Update: This story has been updated to include a response from the Treasury Department.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee who also sits on the Intelligence Committee, announced Friday that he was placing a hold on a Treasury Department nominee, citing Russia-related documents that the Treasury has not yet handed over to the Finance Committee.
“I have placed a hold on the nominee because of the Treasury Department’s refusal to provide the Senate Finance Committee with Treasury documents related to Russia,” Wyden said in a statement. “The provision of these documents to the Committee is not only part of the oversight process, but is necessary if the relevant congressional expertise is to be brought to bear on the effort to follow the money.”
Isabel Patelunas, the nominee for assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis, has already cleared her vote out of the Intel Committee, and awaits a confirmation vote by the full Senate. Wyden’s hold can’t permanently block her moving forward, rather it just slows the process for her nomination to come to the Senate floor.
Back in May, Wyden said he would place a hold on a separate nominee, Sigal Mandelker, Trump’s choice for under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, because the Treasury Department had withheld Russia-related documents that were being sought by the Intelligence Committee.
Soon after, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Treasury Department would in fact share with the Intel Committee the requested documents from the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which monitors the flags financial institutions are legally required to raise when they see suspicious activity.
The Treasury Department, in response to Wyden’s announcement of the hold Friday, said that it saw “no reason why he is holding up a qualified expert in a key intelligence role.”
“Treasury has fully cooperated with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. As a member of that committee, Senator Wyden has full access to these documents,” a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement to TPM.
