Derkach was identified by U.S. intelligence services in August as being part of a Russian-backed operation to smear and discredit President-elect Joe Biden Giuliani, Trump’s top operator in efforts to overturn the election, had met with Derkach in December 2019 to discuss investigating the Biden family and the two appeared together on the pro-Trump news channel One America News Network, where they pushed debunked theories of corruption involving Biden and his son Hunter Biden. ADVERTISEMENT The sanctions announced Monday target seven individuals and four entities related to Derkach’s inner circle. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, has been an active Russian agent for more than a decade, maintaining close connections with Russian intelligence services,” Pompeo said in a statement.