Ohio AG seeks removal of Russian assets from state pension funds
Between all five of the state's public pension systems, Russian investments make up $300 million
Ohio Attorney General David Yost on the importance of divesting pensions from investments of rouge countries like Russia and China amid Ukraine invasion.
Ohio Attorney General David Yost joined "Mornings with Maria," Tuesday to seek the removal of Russian assets from state pension funds arguing that the "capitalization of Russian companies is helping their economy to continue to run."
AMERICAN EXPRESS SUSPENDS OPERATIONS IN RUSSIA, BELARUS OVER UKRAINE INVASION
DAVID YOST: The capitalization of Russian companies is helping their economy to continue to run, which is where the money comes from for this war of conquest…we had to go looking, we didn't know… it wasn't obvious at first how much we had in public pension funds that were invested, just from Ohio, in Russia, as you mentioned, it was about $300 million.
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If [China] embark[s] on a war of conquest, for example, to take Taiwan, the use of war not in self-defense, but to expand national territory is a centuries-old kind of tactic that we thought was pretty much gone. Now, there's a lot of reasons to consider divesting from China as well, not the least of which is their treatment of ethnic minorities within their borders, but there is a quantum level of difference between your internal activities that are morally objectionable and waging an optional chosen war of conquest.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW:
Ohio Attorney General David Yost discusses how state pension funds are investing in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.