FBI Searches Relate To Russian Influence
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The FBI recently searched the homes of Scott Ritter, a weapons inspector in Iraq during the 1990s, and Dmitri Simes, a former advisor to Donald Trump. When the news came of the Simes search, I wondered if the two were connected. Apparently they are.
The New York Times reports (gift link) that the searches are part of an FBI investigation into Russia’s influence operations in the US. More searches are expected soon.
Ritter has been a critic of the United States for some time, his criticisms often coinciding with Russia’s. He has appeared on RT, the Russian government’s propaganda channel. He was convicted of sex crimes against children and served a year and a half in prison for them.
Simes was born in Russia and is a naturalized US citizen. He was an advisor to President Richard Nixon and president and CEO of the Center for the National Interest, publisher of The National Interest. He moved back to Russia in 2022 and has been active on television there.
Ritter’s search may be related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and Simes’s to sanctions against Russia.
The Times story is the only substantive information available so far, and it’s not much. Ritter’s and Simes’s participation in Russian media is significant and obvious. Whether that breaches the law remains to be seen.