10/23/2017

INTELLIGENCE/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States effectively rejected a Russian criminal complaint against a prominent critic of the Kremlin on Monday [10-23-17] and decided to allow him into the country, reversing an initial decision to bar his entry in response to the complaint after congressional leaders protested.
The critic, William F. Browder, a prominent investor who has led an international campaign to punish Russian human rights abusers that has deeply irritated the Kremlin, said he was initially prevented from flying to the United States after Moscow put his name on an Interpol list of criminal fugitives but later announced that the ban had been lifted…
A Trump administration official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss an individual visa case, said it appeared that the initial action blocking Mr. Browder had been taken automatically in response to an Interpol notice filed against him by Russia and was not an affirmative action by the American government.
The original decision drew bipartisan objections from congressional leaders who have worked with Mr. Browder on legislation imposing sanctions on Russia in response to the death of his lawyer, Sergei L. Magnitsky, who was investigating official corruption. Senators John McCain, a Republican of Arizona and the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Benjamin L. Cardin, a Democrat of Maryland and the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a joint statement that the decision to block Mr. Browder’s entry should be reviewed.”

-Andrew E. Kramer, “U.S. Clears Bill Browder to Enter, Rebuking Russia,” The New York Times online, Oct. 23, 2017