Dimitri K. Simes: 'They Wanted to Block Any Attempt to Have a Russian-American Dialogue'

 

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided a property in Rappahannock County, Virginia, belonging to Russian-American political analyst Dimitri K. Simes this week.

Russian TV Channel One presenter and founder of the US-based think tank Center for the National Interest, Dimitri K. Simes, shared his thoughts on the current state of the US law enforcement and on how the authorities treat dissenters in the United States nowadays in an interview with Sputnik.

Sputnik: You are a prominent member of the expert community, both in Russia and the US. And still you were subjected to this kind of treatment by the US state. Your home was searched by the FBI, your property rights were violated. And what about an average American who is less of a public figure than you? Isn't your example supposed to show that he or she can be subjected to the state's pressure, even for a smaller digression from the mainstream views, not necessarily on Russia?

Dimitri K Simes: You know about what happened to a certain Donald Trump, who was also subjected to searches both at his residence in Florida and in a number of other places. You know about searches made at Rudy Giuliani's place of residence or Paul Manafort’s. A number of prominent Americans were subjected to searches or even put in jail, or made bankrupt. So, this is the way American law enforcement is working today. If somebody goes against the political mainstream, in particular against the Biden administration, the punishment may be very swift. And, in the case of Donald Trump, for instance, you could see that they were literally creating new laws or new interpretations of existing laws. Interpretations which have never existed before.

My lawyers thought that I was quite safe as far as American law enforcement is concerned, and they did not think that they would run into any kind of trouble [working for me]. You can see that they were wrong. It 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.

‘They don’t want me back in the United States’: Dimitri K. Simes speaks out about FBI raid

“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… pic.twitter.com/AP91x1ySpZ

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 16, 2024

Sputnik: It is obvious that you didn't do anything legally wrong. So you are being punished for your opinions. What will be your next steps in this situation? Does it make sense to resist, to seek the defense of the law?

Dimitri K Simes: Well, let me start by saying that I do not know what I am being charged with. I don't even know if I am being charged with anything. Is it the FBI [pursuing me], or am I charged by the Department of Justice or any other US government agency? They did not notify me or my lawyers about what is going on, or about any problems they may have with me.

The only comment we have from them so far is a comment they made to a local paper in Rappahannock County where the house is located and they told the paper that, indeed, they're conducting a law enforcement investigation, and they are not in a position to say anything more because the investigation is not complete. This is the fourth day of their operations in the house already. We're being told that they're moving things out of the house. What are they doing? Which things are they moving? I have no idea. It is suffice to say that I was not in the house. I have not been to the United States since October 2022. So there is absolutely nothing that can be there that is connected to my current professional life or my other activities.

It was reported to me by the neighbors, who were not on my territory themselves, but who observed it from the outside, that there was quite a crowd [during the raid]. About 40 people, perhaps more. And, what was remarkable, many, even most of them, have arrived in private cars, which obviously is against the rules.

Normally you would not have an FBI agent arrive at a [facility] he or she is going to search in a private car. Because if they use private cars, these FBI people would be very easily identified and suffer [the] consequences.

So, I really would be curious to know who these people are. These people could actually be not FBI agents, but some kind of anti-Russian Ukrainian activists. We did have a precedent before when these [so-called activists] tried to enter my property, but because they were not with the FBI, these people were stopped. That happened in the past. If needed, I obviously will defend my interests. I will do it quite aggressively, but I repeat: it will be done if needed.

There were a lot of fairly good paintings. Some of them belonged to my late parents. These were gifts from prominent Russian avant-garde artists. And, obviously, if they were taking them during the search, I would consider it theft. Well, if they just took the paintings for examination, I think it would be totally inappropriate and unnecessary. But if they would try to keep the paintings, most definitely it would be theft, in my view.

As for my bank accounts, it's an interesting story. They froze my accounts last night but today one of these accounts, which I use to receive my Social Security pension, was, unfrozen. So, I can receive my small Social Security pension. But my main account, which I use to pay for my activities in the United States, the most important account for my family, it stayed frozen. I use it to pay my mortgage.

Therefore I cannot pay for my house. There are a few instances, it happens rarely in the United States and Britain that the authorities would freeze accounts so that people would not be able to pay their mortgages. For that matter, you may become unable to pay for your utilities. When this happens, people’s private house get in total disarray.

This did not happen yet to me. But they clearly are trying to create a situation in which I will be unable to return. They're not luring me to come back to the United States to face their justice system. But, on the contrary, they're doing everything possible to make it very difficult or indeed impossible for me to come to the United States. That clearly cannot be right.

