Russian-born ex-Trump advisor rages against 'Biden regime' after FBI raid on his home

17 August 2024

An analyst who once served as an advisor to former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign is now in the crosshairs of the FBI, and he's since taken to Russian state media to rail against President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice.

Citing the Rappahannock News, the Guardian reported that the FBI recently conducted a raid on the Huntly, Virginia home of Dmitri Simes, who was named more than 100 times in DOJ special counsel Robert Mueller's 2018 report. While it remains unknown what the FBI was seeking in its raid, the Rappahannock News confirmed with the agency that it was indeed "conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity" on the 132-acre property that Simes bought in 2021 for $1.63 million. Real estate site Zillow now estimates the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom, 8,577 square-foot house to be worth more than $2.2 million.

In an interview with Russian state-run media outlet Sputnik News, Simes son, Dmitri Jr. said is father has not been in the U.S. since 2022. He also suggested the raid was politically motivated.

"The Biden regime is terrified of being called out over Ukraine and Israel," Simes Jr. tweeted. "Elements of [the] Biden regime are trying to disrupt any possibility for deescalation with Russia and plunge America into World War III."

The elder Simes — who hosts a talk show on Russian state-run media outlet Channel One — told Sputnik that the raid was "clearly is an attempt to intimidate, not only somebody from Russia, but just anyone who goes against official policies and particularly against the deep state."

"My suspicion is that instead of trying to get me to come to the United States and to interrogate me or even to arrest me, their real purpose is to make sure that I would not come back," he added.

Simes is reportedly close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Russian media outlet Tass reporting that he attended a closed-door meeting with Putin in June. The Russian pundit also moderated a conversation with Putin at an economic forum in St. Petersburg last year. Previously, the Senate Finance Committee investigated Simes over his purported connections to Russian spy Maria Butina, who infiltrated MAGA circles during Trump's administration in efforts to set up a communications backchannel between Trump and Moscow.

According to the Guardian, Simes — who emigrated to the U.S. from Moscow in 1973 — served as an informal policy advisor to Trump's 2016 campaign after a meeting earlier that year with Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law). He reportedly advised the ex-president on a speech he wrote emphasizing greater cooperation between Washington and Moscow.

Prior to his work with Trump, Simes was an informal foreign policy advisor to former President Richard M. Nixon. He went on to lead the public policy think tank, the Center for the National Interest, which Nixon launched in 1994. Simes retired from the think tank in 2022.

Russian state media has leaned in on its support of Trump, even after he was convicted on 34 felony charges earlier this year. Russian pundit Dmitry Kulikov, who hosts "Solovyov Live," complained, "They wronged our Donald Trump" after the verdict. He and other Russian propagandists were openly hoping for a hung jury.

Click here to read the Guardian's report in full.

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