Dimitri K. Simes, who was an adviser to Donald J. Trump’s first campaign, and his wife, Anastasia Simes, are accused of violating U.S. sanctions.

The Justice Department indicted an American commentator for Russian television on Thursday as part of a broader effort by the government to crack down on Russia’s attempts to influence American politics ahead of November’s presidential election.

Dimitri K. Simes, who was an adviser to Donald J. Trump’s first presidential campaign, and his wife, Anastasia Simes, were charged with violating economic sanctions against Russia for their work for Channel One, a state-owned television network.

The indictments come as the United States has been cracking down on Russian efforts to spread content from Russian broadcasters among American audiences, often by disguising its origins. Mr. Simes, who owns a home with his wife in Virginia but currently lives in Russia, has hosted a political talk show since 2022 on the network four nights a week on the network and another on Sundays.

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  • Deceptichum@quokk.auEnglish
    1118·
    3 months ago

    Why now? The election is so soon and this has been on going for years and years now.

    Did they wait until a few months out to make it a news headline, to give them less time to replace their bot farms/traitor supply, I just can’t understand why only really seem to start in earnest now?

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        3 months ago

        They’ve been tripping over piles of evidence of foreign interference for decades, then shrugging and ignoring it.

        The Russians, the Saudis, the Japanese, the Israelis, the French… everyone with a big enough sack of money can buy a slice of US media and use it to shove propaganda down the eye-holes of a gullible ad-deluged audience.

        And that’s before you get into the shit domestic businesses pull. When is the FBI going to investigate the Oil & Gas lobby for lying to us about Climate Change?

      • Deceptichum@quokk.auEnglish
        1218·
        3 months ago

        They’ve had hard evidence in the past. And everyone knows they’re doing it regardless.

        Likewise this guy was publicly doing this shit on national Russian TV, anyone who had wanted to look into Russian propaganda in America would have easily been able to find this guy. They didn’t need the recent evidence for this.

            • TachyonTele@lemm.eeEnglish
              118·
              3 months ago

              Oh, so you don’t actually know what evidence they had “for years”.

              If you did know, you should have gone to the government.

    • acosmichippo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      124·
      3 months ago

      probably because this shit is complicated and they can’t always choose the perfect time to charge people.

      • Deceptichum@quokk.auEnglish
        88·
        3 months ago

        For fucks sake, can you stop going around trying to make everything a personal remark against me. You’re a mod in this community, act like it.

        I was simply wanting to know what the reasoning could be, I even suggested some of what I was thinking and was hoping someone might be able to provide some genuine insight into the reasoning behind this timing. I cannot see why it didn’t make sense not to take this seriously years ago, so there must be a reason to only act a few months out.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
          1110·
          3 months ago

          Sarcastically criticizing things you say is not a personal attack. Also, I have no idea who you are.