Source: korybko.substack.com
Anyone who shares views on publicly financed Russian media that even remotely align with part of Trump’s platform could theoretically find themselves caught in this massive dragnet.
The New York Times (NYT) cited unnamed administration sources to report that the Justice Department has begun a “broad criminal investigation into Americans who have worked with Russia’s state television networks”. This follows the FBI’s raid of Scott Ritter’s house earlier this month and then Dimitri Simes’ Virginia estate shortly thereafter. Ritter is still in the US while Simes has been in Russia since October 2022. More of Russian media’s American affiliates might soon be raided according to the NYT’s report.
The legal pretext upon which Ritter was raided had to do with the Foreign Agents Registration Act while Simes is reportedly being investigated for violating American sanctions against Russia, among other supposed crimes, according to the NYT. To their credit though, they mentioned in their report that “By targeting Americans working with news organizations, even if they are state-run, the inquiry could also bump up against the First Amendment’s protection of rights to free speech.”
They also added that “Since 2017, the Department of Justice has required RT to register as a foreign agent, not as a news organization, reflecting the government’s control over its operations. There is no clear legal precedent that dictates whether journalists working for a news organization would fall under the requirements of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.” This shows that even these establishment bulldogs know that the US Government’s (USG) latest crackdown might be unconstitutional….