Trump eases sanctions against Russia imposed for interfering with U.S. elections

The Treasury Department released a statement that amends one of the sanctions President Obama issued in retaliation for Russian interference in the U.S. elections, according to Business Insider. The rationale given for the amended sanction in the statement was to "import information technology products" into Russia. President Obama had imposed two sets of sanction against the Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the first in the summer of 2015 and the second one last December.

The first set of sanctions was for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee computer system, in which they started monitoring email and chat correspondence.

The fear of many is this could be the start of easing sanctions on Russia, something Russian strongman Vladimir Putin would very much welcome. But the White House is pushing back on the notion.

WH Press Secretary Spicer denies 'easing' of sanctions

At a press conference at the White House, Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the move was an "easing of sanctions." Mr. Spicer claimed it was a "fixing" of some technical language and he argued that it is common for Treasury to go back and look at "specific carve-outs for different industries or products and services." He claimed it is in "regular course" these type of things are done by Treasury.

Trump says he is not 'easing anything'

However, at the White House during a press spray in the Oval Office Trump threw cold water on the claim of easing sanctions. Responding to a question he simply said, "I'm not easing anything." A senior Treasury Department official told reporters on a conference call that the "exceptions" were "a very technical fix" made in response to "direct complaints" from companies. According to the official, the sanctions had complicated the sale of cell phones and tablets in Russia.

Leaked emails favored Donald Trump during election

The purpose of the hacking by the Russians was to discredit the candidacy of Hillary Clinton and at the same time promote Donald Trump. The controversy erupted during the presidential election campaign when emails and chats were leaked to the press, causing embarrassment for Democrats and at times splitting their ranks. The emails revealed that the Democratic National Committee had favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.