Sputnik: For many years, you were an important figure in the Russian-American dialogue. You advised President Richard Nixon on Russia and you were an important voice in the United States advocating negotiations between our two countries. And there are still many people in the US establishment who speak out against the current US policy of burning bridges with Russia. Can we say that Washington wants to intimidate these people? And this action against you – is it a part of that campaign of intimidation?

Dimitri K Simes: There is no question about that. I assume that this is what the whole action is about. If they just wanted to do something against me, they don't need to move things out in trucks, take my belongings from my property and to create this unsavory spectacle.

But they want to intimidate other people too, not just me. Particularly they want to intimidate the people in the American foreign policy community. You have mentioned my participation in Russian-American dialogue. Yes, I played a certain role in this dialogue before. I received several invitations to have meetings in the United States, to see, whether we could try to create, to establish at least some form of a professional, unofficial dialogue.

At this stage, when there's almost no official dialogue of any kind. And, my suspicion is, this is what they were doing in my house. I cannot be categorical, but this is my suspicion, that they, 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 different. They want to make sure that I would not come to the United States, and they want to block any attempt to have a Russian-American dialogue. At least, that is my strong suspicion.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240816/dimitri-k-simes-they-wanted-to-block-any-attempt-to-have-a-russian-american-dialogue-1119796256.html

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

RUSSIA HAS NEVER TRIED TO DICTATE ANY NARRATIVE TO ME, UNLIKE THE WEST – SCOTT RITTER

 

As the US government works overtime to stigmatize any journalism possessing connectivity with Russia, the world slides dangerously down a path defined by a Russophobic US-driven agenda that leads toward the inevitability of conflict, and the probability of nuclear war.

When the FBI executed a search warrant on my residence on August 7, they were singularly focused on my professional relationship (I am a self-employed journalist) with the Russian government, and in particular, RT, the widely recognized brand name of Russia Today, a media company founded by the autonomous non-profit organization TV-Novosti in April 2005.

According to the FBI, the US government was concerned that my activities fell under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).

The FBI has also searched the Virginia home of Dmitry Simes, a veteran Russian-American journalist who currently resides in Moscow where he helps moderate a popular political program, ‘The Big Game’, on Channel 1.

While the FBI has not publicly commented on the raid on Simes’ home, it is most likely due to similar concerns over FARA compliance.

I have been an external contributor (i.e., contactor) to RT since April 2020. Since the initial contract was signed, I have written numerous articles and produced hundreds of videos for which I have been compensated financially in accordance with the terms set forth in the agreements between myself and RT. As stipulated in the signed agreements, I am solely responsible for the content of the work provided.

At no time have I entered into any agreement, written or oral, or have reached any understanding, formal or informal, that I am responsive to the direction or control of either RT/TV-Novosti or the Russian government.

 

Read more

 Scott Ritter: Why did it take Russia so long to realize Donbass was worth fighting for?

Indeed, the agreement between myself and RT stipulates that I am responsible for determining the topics that will be covered in the content I produce, although as is the case in any editorial/producer relationship with ‘talent’, I have been asked to provide content that is responsive to breaking news.

I am a freelance journalist. This is the life of a freelance journalist.

Nothing more, nothing less.

This relationship is like that which I have as an outside contributor to other journalistic outlets, including TruthDig, the American Conservative, Consortium News, the Washington Spectator, and Energy Intelligence, all of which have published my work on a regular basis during the same period in which I produced content for RT.

In all cases, I am solely responsible for the content I produce. There is, of course, a collaborative relationship with the editors of all these publishing outlets, some more intense/heavy than others. This is the normal reality faced by every journalist in the world.

I can say without fear of contradiction that the editorial ‘touch’ of RT is the lightest of any publisher I have dealt with – there is the standard follow-up questioning on sourcing of information, and some massaging of language for clarity. On a few occasions (I can count them on one hand), RT has turned down articles I have submitted for publication. In every instance, the topics dealt with US domestic issues, and the editors were concerned about being seen as buying into unfounded conspiracies.

How utterly irresponsible of them!

The specific compensation received for work published is confidential in accordance with the terms of the agreement I signed with RT (the FBI seized physical and electronic copies of this agreement, and I have in the past provided copies of the agreement to the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) or their proxies operating within the US banking system.) But I can say this – it is within the industry norm, slightly more than some publishers, and slightly less than others. And in no case can it be considered exorbitant – the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, all of whom have published my opinion pieces in the past, all pay significantly more than does RT.

 

Read more

 Scott Ritter: Russia’s victory over Ukraine is drawing near

This reality must be disappointing to the FBI and the Department of Justice, which, through their questioning, seemed caught up in a working theory that I was a controlled asset of RT and, by extension, the Russian government. Their conspiracy theories extended into the person of my wife, Marina, who was questioned by a pair of FBI agents at her place of work at the same time the FBI conducted its search of our residence. The agents showed Marina a copy of an email she had sent to me back in late 2020/early 2021, where she listed the articles that I had published for RT for each month.

