Aid to Russia Linked to Crackdown on Crime

Asserting that future U.S. aid to Russia will depend on the Russian government’s willingness to crack down on crime and corruption, House Republicans on Monday called on Russian President Boris Yeltsin to step up the investigation into the recent slaying of an Orange County businessman in Moscow.

In a letter to the Russian leader, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) and other House leaders urged Yeltsin to “do everything within your power to see to it that the maximum necessary resources and commitment are given to solving the crime.” Cox is chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.

The letter also warned Yeltsin that there could be financial consequences for inaction.

“Future decisions about aid to Russia . . . will undoubtedly be shaped by the degree of progress that Russia makes in addressing the crime and corruption that, for now, are going unpunished,” the letter said.

Businessman Paul Tatum, whose American Business Centers had until recently been located in Irvine, became the first U.S. citizen to be murdered in post-Soviet Russia. He was slain Nov. 3 in a Moscow subway station by a machine-gun wielding assailant.

Tatum had been embroiled in a high-profile struggle for control of a Moscow luxury hotel. His death is widely believed to be a contract hit orchestrated by the Russian Mafia and corrupt government officials.

Other House leaders who signed Monday’s letter to Yeltsin included Speaker Newt Gingrich, Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay.

Cox said in a phone interview Monday that it will take intense pressure at the highest levels to get Russian authorities to pursue the case in a city where hundreds of murders routinely go unsolved or are never investigated.

“A line has been crossed,” Cox said. “An American is dead. We want to make sure that the pattern of failure to investigate and prosecute it not repeated.”

Cox mailed a similar letter to FBI Director Louis Freeh earlier this month imploring the FBI to investigate the killing from its offices in Moscow.