President Trump’s nominee for a top post at the U.S. Export-Import (EXIM) Bank withdrew his nomination this week amid scrutiny over his ties to Russia.
Bryce McFerran, who was nominated as first vice president and vice chair of EXIM bank, was slated to appear for his confirmation hearing on Thursday. An EXIM spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that he has withdrawn his nomination.
McFerran drew scrutiny from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, after The Washington Post obtained federal financial disclosures showing he spent much of the past decade as a senior executive at a Swiss subsidiary of Evraz PLC, a steel-trading business co-owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Warren noted that McFerran continued to work at the subsidiary even after the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Evraz. The U.S. later sanctioned several of its subsidiaries.
The Post also reported that McFerran has extensive ties to the Kremlin through his wife’s family, members of which reportedly hold senior positions at a Russian-backed investment fund. McFerran’s father-in-law is reportedly an aide to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisers and was previously a senator in Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, according to the Post.
In her letter to McFerran on Wednesday, before his withdrawal had been publicly reported, Warren said she’s “especially concerned about your past work that appears to be deeply connected to a Russian metals and mining giant called Evraz.”
“Your decision to work for an Evraz subsidiary in the wake of Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine and after its launching a full-scale war raises significant questions about your judgment and your commitment to U.S. national security,” Warren wrote.
“It also raises questions about the origin of funds you used to make a nearly $1 million donation to the Trump 47 Committee—a PAC created to fund President Trump’s and other Republican campaigns, including the Republican National Committee—in 2024,” she continued.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai confirmed McFerran withdrew his nomination on Oct. 27.
Desai defended McFerran in a statement, writing, “his prior business interests have been fully researched, vetted, and cleared by the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics – a fact that should deter the Fake News from continuing to perpetuate the debunked Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”
McFerran, who was tapped as EXIM’s acting chief banking officer in March, will continue to serve in that capacity “until a permanent replacement is named in the coming weeks,” Desai added.
Updated: 9:14 a.m.