I was paid on a monthly billing cycle, with the amount calculated based upon the number of articles published in a given month. On occasion, there would be discrepancies, where my count of articles published did not align with the money paid in compensation. To assist me in working out these discrepancies, Marina would generate a list of articles published by publication date, so that I could more coherently communicate with RT.

“Do you direct the work of your husband?” the FBI asked my wife. “Do you organize his work?”

The answer was self-evident, as my wife informed the FBI.

I am my own boss.

The FBI was also interested in the payment vehicle used by RT to compensate me. The method agreed to contractually was a wire transfer to be made monthly based upon the work published. For this, I provided my banking information, including SWIFT code.

Following the commencement of the Special Military Operation by Russia in Ukraine in February 2022, this method became difficult because of the sanctioning of Russian banks by the US, denying these banks access to the SWIFT system that controls money transfers globally and, most importantly in my case, into the US.

RT developed workarounds which used unsanctioned third parties to execute the wire transfers. Over time, RT made use of two such intermediaries. I have always been totally transparent about this payment method. Indeed, when my bank began blocking payment on instructions from their internal OFAC enforcement units, I reached out to the bank to resolve the issue. Part of the resolution measures agreed to was that I provided the OFAC enforcement unit with copies of my contractual relationships showing that the money received was related to contracted work. This method worked but was very time consuming and inconvenient – wire transfers were often returned to the sender in whole or in part because of the delay in processing the submitted paperwork, which took place every time a payment was received.

 

Read more

 US government ‘has declared war on me’ – Scott Ritter

I contacted OFAC directly to complain, citing harassment and First Amendment issues, and was informed that they had nothing to do with it. The problem, it seemed, was overzealous employees at the bank itself (the OFAC enforcement unit was an in-house entity, with no formal relationship with the US government or OFAC.)

The solution was simple – I switched banks. In making the application to my new bank, I was transparent about international wire transfers that they would expect, what country these transfers would originate from, roughly in what amounts the transfers would be, and for what purpose (writing.)

The bank in question was USAA, with which I had a relationship dating back to 1984 when I was commissioned as an officer in the US Marines. Last year, USAA ended its relationship with me without warning, closing my bank account and terminating homeowner and auto insurance policies that I had with them dating back four decades.

I opened a new account with my current bank. Once again, I was fully transparent in the application process as to the source and reason for incoming wire transfers.

The FBI, in questioning me, provided the names of the two intermediaries used by RT to make the wire transfers of my compensation. I provided accurate answers to all their questions concerning these entities and my relationship with them.

I have no doubt that the US government will continue to make it difficult, and perhaps impossible, for RT to compensate external contributors based in the United States, including myself, for their work.

This is harassment under color of law.

But under no circumstances does it make the work, or any compensation paid to me for this work, a violation of the law.

And under no circumstances does being paid for my outside contributions to RT violate the Foreign Agent Registration Act.

I have been lambasted for publishing my work in RT.

Several US-based publishers, including TruthDig and the American Conservative, have terminated their relationship with me because I also contributed to RT – this after my writing won an award for TruthDig and one of my articles was the most-viewed for the year for the American Conservative. I had just started what was supposed to be a stint as a regular contributor for Responsible Statecraft (RS) when some of their funders balked at having someone who also wrote for RT writing for them (I had just published my first article, only to have it removed from the RS website without warning. RS was willing to pay me for the article in question, but I let them know under no circumstances would I accept money from their organization.)

 

Read more

 Shooting down Russian missiles an ‘act of war’ – Ritter

One of the reasons I enjoy contributing to RT is the global diversity of their audience. But I also appreciate the relative purity of their message – in a world where the US and its compliant minions in the controlled Western press work overtime to manipulate audiences into accepting at face value and without question the American-driven narrative, RT and other non-Western news outlets provide alternatives which are fact-driven.

In March 2011, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton complained about the US “losing the information war” to nations like Russia amongst English-speaking audiences around the world.

The truth, when seen from the perspective of an American secretary of state, hurts.

I have had extensive intimate experience with the US mainstream media dating back to my time as a weapons inspector in Iraq. I bore personal witness to US government officials leaving important Security Council meetings early so they could brief reporters from the New York Times, who would then publish a front-page story about the meeting which bore no resemblance whatsoever to the reality of the meeting and reflected every talking point of the United States.

How did I know this?

Because the Security Council meeting dealt with issues surrounding the inspections I was responsible for leading in Iraq, and with briefings that I helped write and provide to the members present. I was there when the US official walked out, and I knew who he was going to meet.

