Justice Department launches task force to enforce sanctions against Russian oligarchs
CBSN
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a new task force Wednesday charged with going after the crimes of Russian oligarchs, after President Biden previewed it at his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
"Tonight, I say to the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime 'no more,'" Mr. Biden said. He continued, "We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts your luxury apartments your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."
The Task Force KleptoCapture will be an interagency law enforcement group aimed at holding sanctioned Russian elites accountable, as Russia continues its aggressive invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions, imposed in cooperation with allies, aim to isolate Russia from global markets and punish Russian officials and elites in some way connected to the "unjustified act of war," as the Justice Department put it. The U.S. and European allies have been ratcheting up sanctions against Russian elites and even Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.
Rodeo star Spencer Wright and his wife are making end-of-life preparations for their 3-year-old son after he was found unconscious in a creek, a close family friend said in updates posted on social media and confirmed to CBS affiliate KUTV. The boy had been playing on his tractor before he ended up in the water and a mile downstream.
The launch of Boeing's star-crossed Starliner spacecraft on its first piloted test flight is slipping to at least June 1 to give engineers more time to assess a small-but-persistent helium leak in the capsule's propulsion system, and its potential impact across all phases of flight, NASA announced Wednesday.
Washington — As former President Donald Trump's "hush money" criminal trial in New York proceeds to closing arguments next week, the legal focus is moving south. His attorneys and longtime aide Walt Nauta appeared before Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon, where they sparred with prosecutors during two contentious, day-long hearings on Wednesday.