WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday blacklisted seven men, including several former Ukrainian officials, for allegedly interfering in U.S. elections as agents of Russia’s government by advancing theories about President-elect Joe Biden’s son.
The action targeted associates of Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian lawmaker sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last September who said he had derogatory information showing Hunter Biden’s involvement with a Ukrainian gas company.
That information and the effort to discredit the Bidens was pursued by President Trump and associates including his attorney, Rudy Giuliani. However, U.S. intelligence warned that Russia was engaged in trying to undermine Biden’s candidacy.
The Treasury said Monday that Derkach has been an active Russian agent for over a decade with close connections to the Kremlin’s intelligence services. Treasury officials added that since at least 2019 Derkach and his associates used U.S. media, social media, and “influential U.S. persons” to spread misleading and unsubstantiated allegations.
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.
Trending at WSJ.com:
From fraud claims to a Capitol riot: a historic week in Washington
