U.S. expands Russia election meddling sanctions

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration imposed new sanctions against Russia on Thursday for election meddling in 2016. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted five entities and 19 individuals in Russia. Those punished include the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), some of Russia’s top intelligence groups. The sanctions also target the Internet Research Agency (IRA), which special counsel Robert Mueller indicted earlier this year. The announcement followed hours after the release of a joint statement from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France on Thursday morning condemning Russia for a chemical attack on a former spy in Britain. “These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday. In addition, the Trump administration accused Russia of concerted and ongoing attempts to hack the U.S. energy grid. The accusations and the new sanctions mark the strongest effort yet from the Trump administration to punish Russia for sowing discord in the United States. Earlier this week at the UN Security Council in New York, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley strongly denounced Russia’s recent behavior: “We take no pleasure in having to constantly criticize Russia, but we need Russia to stop giving us so many reasons to do so.”