At a press conference in Baltimore on Thursday, the Justice Department announced additional actions against Russian-linked figures, including a former Trump campaign adviser.
The U.S. government has charged Dimitri Simes, a former 2016 Trump campaign adviser, with working for a sanctioned Russian state television network and laundering the proceeds. Simes’ wife, Anastasia, is also facing charges of violating U.S. sanctions through her work with a Russian oligarch.
The Hill has more on Dimitri’s activities and additional information:
Simes served as a presenter and producer for the channel, and allegedly received more than $1 million in payments as well as “a personal car and driver, a stipend for an apartment in Moscow, Russia, and a team of 10 employees from Channel One Russia.” Channel One Russia has been sanctioned under the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Anastasia Simes also allegedly aided in another effort to evade sanctions against a Russian oligarch by surreptitiously purchasing art and antiques on his behalf and later shipping them to Russia.
Also Thursday in Baltimore, prosecutors announced a superseding indictment that added five more Russian individuals to a case prosecuting those involved in hacking Ukrainian government systems ahead of Russia’s invasion of the country. A prior indictment charged just one of the men involved, while the new indictment adds charges for five individuals it says work for Russia’s GRU intelligence service.
In both cases, the defendants are at large, and the U.S. is offering a $10 million reward for anyone who can provide information on the GRU members’ whereabouts or activities.
“The GRU’s WhisperGate campaign, including targeting Ukrainian critical infrastructure and government systems of no military value, is emblematic of Russia’s abhorrent disregard for innocent civilians as it wages its unjust invasion,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the National Security Division in a DOJ press release.
The charges come one day after the DOJ’s indictment against Lauren Chen, who allegedly accepted over $10 million to launch Tenet Media, a Tennessee content company that pushed Russian propaganda to sow division ahead of the November election. Conservative influencers, including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, and Dave Rubin, were seemingly deceived into becoming content partners for the network.
The DOJ also announced on Wednesday that it had seized 23 websites allegedly used by Russians to spread misinformation.
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