The Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided the Virginia home of Dimitri Simes, a Russian-born political analyst and policy expert who served as an advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
The raid, which began on August 13th, was first reported by the Rappahannock News.
Simes, who is mentioned over 100 times in the 2019 Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, stated that he was unaware of the search as he was out of the country at the time.
Expressing concern, Simes said he had not been contacted by law enforcement or shown a warrant for the raid.
In an interview with the Russian state-run news agency Sputnik, Simes suggested the raid was an attempt to intimidate him for his opposition to U.S. policies, speculating that the real aim was to prevent his return to the United States rather than to interrogate or arrest him.
Simes’s son, Dimitri Simes Jr., further criticized the Biden administration’s stance on Ukraine and Israel, alleging that elements within the administration are trying to disrupt efforts to de-escalate tensions with Russia.
Simes, who emigrated from Moscow to the U.S. in 1973, previously served as an informal foreign policy advisor to President Richard Nixon and led the Center for the National Interest for nearly three decades.
He provided counsel to Trump during the 2016 campaign, including advising on a speech advocating for greater cooperation with Russia.
While Simes and his organization were cleared of wrongdoing in the Mueller report, they were involved in a Senate investigation concerning his contacts with Russian officials before the 2016 election.
Last year, Simes moderated a discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin and participated in a closed-door meeting with him, as reported by the Russian news agency Tass
The FBI has not yet stated the raid or provided any official explanation for the action.
The incident has raised concerns about the potential for political interference and the targeting of individuals with ties to Russia, even if they have not been found to have engaged in any illegal activities.
