Donald Trump’s former campaign adviser stands accused of working with the Russians and laundering cash they paid him, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Dimitri Simes, a Russian-born U.S. citizen who advised Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, is named in a Justice department indictment accusing him and his wife Anastasia of accepting more than $1 million, a car, and driver as payment from the state television network, a press release shows.
If convicted of the charges, the two face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Russia Channel One was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 over the nation’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Justice department.
Simes, 76, has a home in Virginia but remains at large and is believed to be in Russia with his wife, prosecutors said.
His wife Anastasia is also accused of providing art and antiques to a sanctioned oligarch, prosecutors said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Simes’ home in August.
At the time, Simes, speaking to Russian state media company Sputnik, suggested he is a target of political persecution, saying that the FBI search “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.” He added, “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.”
Simes’ son on Thursday echoed these sentiments on X Thursday afternoon.
“[President] Joe Biden and his stooges are impotent cowards,” Dimitri Simes Jr. wrote. “Our family is safe and sound in Russia. We will not be intimidated. In fact, we’re only going to get louder. Stay tuned!”