I was also present when the CIA worked with CNN to make a documentary about the work of the UN weapons inspectors in Iraq. I was one of several inspectors whose stories served as the centerpiece of the documentary. Moreover, I was the point of contact between the CIA and CNN when it came to the release of U-2 imagery and other intelligence-related information to CNN to be used in the documentary.

I worked for NBC News in the months after I resigned from my position with the United Nations. I was an on-air analyst who often appeared with Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams. I would work with NBC News to turn raw news feeds into finished products ready for on-air broadcast. I saw firsthand how NBC manipulated the news to fit pre-conceived notions instead of reporting it as is. I was eventually released from my contract when National Security Adviser Sandy Berger objected to questions being asked of him by NBC White House correspondent Claire Shipman, indicating that he knew I was behind those questions.

NBC had the choice: Defend journalistic integrity, or cave in to White House pressure.

They caved.

After 9/11, I was contracted by Fox News as an on-air analyst for six months, only to have Fox News balk at my assessments which ran counter to the narrative being promulgated by the Bush White House. Fox News decided it was better to pay me and keep me off the airwaves (I was exclusive to Fox at the time) than release me and let me speak out.

The contract was not renewed when it expired.

 

Read more

 US moving towards total censorship – Moscow

I was briefly courted by CNN in the fall of 2002, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq. After being questioned in an in-house forum that brought together the major reporters, hosts, and producers of CNN, I was ‘cleared’ by the senior CNN executives, who proceeded to give me a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of their newsroom.

I was shocked when I was taken to the CNN ‘war room’, where the producers were already working with the Pentagon to embed reporters with military units. My questions about this level of collusion led CNN to lose interest in me shortly thereafter.

The bottom line is this – I have seen the American mainstream media up close and personal.

There is zero integrity when it comes to reporting fact-based truth.

In every instance I experienced, the news organizations of these various media companies were literally subordinated to the US government, taking their talking points directly from either the White House, the State Department, or the Pentagon.

In short, these news organizations did not produce news, but rather American propaganda which was designed to deceive the broader American audience about critical issues of war and peace.

The news organizations I observed firsthand were more representative of a state-controlled media than a free press.

And, if called upon to compare and contrast, based upon my own personal experiences, the level of journalistic integrity between these US media outlets and RT, RT wins hands-down.

When it comes to reporting on politically sensitive content, such as the Special Military Operation, I likewise side with RT.

The Biden administration has openly admitted that it purposely declassifies intelligence information it knows to be wrong or misleading so that it can be released to the mainstream media for the purpose of controlling the narrative.

Not for telling the truth.

I have, over the years, had the opportunity to meet and work with several RT journalists and reporters who cover the Special Military Operation.

 

Read more

 ‘Free speech is an illusion in the US’ – Tara Reade

Every single one has demonstrated impeccable integrity when it comes to reporting the news.

I have also had the opportunity to interface with and interview many of the sources these RT journalists draw upon for their reporting and can say that the assessments I make as an independent analyst often reflect those of the RT journalists.

Not because, as is the case in the United States, we are working from the same government-dictated script – the Russian government has never tried to dictate any narrative to me, nor has RT.

But because both RT and I have an assiduous appreciation for fact-based truth.

Sadly, I can’t say that for any of the mainstream American media organizations I’ve worked with in the past.

My reporting for RT is my own, reflecting my observations and analysis. My most recent reporting from Russia backs this up – a four-part series which RT knew nothing about until I pitched it to them after I completed my most recent trip to Russia.

In writing How the Chechen miracle kick-started the Russian ‘Path of Redemption’, Helping Crimea recover from decades of Ukrainian misrule is a tough but necessary challenge, We are witnessing the bittersweet birth of a new Russia, and Why did it take Russia so long to realize Donbass was worth fighting for?, I provided unique reporting that was unavailable anywhere else in the world – Western media outlets would never allow such reporting to be published on their pages or websites, and Russian news outlets had never seen such reporting from an independent Western perspective.

This is exactly what journalism is supposed to be – hard hitting, probing analysis based upon first-hand observations derived from access to high-level sourcing.

I picked RT as the publisher of these articles because I wanted this reporting to be available not only to a global English-speaking audience, but also to a Russian audience.

 

Read more

 ‘Has the West Successfully Demonized Russia?’ RT panel: Key takeaways

This reporting was not the byproduct of close collusion between myself and the Russian government – in fact, when I tried to get official permission to travel to the new territories and Donbass from the Russian Ministry of Defense, I was turned down. It was only because of my persistence, and that of my host, Aleksandr Zyrianov, that I was able to travel to Chechnya, Crimea, the New Territories, and Donbass, and meet with the high-level officials and military officers who feature in my reporting.

