Former 2016 Trump campaign adviser charged for work with sanctioned Russian TV outlet since 2022

The U.S. government charged Dimitri Simes, former adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and a Russian-born U.S. citizen, and his wife for allegedly violating "sanctions that were put in place in response to Russia’s illegal aggression in Ukraine," according to the indictment.

Simes, 76, was allegedly doing work for a sanctioned Russian media outlet, Channel One, since June 2022 and laundering the money.

According to the indictment, Simes and his wife Anastasia received more than $1 million dollars and a personal car with a driver as part of the deal for their work.

“These defendants allegedly violated sanctions that were put in place in response to Russia’s illegal aggression in Ukraine,” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in a statement on Thursday. “Such violations harm our national security interests — a fact that Dimitri Simes, with the deep experience he gained in national affairs after fleeing the Soviet Union and becoming a U.S. citizen, should have uniquely appreciated.”

Simes and his wife own a home in Virginia but are apparently in Russia at this time.