On August 13, FBI agents raided the Virginia home of Dimitri Simes. Simes is an author and political analyst who advised Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and currently hosts a program on Russia’s Channel One.

The attack that was originally reported Rappahannock Newshad named the FBI as a source of information.

Simes, who was abroad at the time, said he had not been informed of the search in advance and was unaware of any ongoing investigations against him.

Simes’ name was mentioned over 100 times in the 2019 Mueller report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“I am confused and concerned,” he said, adding: “I have not seen any arrest warrant. I have not been contacted by the police or anyone else.”

In an interview for Sputnik NewsSimes said the raid was “clearly an attempt to intimidate not just anyone from Russia, but anyone who opposes official policy and especially the deep state.”

More importantly, as Simes stressed, “My suspicion is that their real goal is not to bring me to the United States for interrogation or even arrest, but to make sure I don’t come back.”

Simes’ son Dimitri Simes Jr. said sputnik that his father has not been in the United States since 2022.

In a tweet on X, Jr. wrote, “The Biden regime is terrified of being called out over Ukraine and Israel,” adding, “Elements of the Biden regime are trying to prevent any possibility of de-escalation with Russia and plunge America into World War III.”

Antonov accuses the USA of a “witch hunt”

The Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, commented on the incident, saying: “The attacks by the US authorities on the TV presenter of Channel One are one of many facts of the ‘witch hunt’ that is unfolding here with renewed vigor.”

Antonov said the attacks came amid the US election campaign and a growing nationwide crackdown on individuals Washington said were Russian assets abroad and were working “in violation of foreign agent laws.”

Antonov expressed his concern, saying, “We are, of course, concerned about what is happening.” He criticized Washington for its “double standards in the field of democracy and freedom of speech,” noting that “hundreds of people are declared indecent just because they dare to contradict government policy,” leading to measures such as “break-ins, house searches and confiscation of documents.”

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