Trying to convince a Western audience – be it government officials, journalists, or the consumers of news – that RT is a responsible news organization more committed to telling the truth than their ostensibly ‘free’ Western media counterparts, is a literal mission impossible.

The level of Russophobia that has infected every level of society in the West is mind-boggling. I have been called a shill of Russian President Vladimir Putin more times than I can count, by both the online trolls of the North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO), whose mission is simply to harass any online voice that doesn’t conform to the US/NATO narrative, and ostensibly ‘neutral’ journalists who write for outlets that publish my work. My crime? Reporting accurately on the positions taken by the Russian government – “speaking ‘Putin’”, in the vernacular of my critics.

The consequences of this Russophobia-infected journalism are dire – not only has the ignorance enshrined within the journalism of the West resulted in the destruction of Ukraine, but, if not reversed, is leading the Collective West down the path of inevitable conflict with Russia which would probably end in a general nuclear war.

Trying to head off such a tragic outcome has been the fuel that feeds my work as a journalist these past few years.

And it will continue to fuel my work going forward.

I am grateful to RT for allowing my words to be published and disseminated in both written and video form.

I believe that, in doing so, RT is contributing to the cause of saving the world from the horror of nuclear war.

Even if the Russophobia-infected minds in the Collective West fail to recognize this.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

https://www.rt.com/news/602809-scott-ritter-rt-contribution-russophobia

 

https://www.theinteldrop.org/2024/08/19/russia-has-never-tried-to-dictate-any-narrative-to-me-unlike-the-west-scott-ritter/

 

MEANWHILE:

 

Inaction man: As Kursk response shows, in a crisis Vladimir Putin freezes up

By

Robyn Dixon

 

Faced with crisis, Vladimir Putin tends to freeze.

Moscow’s slow, fumbling military response to Ukraine’s surprise occupation of parts of the western Kursk region is the latest example of the Kremlin chief failing to respond with quick, decisive action to match his bellicose rhetoric.

The Kursk incursion is the fourth major blow to Putin’s authority since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and highlights the weaknesses of a top-down autocracy that operates largely on fear and punishment.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/inaction-man-as-kursk-response-shows-in-a-crisis-vladimir-putin-freezes-up-20240819-p5k3fk.html

——————————

THIS IS A BULLSHIT STATEMENT IN A BULLSHIT ARTICLE.

FIRST PUTIN HAS NOT FROZEN. HE HAS DELEGATED THE UKRAINE SET-UP TO HIS DEFENCE MINISTER AND ARMY COMMANDERS — LIKE THE REST OF RUSSIA’S MILITARY INTERVENTION… SECOND PUTIN HAS GONE AS PLANNED ON A VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN… THIRD THE SITUATION IN KURSK IS OF COURSE TENSE, YET OTHER BATTLES CONTINUE ON THE FRONTLINE. NEW YORK HAS FALLEN TO THE RUSSIANS WHO ADVANCE — AS IF “KURSK” DID NOT HAPPEN. 

THE KURSK INCURSION BY THE KIEV NAZIS, WITH THE HELP OF NATO FORCES PRESENTS A FEW CHALLENGES FOR RUSSIA, AS ZELENSKY DID NOT MAKE TWO BONES ABOUT TAKING HOSTAGES TO NEGOTIATE A BETTER DEAL WITH RUSSIA. ZELENSKY WILL GET NOTHING OUT OF THAT. PRESENTLY THIS INCURSION IS AT A STAND STILL AS THE RUSSIANS ARE CAREFUL NOT TO HIT ANY OF ITS CITIZENS TAKEN PRISONER AND ALSO TORTURED BY THE NAZIS.

MEANWHILE, THE RUSSIAN ARMY IS STILL DESTROYING LOTS OF THE NATO HARDWARE USED BY THE KIEV NAZIS IN THEIR KURSK “USELESS” ADVENTURE. 

AS WELL OUT OF THE SAY 10,000 STRONG “MERCENARIES” (AMERICAN, FRENCH, POLISH, ETC FORMER SOLDIERS, POLUS UKRAINIANS) THAT HAVE INVADED KURSK, THE RUSSIANS KILL ABOUT 500 A DAY — AND AROUND 1,900 DEAD UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A DAY ALONG THE LINE OF CONTACT…

 

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:

 

 

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA WILL BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

 

EASY.

 

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Justice Department could conduct further searches and bring criminal charges against Americans who have worked with Russian state television networks, The New York Times reported, citing US officials briefed on the matter.

Earlier this month, FBI agents conducted searches at the homes of former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter and journalist Dimitri Simes. However, prosecutors have not revealed any criminal charges against the two men.

