WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Andrii Derkach, a Ukrainian lawmaker with ties to Rudy Giuliani, for being an “active Russian agent” and attempting to interfere in the upcoming presidential election, the department said in a statement on Thursday. 

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Andrii Derkach, a longtime pro-Russia operative

  • All of Derkach's assets in the United States have been frozen

  • Derkach is accused of spreading edited audio recordings in an effort to undermine Joe Biden's presidential campaign

  • Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal attorney, met with Derkach last December

The Treasury added Derkach to the list of Specially Designated Nationals, meaning all of his assets in the U.S. have been frozen and “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with (Derkach).”

The department also designated Russian nationals Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev, and Darya Aslanova, who are members of “the Russian troll factory known as the Internet Research Agency (IRA).”  

“Between May and July 2020, Derkach released edited audio tapes and other unsupported information with the intent to discredit U.S. officials, and he levied unsubstantiated allegations against U.S. and international political figures,” the department’s statement reads in part. “Derkach almost certainly targeted the U.S. voting populace, prominent U.S. persons, and members of the U.S. government, based on his reliance on U.S. platforms, English-language documents and videos, and pro-Russian lobbyists in the United States used to propagate his claims.”

The Treasury said the designations were part of the department's efforts to ensure a safe and fair election. 

“Andrii Derkach and other Russian agents employ manipulation and deceit to attempt to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere around the world,” Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in the news release. “The United States will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to counter these Russian disinformation campaigns and uphold the integrity of our election system.”

Derkach specifically is accused of releasing edited audio tapes of presidential candidate Joe Biden as recently as July. The tapes concerned Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who at the time was a board member for Ukraine-based energy company Burisma Holdings. 

In one, Derkach alleged that Biden promised former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2015-16, when both were still in office, $1 billion in loan guarantees in exchange for “keeping Burisma’s schemes and international corruption in place” by ousting then-Prosecutor General Victor Shokin to prevent him from investigating the company.

But on the tape Derkach released, the two men introduced as “Vice President Biden” and “President Poroshenko” discuss replacing Shokin as a condition for the loan guarantees, but make no mention of Burisma.

Biden has previously said the loan was linked to the removal of Shokin as part of an anti-corruption effort backed by the U.S. government, EU and international lenders.

Derkach has also been repeatedly linked to Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and his efforts to dig up dirt on Biden. 

In December 2019, Derkach met with Giuliani in Kyiv, a move widely seen as part of a campaign against Biden.

At the time, Derkach shared images of himself and Giuliani to Facebook, where he said the two discussed creating a taskforce to investigate alleged misuse of taxpayer money in Ukraine. 

"Rudolf Giuliani landed in Kyiv. We straightway met with him about the question of creating an inter-parliamentary group 'Friends of Ukraine STOP Corruption,'" Derkach wrote on Facebook, according to the Associated Press. "Unfortunately our country finds itself in the center of scandals relating to international corruption."

In August, the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center specifically named Derkach as a “pro-Russia” agent working to undermine Biden’s campaign.

“...Pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy (sic) Derkach is spreading claims about corruption – including through publicizing leaked phone calls – to undermine former Vice President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party,” NCSC Director William Evanina wrote in a press release at the time. “Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.