WASHINGTON ¨C U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to tell lawmakers who purchased his entertainment company, but promised it wasn¡¯t a Russian.
¡°I can assure you that it¡¯s not a Russian oligarch or any Russian,¡± Mnuchin said Tuesday in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve ever met a Russian oligarch.¡±
Mnuchin has faced questions over reports that a company linked to Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik purchased a stake in Mnuchin¡¯s company RatPac-Dune Entertainment in 2017, after he became Treasury chief. Democratic lawmakers have said such a transaction would create a conflict of interest for Mnuchin, because Blavatnik is a business associate of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, the target of U.S. sanctions aimed at President Vladimir Putin¡¯s inner circle.
The Treasury Department said in a January letter that Mnuchin didn¡¯t sell his stake in RatPac-Dune to Blavatnik or any of his firms, but didn¡¯t identify the buyer. Mnuchin¡¯s stake, which he was required to sell under an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics before he was confirmed as Treasury secretary, was sold to ¡°a third party unconnected to Blavatnik,¡± Treasury said.
Speaking Tuesday, Mnuchin reiterated that statement and said the transaction was ¡°confidential.¡±
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