The US government has charged a Russian-born American citizen and former adviser to… Donald Trump The 2016 presidential campaign involved working for an authorized Russian state television network and laundering the proceeds.
The indictments announced Thursday by the Justice Department allege that Dimitri Simes and his wife received more than $1 million and a personal car and driver in exchange for work they performed for Russia’s Channel One since June 2022. The network was sanctioned by the United States in 2022 over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Simes, 76, and his wife, Anastasia Simes, have a home in Virginia and are believed to be in Russia.
“These defendants allegedly violated sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unlawful aggression in Ukraine,” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in a statement announcing the indictments. “These violations harm our national security interests, a fact that Dimitri Simes, with the deep experience he gained in domestic affairs after fleeing the Soviet Union and becoming an American citizen, should have uniquely understood.”
The allegations come at a time of renewed concern over Russia’s efforts to interfere in the upcoming US election using disinformation and online propaganda. On WednesdayFederal authorities accused Two employees of the Russian media outlet RT covertly funded a Tennessee company that produced pro-Russian content.
Simes, who headed a Washington think tank called the Center for the National Interest, figured prominently in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign.
The report relatesinteractions that Simes, born in the Soviet Union and who emigrated to the United States in the 1970s, had with various figures in Trump’s orbit, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Before one of those meetings, according to Mueller’s report, Simes sent Kushner a letter detailing potential talking points for Trump on Russia and also passed along disparaging information about Bill Clinton that was then sent to other campaign officials.
Simes’ think tank helped organize a foreign policy speech at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, where Simes introduced Trump. Among those present was Sergei Kislyak, then the Russian ambassador to the United States.
Simes was never charged with any crime in connection with the investigation.
Following the report’s release, Simes defended himself in an interview with The Washington Post: “I saw nothing in the Mueller report that in any way indicated any questionable activity on my part or the center.”
A second indictment alleges that Anastasia Simes, 55, received funds from sanctioned Russian businessman Alexander Udodov.sanctioned last year For his support of the Russian government. He is the former brother-in-law of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and has been linked to business dealings with both. Udodov has also been investigated for money laundering.
If convicted of the charges, the couple face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Messages left with an attorney for Simes and the Trump campaign were not immediately returned Thursday.
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