as to deripaska, manafort claimed that by sharing campaign information with him, deripaska might see value in their relationship. and resolve a disagreement, a reference to one or more outstanding lawsuits. remember deripaska's friend saying manafort owed them a ton of money. >>> so deripaska is this intriguing figure when it comes to russia's attack on our election. deripaska is believed by the uss government to not just be highly connected to the kremlin and to putin's office in particular, he's believed by the u.s. government to have organized crime links as well. as such he has long been barred from getting a visa to visit the united states. but deripaska is doing very well in russia. he's also the head of a huge russian aluminum conglomerate. when it came time to sanction deripaska for his role in russia's attack on our 2016 election, it made sense the sanctions wouldn't just apply to him personally. they'd also apply to his business, to his firm. seems exactly the way you might want to use sanctions if you really wanted them to have an impact on the country you were targeting a

deripaska is believed by the u.s. government to not just be highly connected to the kremlin and to putin's office in particular, he's believed by the u.s. government to have organized crime links as well. as such, he has long been barred from getting a visa to visit the united states. but deripaska is doing very well in russia. he's also the head of a huge russian aluminum conglomerate. when it came time to sanction deripaska for his role in russia's attack on our 2016 election, it made sense those sanctions wouldn't just apply to him personally, they'd also apply to his business, right, to his firm. seems like exactly the kind of way you might want to use sanctions if you really wanted them to have an impact on the country you were targeting and the people you most wanted to pinch. but, again, if you were going to really go after them where it hurt, you'd want to trust that your own country's leadership was going to stand behind it? you'd want the leader of the u.s. federal government to have, i mean, forgive me, lik

she said, quote, it is not okay that we're turning to deripaska given the damage he's done to our democracyus now is kelly flood. representative flood, thank you for joining us tonight. i appreciate you coming in. >> thank you so much, rachel. >> so let me ask if i got anything wrong there just in terms of how this went through the legislature. from the outside it looked like this was a very, very last-minute thing and that you didn't have very much clarity on what exactly kentucky taxpayers would be investing in here. >> you're accurate. and then your average listener might say why did you vote yes? several reasons why. it was a unanimous decision. this is in one of the most distressed areas of our great state, the northeast corner of appalachia region. this is a county that had lost up to 1,000 people over the course of several years from a.k. steel's employment. it was decimated locally. and when we had a project come to us in the last hour, if you will, at the legislative session by the governor for what was termed an economic incentive package, it was pretty common language and not unc

she said, it is not okay that we're turning to deripaska given what he's done to our democracy. us now, she served on the appropriations committee. representative, thank you for joining us. i appreciate you coming in. >> let me ask if i got anything wrong. from the outside it looked like this was a very, very last-minute thing and you did not have much clarity about what kentucky. at a pairs would be investing in here. >> you're accurate. your average listener might say why did you vote yes? several reasons why. it was a unanimous decision. this is in one of the most distressed areas of our great state. the northeast corner of appalachian region. and this is a county that had lost up to 1,000 people over the course of several years from ak steel's employment. and it was decimated locally. and when we had a prong come to us in the last hour, if you will, it was pretty common language and not uncommon for a governor to come in at the last minute with this kind of request. for that particular region we were asked to give the governor the been fist doubt that he had put together a w

sanctions against russia we saw lifted specifically in the case of oli deripaska, and maybe there was. >> what we've really been looking at, it's important to understand in context that this was a really huge, you know, extended lobbying campaign, not just of mitch mcconnell but of members of congress and the treasury to lift the sanctions. this was months and months. they hired former louisiana senator david bitter and a former trump campaign aide brian lanza, and it was a much bigger effort. they enlisted all these european countries to tell the treasury to lift the sanctions. so, of course, the investment leader came in kentucky, but i think it's important to see it in context as something that was really a much bigger effort that a lot of experts and officials are really worried about. >> what's mcconnell's role in all of this? and what do the people of kentucky say? we might realize this doesn't reach the smell test, but that is a really economically distressed region, and they might say, i don't care who deripaska is, i just want a job. >> right, that was certainly the feeling o

