Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, today questioned expert witnesses at a Commission hearing on Oligarchs, Enablers and Lawfare. He also addressed the need to support Ukraine in its war, saying “If they don’t win, we all lose.”
In his opening statement, Congressman Cohen said in part:
“Many of the witnesses have risked their own freedom in speaking out on these issues against Putin. We know that can be dangerous, so we thank you for your courage…Mr. Putin and his oligarchs work together to help fund this war machine and, with his enablers, they steal and oppress the Russian people…As Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine drags on, Russian oligarchs have been at the forefront of our national attention, and many have been sanctioned…They’re a critical component of the regime and they often run Russia’s state-owned and state-influenced companies which they gained, of course, through corruption…
“In exchange for the lavish lifestyles they live, the oligarchs pledge their loyalty to the mid-level KGB agent…who became president and prime minister and now president again currently overseeing Europe’s biggest land war since 1945…We must continue to keep the pressure on…We need to get the Ukrainians everything because, if they don’t win, we all lose.”
Original source can be found here.