Investigators are expected to conduct more searches soon and prosecutors could also bring criminal charges, the report said.

The Biden administration has alleged that Russian state news organizations are working with the country’s intelligence agencies to influence elections worldwide.

The investigations have focused on possible violations of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia and a law mandating the disclosure of foreign government lobbying efforts, the report said.

Ritter said that he believes the search of his home was an "act of intimidation" triggered by his cooperation with Russian news organizations like Sputnik and RT. Ritter said that he has not committed any crimes and denied accusations that he is acting as a foreign agent.

Ritter told Sputnik that his passport was likely confiscated by authorities in connection with the FBI investigation.

Simes told Sputnik that he was not notified in advance of the search of his property and that he has not been in the United States since October 2022. Consequently, there is nothing at the property related to his current life and activities, he said.

Simes also said that the US government is possibly attempting to dissuade him from coming back to the United States and block any attempt to have a Russian-American dialogue.

 

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240821/americans-tied-to-russian-state-news-could-face-criminal-charges-more-searches---reports-1119867873.html

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

Putin critic says Australia must be alive to the influence of the Kremlin 

Linda Morris

A prominent critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Masha Gessen, said Australia’s delay in processing their visa illustrated the reach of Russian authorities in the Kremlin’s attempts to silence dissent.

Gessen, who goes by them and they pronouns, said there was a lesson in Australia being more alive to the impact of world events.

The US-based journalist was speaking at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas a week after they had been ‘‘functionally’’ denied a visa when the Department of Home Affairs applied for additional information from international police authorities about trumpedup charges levelled against them.

The hold-up was resolved 24 hours after going public, but caused Gessen to cancel a planned midweek public talk at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne.

Gessen said Russian authorities had used such sham charges and prosecutions against critics and exiles to disrupt their ability to move around the world.

‘‘The whole sentencing in absentia is a way of putting you on notice and a way of constraining you,’’ Gessen told the sold-out event.

‘‘So you don’t want to go to Indonesia because they have a new extradition treaty with Russia. What didn’t occur to me was that it would create problems for me in places like Australia.’’

Born in Russia and raised in America, Gessen wrote The Future Is History, an account of the rise of Putin, and has written extensively on human rights in Russia as well as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian authorities charged Gessen in December with spreading false reports about the Russian army and put them on a watch list. They were convicted in absentia in July and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Despite a huge number of Russian journalists working in exile to burst the bubble of propaganda, Gessen said the majority of Russians continued to be fed ‘‘a story of a triumphant war’’.

Ukraine’s recent incursion into the Kursk region disrupted that narrative, creating hundreds of thousands of displaced people potentially flooding into cities like Moscow, bringing stories of frontline hardships and defeats to the populace.

Ukraine’s advance into Russian territory served as an insurance policy against a Trump victory in the November presidential elections, ‘‘because if they have been told to sit down and negotiate and let Putin have a bit of land, they have something to negotiate’’. For all their rhetoric, Western powers had not committed the troops, planes or closed the skies to end the war, Gessen said.

Ukraine had been funded enough to prevent the war expanding into their territories without ending it. Gessen said Ukraine understood military aid may have an expiry date were Donald Trump to be elected, and suggested Putin had ‘‘zero interest’’ in peace unless defeated on the battlefield.

The New Yorker staff writer recounted meeting Putin in 2012 when editing a popular science magazine Putin admired. Summoned to the Kremlin, Gessen said they had an ‘‘absolutely ridiculous conversation in which he talked to me about nature conservation and I talked to him about media freedom’’.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/celebrity/putin-critic-masha-gessen-on-why-australia-must-be-alive-to-kremlin-influence-20240820-p5k3xa.html

 

MASHA GESSEN IS AN APOLOGIST FOR WESTERN SHENANIGANS IN RUSSIA, UNDER THE "COVER" OF FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA... IF HE DID HIS HOMEWORK (!) HE WOULD FIND THERE IS FAR MORE CENSORSHIP OF MEDIA IN THE WESTERN WORLD.... READ FROM TOP....

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

The arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France is a warning to platforms that stand up to censorship, American journalist and political commentator Tucker Carlson has said.

According to French media, the Russian-born entrepreneur was detained at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday and will appear in court on Sunday evening. The French authorities reportedly issued an arrest warrant, arguing that insufficient moderation allows for Telegram to be widely used by criminals.

The news of Durov’s apparent prosecution has raised concerns online, including suggestions that it could be politically motivated.

“Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech,” Carlson wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday. “It was a Western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member, that locked him away.”

Durov’s arrest is “a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies,” Carlson argued. “Darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world.”

