President Donald Trump was a leading force in supporting sanctions against the companies and individuals involved in the pipeline. But now, Biden plans to ease sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, the company that is running the project, and its top official, Matthias Warnig. And here's the odd thing: "The State Department will...acknowledge that the corporate entity in charge of the project (Nord Stream 2 AG) and its CEO, (Putin crony and former East German intelligence officer Matthias Warnig) are engaged in sanctionable activities," writes Axios' Jonathan Swan, who broke the story. "However, the State Department will waive the applications of those sanctions, citing U.S. national interests."