Biden’s Treasury Department Ignoring National Security Responsibilities, Experts SayFormer Treasury officials and finance experts are concerned the Biden administration's political maneuvering may help enable drug traffickers, dictators, and other money launderers.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen so far has put the fight against financial crimes committed by terrorists and dictators on the backburner as she pursues the Biden administration's "equity" focused agenda. In public remarks, Yellen has prioritized issues such as gender relations and the environment over the growing threat of illicit finance from both authoritarian states and terrorists.
Marshall Billingslea, the former assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the Treasury Department and an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, said Yellen’s approach does not reflect the Treasury Department’s mission or the priorities of the State Department, which has placed anti-corruption at center stage.
"Secretary Yellen’s decision to not mention corruption as a main priority seems out of sync with other parts of the administration, particularly the State Department," Billingslea said. "If the Treasury is not in the fight and is not committed to the anti-corruption campaign, this will be a major step backwards. Hopefully this will not be the case."
China, Russia, Venezuela and other authoritarian regimes use oligarchs and corrupt finance practices to both advance their influence and undermine the American-led financial system. Scott Greytak, the advocacy director for the U.S. office of Transparency International, said kleptocracy touches nearly all global challenges the United States faces.
"As a diplomatic tool, corruption is front and center in how [authoritarians] are growing their influence in some of the most important areas of the world," Greytak said. "If the United States government doesn’t see corruption as a national security and foreign policy priority, then they’re missing the bigger picture about how authoritarian influence operates and grows in the 21st century."
During the final months of the Trump administration, anti-kleptocracy advocates in Congress added legislation to bolster disclosure laws to crackdown on illicit finance practices within the United States to a larger defense bill. It remains a question, however, to what extent the Biden administration will follow up on tough action to combat global corruption.........
https://www.conservativereview.com/bidens-treasury-department-ignoring-national-security-responsibilities-experts-say-2651383865.html
