Rep. Adam Schiff, Laurence Tribe Urge Biden to Honor Navalny, Empower Ukraine by Transferring Seized Russian Assets
Washington, D.C.— Today, Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif) and Laurence Tribe, Harvard University Carl M. Loeb University Professor Emeritus, penned a joint op-ed calling on the Biden Administration to use seized Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
Since Russia launched its unprovoked assault on Ukraine, Schiff has been leading the effort to urge monetary transfers of this nature. Tribe, the American constitutional scholar, and a team of lawyers previously published a 187-page report making the “legal, practical, and moral case” for transferring Russian assets to Ukraine.
Read the full joint op-ed HERE or below:
Key Excerpts:
On Congressional Republicans’ Inaction
Speaker Mike Johnson's unconscionable refusal to take up a bipartisan aid package in the House that would pass with overwhelming support makes it clear that waiting for Congress makes no sense. Among other things, even if the Speaker relents and advances supplemental appropriations as he surely ought to do, U.S. aid alone could not fully meet the over $450 billion cost of rebuilding Ukraine's cities from the carnage of the Russian onslaught.
On the Need for the United States to Lead a Global Effort
With approximately $7 billion of the Russian Central Bank's frozen reserves sitting idle in U.S. banks, we have a unique opportunity to redirect Russia's ill-gotten gains toward repairing and redressing the damage inflicted by Russia's ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine, a step we know is fully consistent with the international law of proportionate countermeasures.
European leaders as well as those in the U.K. have begun to take steps along these lines. By doing so, they are making vital progress toward transferring the over $325 billion in frozen Russian assets held in banks abroad, under the control of democracies that recognize the existential threat that Ukraine's collapse under Russia's lawless assault would pose to the free world. But they are holding back, waiting for us to make clear that the United States will step up to the plate.
On Honoring Alexei Navalny Through Action
There could be no better way to honor the legacy of the martyred Alexei Navalny than to use the corrupt wealth of the Kremlin to advance the values he championed. Ukraine hangs by a thread while Republicans in Congress dither. The least the Biden Administration can do is release assets that the Russian bear will never be able to reclaim in order to defend the nation it has vowed to swallow.
We mourn Alexei Navalny's death. It is tragic, and it must not be in vain. His cruel and criminal assassination is a call to action for the global community to stand firmly for the right to dissent and hold corrupt autocrats accountable. To hesitate is to let Ukraine suffer at Putin's hands in the same way Navalny did.
Let us seize this moment to reaffirm our commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. By acting decisively, we can turn a dark moment into a beacon of hope and solidarity and honor Alexei Navalny's memory through action.
It's what international law permits and morality demands.
Full Text:
Alexei Navalny's horrific murder in a Russian penal camp represents a profound loss for the cause of free speech, democracy, and human rights around the world.
Navalny's determined battle against corruption and authoritarianism in Russia made him an emblem of resistance against President Vladimir Putin's regime. It also made him a target. As he has done to silence other critics, Putin had Navalny poisoned with Novichok nerve agent in August 2020. Then, once healthy enough to travel, Navalny courageously returned to Russia, only to have Putin throw him into prison on bogus charges. Navalny's demise was reported in terms not even Orwell could invent, as "sudden death syndrome."
Whatever the immediate technique that caused Navalny's death, Putin is responsible and must be held accountable. But, more than mere condemnation, his killing demands action—action that aligns with the principles Navalny embodied and undermines the tyranny he fought, the same tyranny Ukrainians have valiantly resisted since Russian forces first invaded their country.
President Biden, having warned Putin in 2021 that there would be "devastating consequences" for Moscow if Navalny died in Russian custody, now faces a pivotal moment. His leadership of the global response to this outrage must be swift and strong.
A six-month study led by one of the authors of this call to action made clear beyond doubt that when the President declared the crisis in Ukraine to be a national emergency in March 2023, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) automatically gave him full legal authority to transfer frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine. Such seizure and strategic reallocation of those frozen assets offers a potent tool in American law to penalize the Kremlin while bolstering Ukraine's defense against Russia's ongoing aggression.
Speaker Mike Johnson's unconscionable refusal to take up a bipartisan aid package in the House that would pass with overwhelming support makes it clear that waiting for Congress makes no sense. Among other things, even if the Speaker relents and advances supplemental appropriations as he surely ought to do, U.S. aid alone could not fully meet the over $450 billion cost of rebuilding Ukraine's cities from the carnage of the Russian onslaught.
With approximately $7 billion of the Russian Central Bank's frozen reserves sitting idle in U.S. banks, we have a unique opportunity to redirect Russia's ill-gotten gains toward repairing and redressing the damage inflicted by Russia's ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine, a step we know is fully consistent with the international law of proportionate countermeasures.
European leaders as well as those in the U.K. have begun to take steps along these lines. By doing so, they are making vital progress toward transferring the over $325 billion in frozen Russian assets held in banks abroad, under the control of democracies that recognize the existential threat that Ukraine's collapse under Russia's lawless assault would pose to the free world. But they are holding back, waiting for us to make clear that the United States will step up to the plate.
The meeting last week of the G7 Foreign Ministers missed the opportunity to advance this initiative. U.S. leadership at this inflection point in history can and should be an important catalyst both for broader collective action by the G7 countries in seizing frozen Russian assets, and for ensuring that transfers to Ukraine are transparent and effective in supporting the Ukrainian people's struggle for their democracy.
Should Russia seize private capital to retaliate, it would only hasten its own economic collapse as foreign investors flee their already-crumbling economy. In any event, as anyone who recalls the legacy of Munich must realize that letting the aggressor's threats deter essential action is the path to catastrophe.
There could be no better way to honor the legacy of the martyred Alexei Navalny than to use the corrupt wealth of the Kremlin to advance the values he championed. Ukraine hangs by a thread while Republicans in Congress dither. The least the Biden Administration can do is release assets that the Russian bear will never be able to reclaim in order to defend the nation it has vowed to swallow.
We mourn Alexei Navalny's death. It is tragic, and it must not be in vain. His cruel and criminal assassination is a call to action for the global community to stand firmly for the right to dissent and hold corrupt autocrats accountable. To hesitate is to let Ukraine suffer at Putin's hands in the same way Navalny did.
Let us seize this moment to reaffirm our commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. By acting decisively, we can turn a dark moment into a beacon of hope and solidarity and honor Alexei Navalny's memory through action.
It's what international law permits and morality demands.
###