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.
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?