WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's Justice Department has disbanded a Biden-era program aimed at seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs as a means to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The move to disband Task Force KleptoCapture is one of several moves undertaken by the Justice Department under the new leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi that presage a different approach toward Russia and national security issues.
The department also ended the Foreign Influence Task Force, which was established in the first Trump administration to police influence campaigns staged by Russia and other nations aimed at sowing discord, undermining democracy and spreading disinformation. The U.S. government in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election aggressively moved to disrupt propaganda campaigns by Russia, which officials have assessed had a preference for Trump.
In a memo addressed to all employees Wednesday — the first day of Bondi's tenure — the attorney general's office stated that “attorneys assigned to those initiatives shall return to their prior posts, and resources currently devoted to those efforts shall be committed to the total elimination of Cartels and TCOs” — an acronym for Transnational Criminal Organizations.
The Trump administration has made combating the illicit flow of fentanyl into the U.S. a priority. The opioid is blamed for some 70,000 overdose deaths annually.
The Justice Department on Wednesday also shifted its approach to enforcement of a World War II-era law known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to disclose to the government when they lobby in the U.S. on behalf of foreign governments -- including Russia -- or political entities. Under the policy change, prosecutors were directed to focus criminal enforcement on acts of more traditional espionage rather than registration violations.
Despite the disbanding of the task force, Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have called for a more aggressive stance on Russia. During his confirmation hearing, Bessent advocated for stronger sanctions on Russian oil, saying the Biden administration’s sanctions regime wasn’t “muscular” enough.
“I believe the previous administration was worried about raising U.S. energy prices during an election season,” he said.
Trump has said he will bring about a rapid end to the war in Ukraine and said talks are ongoing to bring the conflict to a close. “We made a lot of progress on Russia, Ukraine,” Trump said earlier this week. “We’ll see what happens. We’re going to stop that ridiculous war.”
