Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has maintained investments in a shipping firm with close connections to a Russian oligarch subject to U.S. sanctions and to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo 'Paradise Papers' documents touch Trump administration

The group behind the release of last year’s Panama Papers has published a new collection of documents about offshore finance that touches the Trump administration.

The so-called Paradise Papers show financial connections between wealthy Russians and two members of President Donald Trump's administration, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House adviser Jared Kushner, who is also the president's son-in-law.


The more than 13 million documents — most of them leaked from Appleby, one of the world’s largest offshore law firms — were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the outlet that also obtained the Panama Papers documents. The Washington, D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and nearly 100 news organizations including the New York Times dug into the trove of documents.

The revelations so far do not relate directly to Russian interference in the 2016 election or to special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. But the New York Times reported that even after joining the administration, Ross has maintained investments in a shipping firm with close connections to a Russian oligarch subject to U.S. sanctions and to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law.

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The company, Navigator Holdings, has as a top client a Russian energy company called Sibur whose owners include Gennady Timchenko, who the Times identified as Putin’s friend and Judo partner, and Kirill Shamalov, who is married to Putin’s youngest daughter. A spokesman for Ross told the paper that he had never met the Russians and has recused himself from related issues.

The New York Times separately reported that a Russian billionaire with Kremlin ties, Yuri Milner, has invested in a real estate company founded and partly owned by Kushner.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.