WASHINGTON – In a shocking development, the Justice Department has charged a Russian-born U.S. citizen and former adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with working for a sanctioned Russian state television network and laundering the proceeds.
Indictments announced Thursday allege that Dimitri Simes and his wife received over $1 million dollars and a personal car and driver in exchange for work they did for Russia’s Channel One since June 2022. The network was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Simes, 76, and his wife, Anastasia Simes, have a home in Huntly, Virginia, and are believed to be in Russia.
The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, who stated, “Such violations harm our national security interests — a fact that Dimitri Simes, with the deep experience he gained in national affairs after fleeing the Soviet Union and becoming a U.S. citizen, should have uniquely appreciated.”
This comes at a time of heightened concern about Russian interference in the upcoming U.S. election, with federal authorities also announcing charges against two employees of the Russian media organization RT for covertly funding pro-Russian content.
Simes had previously been under scrutiny during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and alleged ties to the Trump campaign.
Despite these accusations, Simes was never charged with any crime related to the investigation.
In a recent interview, Simes defended his work on Russian TV, stating, “I assumed that what I was saying on Russian TV would not be to the liking of the Biden administration, but I also assumed that as long as it was just my opinion and was presented as such, it was not something for which I could be prosecuted.”
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