Carlson recorded a rare interview with Durov in April, in which the Telegram owner spoke about his disagreements with the Russian government, as well as the pressure he faced in the US. He said that the American government had wanted him to set up a surveillance “backdoor” on the messenger, which he refused.

X owner Elon Musk also condemned the reported arrest. “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme,” he wrote in a comment to the news story.

READ MORE: Apple and Google more dangerous than governments – Telegram founder

Telegram was launched in 2013 and currently has more than 950 million monthly active users. Durov was born in St. Petersburg but has been mostly living in the UAE since the mid-2010s. He became a French and an Emirati citizen in 2021.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/603036-darkness-descending-tucker-carlson-reacts/

 

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

 

By Chris Hedges 

The arrest of the reporter Richard Medhurst, who has been one of the most ardent critics of the genocide in Gaza and Israeli apartheid state, at Heathrow airport is part of the steady march towards the criminalization of journalism, something all of us, including Medhurst, understood lay at the heart of the long persecution of Julian Assange.

Where the “norm” was for police to detain people for questioning under Schedule 7, Medhurst became the first journalist in Britain to be arrested under Section 12 of the draconian Terrorism Act.

After being taken into custody by 6 police officers, having his electronic equipment seized and questioned, he was placed in solitary confinement for almost 24 hours. He was released on pre-charge bail. He will remain under investigation for at least 3 months and faces the prospect of being charged with an offence that could carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

This arrest is about paralyzing his work, and the work of all who call out Israel for its mass slaughter. It is an ominous warning to any who stand up for Palestinian rights. It is designed to have a chilling effect on reporting that elucidates Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and increasingly the West Bank, as well as the active collaboration in this extermination of the Palestinian people by the U.S. and U.K. governments. Medhurst’s arrest has nothing to do with fighting terrorism, at least for those who still believe journalism is not terrorism.

If we do not vigorously oppose Medhurst’s arrest, if we do not denounce the use of terrorism laws to attempt to silence journalists, including the Scottish journalist Craig Murray, the Grayzone correspondent Kit Klarenberg and the late David Miranda who was working with Glenn Greenwald on the files leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Medhurst’s arrest will become the “norm.”

 

https://scheerpost.com/2024/08/24/chris-hedges-my-thoughts-on-the-arrest-of-richard-medhurst/

 

 

By John Kiriakou
Special to Consortium News

 

All of us who care about civil liberties, civil rights, human rights and freedom of the press have had a front-row seat lately to a slide toward what can only be described as authoritarianism.  The governments of the U.S., U.K. and even Canada have been working hard, sometimes in a coordinated fashion, to silence dissenting voices.  The governments’ tactics have been heavy-handed, to say the least.

Most recently, journalist Richard Medhurst was arrested last week by British authorities.  Richard, who is one of the loudest and most important voices in support of human rights for Palestinians, was arrested at Heathrow Airport.  

Detaining a journalist is not terribly unusual in the U.K., unfortunately.  What usually happens is that the journalist is held for several hours, his phone and laptop are taken from him, he is given a variety of threats that he must appear to answer questions at some future date, and he’s eventually released.  Things were different for Richard, however.  

Our colleague Chris Hedges wrote, 

“After being taken into custody by six police officers, having his electronic equipment seized, and then questioned, he was placed in solitary confinement for almost 24 hours.  He was released on pre-charge bail.  He will remain under investigation for at least three months and he faces the prospect of being charged with an offense that could carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.”  

And what is the charge that Richard is facing? It’s terrorism.  He is being threatened with a charge under Section 12 of the U.K.’s Terrorism Act for his reporting.  

Richard Medhurst is not, of course, a terrorist.  He’s a journalist working to publish the truth on the ground in Gaza.  There are a lot of Western governments that simply don’t like that.

Here in the United States, The New York Times reported last week that the Justice Department has begun an investigation into employees of RT, formerly known as Russia Today.  RT America ceased to exist more than a year ago.  

But a lot of Americans, including this writer, often appear on RT International via Zoom to comment on global developments, like the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and on U.S. elections.  

Former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who is a frequent RT guest and has said publicly that he occasionally writes op-eds for RT.com for $150 per article, had his house raided by more than a dozen FBI agents and a local SWAT team, apparently for his work with RT and for the gall of trying to travel to Moscow to sit on a panel at an academic event about Ukraine.  

Scott never made it to Moscow.  His passport was seized before he could depart, and he was taken off the plane.  

In an impromptu press conference immediately after the raid on his house, Scott opined that the raid was part of a Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) case that the Justice Department may be trying to build against him.  

Why?  As with Richard Medhurst, the government doesn’t like his politics, and it especially doesn’t like the fact that he’s public about his position on the Ukraine war.

