FBI Raids Home of Dimitri Simes, Russian-American Advisor

Aug. 17—On Aug. 13 the FBI raided the 132 acre estate called “Patria,” the home of Dimitri Simes located in rural Virginia about 4.5 miles north of the town of Flint Hill and about 65 miles west of Washington, D.C. According to the Rappahannock News, the FBI and other law enforcement have been using trucks and trailers to haul contents from the home. The FBI has maintained a presence at the farm since the raid and have blocked the driveway with yellow police crime scene tape. “The FBI conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity. We have no further comment as this is an ongoing matter,” Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Samantha Shero emailed the Rappahannock News on Aug. 14. There are rumors of possible Ukrainians accompanying the FBI during the raid—but this is not confirmed.

The raid occurred one week after the FBI raided the home of former UN weapons inspector and Marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter, in upstate New York, ostensibly to gather evidence to prove he was a unregistered Russian agent, which Ritter, an outspoken critic of NATO's war against Russia in the Ukraine,  vehemently denies. He has said that the FBI is doing the dirty work for the Nazi government in Kyiv.

Dimitri Simes, 76, has been a fixture in the diplomatic world in Washington since at least the Nixon years. He emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1970s. His father was the human rights activist, Konstantin Simes, author of U.S.S.R.: The Corrupt Society. He accompanied Nixon at the Moscow Summit in May 1972, and more recently he has been an advisor to the Trump White House and the current Trump presidential campaign. For decades Simes was president of the Center for the National Interest, a think tank founded by Nixon, but retired from that position in 2022 and has been living in Moscow since then.

Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III gave heavy scrutiny to Simes as a possible intermediary between the Trump campaign and Moscow in bogus "Russiagate" investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. However, Mueller concluded that Simes was not involved. Simes is now a TV host on a current affairs broadcast called “The Big Game” on Russia’s Channel One.

Simes spoke by phone to reporters on the morning of Aug. 15 and said that he has been out of the country and knew that there was law enforcement activity on his property, but that he has not been officially contacted by law enforcement. Simes said that he is not aware of any investigation of him. “I’m puzzled and concerned,” Simes said. “I certainly will take steps to get proper information and then to take proper action.” Simes said that the family home had “no available items or information of interest.” Simes’ son, Dimitri Simes Jr., reportedly said that he did not know the purpose of the FBI’s raid, but suspected that it could be an intimidation tactic, writing on his X account: “The likely motive it to intimidate him and prevent him from ever returning to the United States.”