A hearing of the Senate Banking Committee went completely sideways on Tuesday, but at least it went sideways in a bipartisan manner, so I guess that's something. The subject was whether or not Russian president Vladimir Putin holds any assets here in the United States. I think most people would admit that this is a question worth answering—even if you don't count the current administration* as one of those assets.

The witness was a woman named Sigal Mandelker, an Acting Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Mandelker's appearance did not make anyone happy. A video from ThinkProgress:

Kennedy: Does Mr. Putin personally own assets in the United States?

Mandelker: I would defer to my colleagues in the intelligence community. I would be happy to talk to them about providing you a briefing on that subject.

Kennedy: Well, they’re not here. But you are. So let me ask you again. Does Mr. Putin personally own assets in the United States?

Mandelker: Again, senator, that’s not something that we can discuss in an open or public setting. But we’d be happy to sit down with you and provide a classified briefing with our intelligence community colleagues.

As always, anything having to do with Putin or Russia seems to give anyone with even the loosest connection to this administration the look of people who have seen the rising of the dead.

Tester: Can anybody tell me why Putin’s ownership of anything in this country isn’t public information?

Mandelker: Again, senator, as I mentioned before, we would be happy to sit down and have a conversation with you about that.

Mandelker ISAAC KASAMANI Getty Images

Tester: Just tell me, why? What national security risk is that?

Mandelker: Again, senator, any discussion about where assets are in the United States or elsewhere are either classified or not something we would discuss in any kind of an open session.

Tester: You do know that you can go down to the courthouse to find out how much land I own? You know that. So why is Putin different?

Mandelker: Again, senator, I don’t want to talk publicly about where assets are here or anywhere in the world. There are a number of different reasons for that, but —

Tester: A yes or no doesn’t dictate section, township, and range. A yes or no just says, yeah, he owns property here.

Mandelker: Senator, I’m not aware of any title or deed that would have Mr. Putin’s name on it here in the United States.

I'm not entirely sure why anyone would believe anything these people say about Russia any more. This can't be chalked up to anything but fear, the source of which remains unexplained.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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