and then it turns out the only person they could partner with was oleg deripaska's company, a russian company being sanctioned and suspected in interference into the u.s. elections. what happened next? >> right. so basically what happens is the ceo of this company ends up talking to his lawyers saying i know it's illegal to actually go and talk to them because the sanctions are still on, but i think i'm going to take the risk and do that. so we reveal that he actually went to zurich and met when the sanctions were still in place. he is careful to say they didn't do any negotiations, they were just talking. and two days later, the -- a senate push to actually block the sanctions from being lifted end up being thwarted partly because of the efforts of mitch mcconnell. and then the sanctions were lifted as they were meant to be. and, you know, three months later, this company invested $200 million in this kentucky aluminum mill. >> ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, according to your story, one of long-time shareholders contributed more than a million dollars through his companies to a

but there was a hitch reus all was partially owned by only deripaska who was tied to russian president vladimir putin us sanctions for bay doing business with the russians in response to meddling in the us election and that's where the post says kentucky's senior senator republican mitch mcconnell enters the scene i wasn't too much. >>of aiding and about it. the marymount up singled out as a and oppose for nearly 20 years. >>the post article and others suggest precisely that pointing out that former aides of mcconnell were lobbying on behalf of the aluminum plant, even as the senate majority leader himself was fighting to lift the sanctions on russia, mcconnell says he had no idea the russians were involved in the kentucky deal. the white house wanted the sanctions lifted. now that voted the reason i voted the way it is the president's response to questions about the timing and the parents of it all i think the washington post says a russian asset by comparison. >>mitch mcconnell loves our country. >>still mcconnell has picked up a nickname among democrats already frustrated by him kil

financial records being turned over who could be problematic and that's where the names of people like deripaska surface. >> as an expert on the trump finances and low points of the trump finances, there appears to be from the outside an increase in his ability to obtain money and he looks to me at that stage like someone who needs co-signers. out there in the world you would say you have too much debt, you can't get a car loan, can somebody sign this for you? he would need big co-signers for the money he wanted. >> particularly like when he bought the golf course in scotland in the 2000s. he said that's self-funded. i'm skeptical that's the case. i think that needs to be closely looked at. >> the modest phrasing of tim o'brien, very skeptical of donald trump's financial cleanse. thank you both very much for joining us tonight and when we come back, 45 years ago on this very day in history, president richard nixon became the first president in history to resign announce his resignation because the house of representatives voted for articles of impeachment against him and he was guaranteed he wou

it was partially owned by oleg deripaska, tried to russian president vladimir putin. u.s.russians in response to meddling in the u.s. election and that is where the post said kentucky's senior senator republican mitch mcconnell enters the scene. >> i was accused of aiding and abetting the very man i've singled out as an adversary and opposed tor nearly 20 years, vladimir putin. >> reporter: the "post" article and others suggest precisely that, pointing out that former aides of mcconnell were lobbying on behalf of the aluminum plant even as the senate majority leader was fighting to lift the sanctions on russia. mcconnell said he had no idea the russians were involved in the kentucky deal. the white house wanted the sanctions lifted. >> that was how i voted, the reason i voted the way i did. >> reporter: the president's response to questions about the timing and appearance of it all -- >> i think "the washington post" is a russian asset by comparison. mitch mcconnell loves our country. >> reporter: still mcconnell has picked up a nickname among democrats already frustrated

this is a country that has ties to russia even though deripaska has resigned.t a win satisfied on paper to release the sanctions. if you get to this company and they start hiring pr firms and they start writing checks to pacs, that is a company that has ties to russian intelligence, that may very well be acting under the direction of putin and russian intelligence to potentially come in and shape our elections. that is terribly worrisome. it is something that i cannot for the love of god understand that we lifted the sanctions and allowed a russian company into our country. >> the democratic party is having a lot of fun with this. they've got the casa cat for sale, they've got cups, they've got shirts. the challenge for mitch mcconnell now is that he's been exposed, right, as someone who is either willing to look the other way and not push through these bills that will actually help secure our country from foreign elections, or he's very interested in seeing lots of money come in to companies that are tied to his former aides that are lobbying for it. either wa