“Those both, the Magnistsky Act itself and the Global Magnitsky Act, are powerful tools. You have my commitment,” Pompeo said when asked whether he would work closely with Congress to enforce the two US laws. "We’ll work to use those tools to the full capacity that the State Department can.”
In late 2012, the United States adopted the so-called Magnitsky Act, which imposes travel bans and financial sanctions on Russian officials and other individuals believed to have been involved in the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The Hermitage Capital Management hedge fund lawyer was arrested in Moscow in 2008 on charges of tax evasion and later died of heart failure while in prison.
In December 2016, then-US President Barack Obama signed into law the Global Magnitsky Act, which expands the Russia-specific sanctions to other countries.
