Open Records Lawsuits Probe into Russian Support for U.S. Green Groups

The Treasury and State Departments have failed to respond to open records requests seeking "certain correspondence and related records discussing Russian funding of environmental pressure groups' advocacy in the United States," according to lawsuits filed today against Treasury and Monday against State.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas), who chairs the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and Rep. Randy Weber (R., Texas), chairman of its energy subcommittee, sent a letter dated June 29, 2017, to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asking him to "conduct a full and complete investigation" into allegations the Russian government has been funneling tens of millions of dollars into U.S. environmental groups to support misinformation campaigns aimed at suppressing U.S. natural gas development.

Smith's letter describes how the Russian government has "executed a political agenda with little or no paper trail" that allows funding to flow from Russia through a shell company into Bermuda and from there to U.S. environmental groups in the form of grants distributed through the San Francisco-based Sea Change Foundation.

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