month alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations to help Donald Trump in his unsuccessful bid for reelection as president, though there's no evidence Russia or anyone else changed votes or manipulated the outcome.

The measures announced Thursday include sanctions on six Russian companies that support the country's cyber activities, in addition to sanctions on 32 individuals and entities accused of attempting to interfere in last year's presidential election, including by spreading disinformation. The U.S. also sanctioned eight people and entities tied to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/months-hack-us-poised-announce-sanctions-russia-77084459

[left-of-center2012]

1. More here ...

The White House also said Biden was using diplomatic, military and intelligence channels to respond to reports that Russia encouraged the Taliban to attack U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan based on the “best assessments” of the intelligence community.

Reports of alleged “bounties” surfaced last year, with the Trump administration coming under fire for not raising the issue directly with Russia. The White House did not publicly confirm the reports. “The safety and well-being of U.S. military personnel, and that of our allies and partners, is an absolute priority of the United States,” the White House said Thursday.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/months-hack-us-poised-announce-sanctions-russia-77084459

[empedocles]

3. The question is, will Biden expel russian agents from mar lago?

[FakeNoose]

2. Thank you President Biden!

[gratuitous]

4. Well, that's different from the former guy

Remember how cordial the former guy's dealings with the Russians were? Link here.

Trump Hosts Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov And Ambassador Kislyak At White House
May 10, 2017 10:13 AM ET

President Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House on Wednesday, one day after firing the man whose agency is investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election that brought Trump to power.

* * *

Lavrov's meeting with the president was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, and it was declared closed to the press. Russian agencies tweeted photos from the Oval Office showing that in addition to Lavrov, Trump shook hands with Russia's ambassador to America, Sergey Kislyak — a key figure in the investigation into Trump's ousted national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

After the Lavrov session had concluded, members of the U.S. media were allowed into the Oval Office, where they found the president sitting with Henry Kissinger, who served as President Richard Nixon's secretary of state. The meeting hadn't been listed on the president's official schedule.

Not quite the same unmonitored access to the Oval Office that I'm confident Putin got used to during the last administration.

[Budi]

5. Here's a good read from the US Dept of Treasury. A deep dive 👍

PRESS RELEASES
Treasury Escalates Sanctions Against the Russian Government’s Attempts to Influence U.S. Elections






Here's the whole shebang. Names, connections, who, what, when, & how.

You don't fool Sec Yellen!

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0126

[AZ8theist]

6. About time.

We should kick every FUCKING RUSSIAN CRIMINAL out of this country.

And imprison ALL OF THEIR ENABLERS. Like Nunez, Johnson, McConnel, Graham. et al..and THE ENTIRE DOTURD FAMILY.