Lifting DRC Mining Sanctions Would Be a Critical National Security Error

Aug 19, 2024 | Virginia Canter
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At the beginning of his term, President Joe Biden named fighting corruption as a core U.S. national security interest, and his administration was quick to propose a new strategy and implement powerful new rules  aimed at cracking down on corrupt financial practices. But now it appears the administration is walking back its commitment. After originally reinstating sanctions for engaging in “extensive public corruption” in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against Israeli businessman Dan Gertler in March 2021, which had been lifted in the final days of the Trump administration, it appears the Biden administration may soon lift the sanctions against the mining tycoon, apparently in order to secure U.S. access to precious metals in the DRC.