At first blush, a report about the Treasury Department sanctioning a Ukrainian parliamentarian may seem like the sort of thing many Americans will skip right past. But the political relevance of a story like this one matters.
The Treasury Department has designated Andriy Derkach, a pro-Russian Ukrainian promoting discredited allegations against Joe Biden, for sanctions related to foreign interference in the U.S. election.
As part of the sanctions, U.S. officials argued that Derkach “has been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services.” The Treasury Department added, “Derkach has directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in an attempt to undermine the upcoming 2020 U.S. presidential election.”
What makes this so significant, however, is Derkach’s possible interactions with Republicans in the United States.
It was late last year, for example, when Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), launched an effort to dig up dirt against Joe Biden in eastern Europe. Among the most notable figures Giuliani relied on for information was … Andriy Derkach.
Or as Chris Megerian summarized, the American president’s personal lawyer “was meeting with someone that U.S. officials describe as a Russian agent while they were both targeting Joe Biden in the upcoming election.”
But did the Ukrainian have any other U.S. partners? Derkach also claims to have fed information to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who’s helping lead an anti-Biden effort in the Senate ahead of this year’s elections.









