Former Donald Trump adviser prosecuted for working with Russian media

Dimitri Simes, a former adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, is being prosecuted by the American justice system for having worked for a Russian state television network targeted by sanctions and for having laundered the proceeds linked to these activities.

According to indictments unsealed Thursday by the Justice Department, Mr. Simes and his wife, Anastasia Simes, received more than $1 million as well as a personal car and driver in exchange for work they did, since June 2022, for the Russian network Channel One, which was sanctioned by the United States following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

“These defendants violated sanctions put in place in response to Russia’s illegal aggression in Ukraine.”U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in a statement announcing the charges. “Such violations undermine our national security interests, a fact that Dmitri Simes, with the extensive experience he gained in national affairs after fleeing the Soviet Union and becoming an American citizen, should have appreciated.”he adds.

Mr. Simes, who was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s, and his wife have a home in Virginia and are believed to be in Russia.

Russian interference in the American campaign

The indictments come amid renewed concerns about Russia’s efforts to interfere in the upcoming U.S. election through online disinformation and propaganda. On Wednesday, federal authorities charged two employees of Russian news outlet RT with allegedly secretly funding a Tennessee company that produced pro-Russian content.

Mr. Simes, 76, who ran a Washington think tank called the Center for the National Interest, played a prominent role in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential ties to Mr. Trump’s campaign. The report details interactions Simes had with various figures in Trump’s inner circle, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, about foreign policy.

Mr. Simes’s think tank also helped organize a foreign policy speech at a Washington hotel, during which Mr. Simes introduced Mr. Trump. Among those in attendance was Sergei Kislyak, then Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Mr. Simes has never been charged with any crime in connection with the investigation.

After the report was released, Mr Simes defended himself in an interview with Washington Post : “I saw nothing in the Mueller report that would indicate any questionable activity on my part or on the part of the center.”

A second indictment accuses Anastasia Simes, 55, of receiving funds from Russian businessman Alexander Udodov, who was sanctioned last year for supporting the Russian government. He is the former brother-in-law of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, with whom he had business dealings. Mr. Udodov has also been investigated for money laundering.

If the couple is found guilty as charged, they face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.