[See: SCOTT RITTER: A Farewell to Truth]

Tulsi Gabbard on Terror Watch List

Earlier this month, a TSA whistleblower reported that a former Democratic congresswoman and former presidential candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, had been placed on the Department of Homeland Security’s terrorist watch list.  

Gabbard told journalist Matt Taibbi that she and her husband are routinely given boarding passes with the “SSSS” security moniker on them, they are pulled into secondary screening, which takes as long as 45 minutes, and that she has encountered “multiple obstacles” on recent trips to Dallas, Austin, Nashville, Orlando and Atlanta.

The TSA whistleblower added that federal air marshals, sometimes as many as three of them, were assigned to fly on all flights that Gabbard was on, a ridiculous, infuriating, and irrational waste of the taxpayers’ money.  

Several members of Congress and the entire Hawaii legislature are now demanding that TSA Director David Pekoske explain himself.

Last October, journalist, human rights whistleblower, and former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray was arrested at Glasgow Airport in Scotland upon returning home from a meeting in Iceland that I had also attended.  After interrogating him about his political beliefs, the police seized Craig’s laptop and cell phone.  

Most of the questions Craig was forced to answer were about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.  He was also grilled about a pro-Palestine rally at which he had spoken in Reykjavik. 

Like Richard Medhurst, Craig was interrogated under the U.K.’s draconian Terrorism Act.  He was later released, but he has possible terrorism charges hanging over his head, and he has no idea why.

Trip to Greece

In my own case, I recently traveled to Greece at the invitation of a think tank there to talk about the situation in the Middle East.  The Greeks rolled out the red carpet for me, and I ended up visiting five different think tanks, each associated with the major political parties represented in the Parliament.  

The Greeks paid my expenses, which included a flight from Washington to Athens through New York.  The return trip was from Athens to Washington through Toronto.  

As it so happens, I am banned for life from Canada because I’m a “dangerous felon,” having blown the whistle on the C.I.A.’s torture program.  Canada is a so-called Five Eyes country.  

The United States, Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, which make up the Five Eyes, share criminal justice information with each other, and any citizen of one who has been convicted of a felony — any felony — and sentenced to 18 months in prison or more, is automatically banned from entering the other Five Eyes. 

I didn’t think that was going to be a problem because I was simply transiting Toronto. I wasn’t actually entering Canada.  When the plane landed in Toronto, I filed out like everybody else. 

The moment I stepped off the plane, though, two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties, grabbed me by the arms and said, “Come with us.”  To make a long story short, those were the only words they spoke to me.  

They wouldn’t answer a single question.  They didn’t even look at me.  Instead, they took me to my connecting flight, still holding my arms, put me on the next plane, and finally left.  I was clearly not welcome in Canada.  

But the story doesn’t end there.  When I arrived in Washington, Customs and Border Patrol officers stopped me and questioned me.  Where did I go?  Why was I there?  With whom did I meet?  What are their addresses and phone numbers?  (Seriously).  I finally told them that I was represented by counsel and wasn’t answering any more questions.  

They told me that they could hold me for days if they wanted.  I told them that was nonsense and that there was no legal way that they could keep me from re-entering my own country.  Forty-five minutes later, they let me go.

There’s no good news in these stories. This is the future, unless we stand up to fight it.  

The loss of civil liberties is almost always incremental.  But I, for one, don’t want to answer to whomever happens to be in the White House or at the Department of Homeland Security or in the CEO position at Facebook or Twitter or Google.  I won’t do it.  And I won’t justify my politics to anybody.  

We have rights.  And we have to force our elected officials to force those who would take those rights away from us to respect the Constitution.  This is a fight worth fighting.  

John Kiriakou is a former C.I.A. counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act—a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration’s torture program.

 

https://consortiumnews.com/2024/08/27/john-kiriakou-the-slide-into-authoritarianism/

 

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GUSNOTE: WITH THE ARREST AND INTIMIDATION OF MANY DECENT JOURNALISTS AND "TRUTH" PLATFORMS CEOs, ONE COULD THINK THAT SOMETHING BIG IS ON THE DRAWING BOARD AT THE PENTAGON... WHAT? I DON'T KNOW BUT BE PREPARED TO BE KEPT IN THE DARK ABOUT SOME INVASION, WARS AND OTHER SHENANIGANS BY THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, WRIGGLING MADLY LIKE A TRAPPED BEAST... ALL THIS "AUTHORITARIANISM" SOMEWHAT HIDDEN FOR YEARS IS NOW SURFACING LIKE BAD BOILS ON THE EMPIRE'S BUTT-CHEEKS.... BEWARE... DANGERS ARE COMING OUR WAY....

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.