Insights

Washington—April 1, 2021: Crowell & Moring client Edith Bartley was interviewed by CNN in its report that the U.S. has received $335M from Sudan for victims of terrorist attacks. Crowell & Moring has long represented the estates and families of 11 Americans killed in the August 7, 1998, terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, having won a final judgment in the D.C. District Court in 2014, which was later affirmed by the appellate court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The world has watched in horror as tragedy has unfolded in Israel because of the brutal terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas.  Nothing can compensate for the devastating loss of life, for the trauma suffered by those injured or kidnapped, or for the grief, sorrow, fear, and anger felt by family members.  For the past twenty-five years, American victims or family members have held Iran accountable in U.S. courts for its sponsorship and support of murderous and terrorist acts like those carried out by Hamas in Israel.  The U.S. legal system may again be a vehicle to hold Iran and its proxies to account today.

According to recent reports, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has directly requested that the United States designate Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“SST”), an action that the United States has been considering for some time. The designation would have far-reaching implications and would automatically trigger some of the most aggressive unilateral sanctions in the United States’ arsenal, including restrictions on financial transactions, defense exports and sales, and foreign aid. These would further ramp up pressure from even the existing slew of sanctions imposed on Russia and its oligarchs.