The man who Biden entrusted with the sanctions: I can't wait to get to work, there'll be a lot to corrupt

James C. O'Brien, nominated by President Joe Biden as the Sanction Policy Co-ordinator, told the US Senate's Commission on Foreign Relations that the US administration, with the promotion of Congress, has invested considerable resources to draft and implement anticorruption sanctions.

I understand how important sanctions are to us. I understand it's essential that we reinforce the policy of sanctions to implement them fully. Our administration has identified people who will be the subject of sanctions. First, sanctions are part of our strategy. They are very powerful tools, and the use or threat through them is extremely effective in supporting a coherent” strategy, he said.

O'Brien added that they are committed to doing everything to preserve and increase the effectiveness of sanctions.

Any sanctions, however well justified, should be based on the analysis of options, effects and support from our partners. This requires that his aim be understood beyond the US government, that we work with other governments, to achieve the targets of sanctions. We have to do more to understand the effectiveness of US sanctions. Sanctions can serve many purposes, and we need to know what our purpose is and if we have achieved it”, O'Brien said.

O'brien stressed before the Senate that sanctions are crucial to fighting corruption.

Our “Administrator has presented a powerful strategy for this, and Secretary Blinken will appoint a senior director to the anti-corruption co-ordinator. I look forward to working with him to list the corrupt actors, their nightwork, the networks that help them”, he said.

Still, he stressed, we should be careful not to punish without evidence and hurt the innocent. /tch