Donald Trump’s commerce secretary has denied misleading Congress, after the Paradise Papers leak exposed his interests in a company doing business with a Russian firm controlled by members of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
Wilbur Ross said it was “totally incorrect” to claim that he withheld details of his involvement with shipping firm Navigator when disclosing his financial affairs to a Senate committee earlier this year.
Among a trove of documents leaked from a Bermuda-based law firm are papers showing that the billionaire industrialist retains an interest in Navigator Holdings, one of whose most important business relationships is with energy firm Sibur.
Sibur is controlled by figures close to Putin, including his son-in-law.
Democrat senator Richard Blumenthal has called for an investigation into Mr Ross, claiming he “misled” the Senate Commerce Committee at confirmation hearings in January.
But Mr Ross said Mr Blumenthal’s comments were “totally incorrect”, as his holding in Navigator was disclosed in three separate points in his disclosure form lodged with the US Office of Government Ethics.
He said he played no part in the negotiation of a deal by Sibur to charter ships from Navigator and had never met shareholders in the Russian company who are the subject of US sanctions in response to Moscow’s interference in Ukraine.
Mr Ross told reporters during a trade visit to London it would be “incorrect” to characterise Navigator’s relationship with Sibur as a partnership of any kind.
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