TRUMP / GRAHAM ACT / RUSSIA SANCTIONS WAIVER
"I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions and duties provided for in the Graham Act. I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States."
"It is painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side. This is not the right side of history." — — Zelenskyy, Piers Morgan Uncensored, October 14
Everyone ran the feud. The statute is the story. The Graham Act — named for Lindsey Graham, who spent a year building it and died in July — would have put tariffs up to 100 percent on goods from the five biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, China and India chief among them, and sanctioned Putin, Russian banks and the shadow fleet. It took effect October 18. The order killing it was signed Friday night, October 16, and gives no rationale, which is not sloppiness: Congress wrote the law so the President must notify it only if he declines to impose the restrictions. The disclosure obligation attaches to the refusal. So the cheapest possible path through the statute is exactly the one taken. Rubio went on television Saturday and called it a 60-day pause to analyze global economic impact; the order is not written as a study period and sets no end date, and nobody asked which document was actually signed. Cruz called it a mistake, Cornyn called it reckless, Tillis called it beyond irresponsible and said end the Iran war instead of doing a solid for Putin, Darline Graham broke with him over her own brother law, and Kirill Dmitriev called it an important and truly historic moment. Election day is November 3 and the stated point is fuel prices. By Monday he was saying "Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine," that Moscow is one of his four negotiating tracks, and that "it is time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine." The law was on the books four weeks and operative for zero days.