Janet Yellen Comes Clean on Seizure of Russian Assets thumbnail

Janet Yellen Comes Clean on Seizure of Russian Assets

By Leo Hohmann

Treasury Secretary admits using economic sanctions to punish other countries is backfiring on U.S. and killing the petro dollar.


We all knew she was lying when she denied just a few weeks earlier that seizing $300 billion in frozen Russian assets amounted to ‘theft’.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted earlier this month that U.S. sanctions levied against other countries are driving nations to de-dollarize and commit to trade agreements that use currencies other than the U.S. petro dollar.

Yellen admitted this in the wide open during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on July 9th.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), told Yellen he believes a package of prepared sanctions needs to be ready when China inevitably moves to invade Taiwan. Yellen denied having any real knowledge or discussions about such issues.

The GOP congressman then asked Yellen what her biggest concern is when it comes to international financial relationships and trends. The Treasury Secretary admitted in the wide open that U.S. sanctions used to punish other countries are helping to erode the strength of the U.S. dollar.

She said:

“In the realm of sanctions, we have very powerful sanctions that are available because of the important role of the dollar in international transactions. The ability to cut off foreign banks or other businesses or individuals from the ability to transact through the U.S. financial system… The more we have used sanctions, the more countries look for ways to engage in financial transactions that don’t involve the dollar.”

As noted by The Winepress News, it was not even a month ago that Yellen defended the use of sanctions and the seizure of more than $300 billion worth of Russian assets frozen in Western bank accounts. And roughly $50 billion has already been taken and reallocated to Ukraine’s war effort against the Russians.

When questioned about the move, Yellen said at the time:

“There is no sense at all in which it’s theft. The Russian assets remain in this institution, they’ve been impounded. The investments that Russia have matured so Russia’s funds are sitting in cash, but they’re generating income for the institution which Russia has no claim on, so there’s no legal issue here.”

The broader ramifications of this statement cannot be overstated. This idea that Russia has no right to its own money extends beyond the government’s self-proclaimed right to seize the assets of another country and use the interest generated on those accounts to fund a proxy war against that same country.

It extends to every American’s bank account and life’s savings, says Lena Petrova, a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Petrova, per The Winepress, referred to Yellen’s statement as “Orwellian double-speak,” and warned of the precedent this sets for Americans and anyone else who places their money in a bank or financial institution.

Petrova explained:

“Our U.S. Treasury Secretary just said that […] the interest that your savings account generates is actually not yours to keep. Instead, your savings account or any other investment that you hold in the financial institution actually works to generate revenue for that institution, not you. So then, using her logic, by default there’s no issue in taking that money from you, it never will be, because it wasn’t yours to begin with.”

©2024. Leo Hohmann. All rights reserved.


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