The Justice Department indicted an American commentator for Russian television Thursday as part of a broader effort by the government to crack down on Russia’s attempts to influence U.S. politics before November’s presidential election.

Dimitri Simes, who was an adviser to Donald 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. Dimitri 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.

Simes was an influential person in Washington for years, hosting frequent lunches at his think tank blocks from the White House. He would gather government officials, academics and journalists during the uneasy post-Cold War era. The topics often turned to issues of Russia’s relationship with the United States and NATO and President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to rebuild Russia.

His indictment comes a day after two employees of another Russian state broadcaster, RT, were indicted on a charge of spending nearly $10 million to have pro-Russia messages spread from a Tennessee company that created and publicized commentary from right-wing, pro-Trump influencers.

The Biden administration has been making a broad push against what it says is a concerted effort by Russia to influence the fall vote. U.S. intelligence officials have said Russia’s president, Putin, considers November’s election critical because of Democratic support for Ukraine, which Russian troops invaded more than two years ago.

Documents released by the Justice Department show that as part of the effort, Putin’s office devised a plan to target swing state voters in favor of Trump and against further support for Ukraine.

The Justice Department charged both Simeses with violating the International Emergency Powers Act, the law that President Joe Biden has used to impose an array of punitive sanctions against Russian officials and companies because of the war in Ukraine. Channel One, a state company that is among those under such sanctions, paid the couple more than $1 million, in addition to providing a car and driver and a stipend for an apartment in Moscow.

Anastasia Simes, a jewelry designer, was also charged with money laundering and accused of helping a prominent Russian businessperson, Alexander Udodov, evade sanctions by purchasing art and antiques for him and keeping them in their home near Huntly, Virginia.

FBI and other agents began searching the home Aug. 13, seizing furniture and artwork over four days, Dimitri Simes said in an interview Wednesday before the charges were announced.

“They took a lot of the furniture,” he said. “They took practically all of the paintings and icons, which are where now — who knows?”

He added that the art pieces had long been in his possession.

“We got most of them before we moved to this house,” he said. “Most of them belonged to our parents. How could they be of any concern to the U.S. government?”

The indictment against Anastasia Simes cited a number of artworks, including a 19th-century painting by German artist F.C. Welsch, “Lake of the Four Cantons,” and a bronze sculpture of Minerva by French sculptor and painter Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who designed the Statue of Liberty.

Dimitri Simes did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the indictment was announced Thursday. In the interview earlier, he defended his work with Channel One Russia, even as he understood it would raise the ire of the administration.

“I assumed that what I was saying on Russian TV would not be to the liking of the Biden administration,” he said, “but I also assumed that as long as it was just my opinion and was presented as such, it was not something for which I could be prosecuted.”

Simes, 76, immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1973 and later became an adviser to President Richard Nixon. From 1994 to 2022, he served as the head of a think tank Nixon founded, now known as the Center for the National Interest.

Russians, including Putin, mock U.S. claims

Russian commentators on Thursday mocked allegations that Moscow was meddling again in the U.S. presidential election, and Putin appeared to bolster the teasing tone by wryly claiming he supported Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Kremlin has dismissed previous allegations of interference in U.S. elections, from 2016 and onward, as nonsense. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson vowed to retaliate against U.S. media in Russia.

Margarita Simonyan, the head of RT who was sanctioned by the U.S. in the latest allegations, shared a social media post Thursday in which the outlet hit back by saying, “They called from 2016 and want all their tired cliches back.”

The Treasury Department described Simonyan as a “central figure in Russian government malign influence efforts.”

Putin, who was in the Russian Far East port of Vladivostok for an economic forum, did not address the latest U.S. allegations, but he did comment on the election, in which Harris is the Democratic Party’s nominee after Biden dropped his bid for reelection.

“We had the current president, Mr. Biden, as our favorite but he was taken out of the race. He recommended all his supporters back Mrs. Harris, so we will too,” Putin said with a wry smile and an arched eyebrow.

Harris, he said, has an “expressive and infectious laugh,” which shows “she’s doing well.”

If Harris is doing well, then “perhaps she will refrain” from imposing more sanctions on Russia, Putin said. Some members of the audience were pictured laughing at his remarks.

Putin authorized influence operations to help Trump in the 2020 election, while his 2016 campaign benefited from hacking by Russian intelligence officers and a covert social media effort, according to U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials.

Before winning in 2016, Putin praised Trump as “outstanding” and “talented.”

Earlier this year, Putin suggested that Biden’s reelection would be better for Russia as he is “more experienced” and “predictable.”

But U.S. intelligence officials maintain that Moscow still has a preference for Trump, who has praised Putin and has suggested cutting aid to Ukraine.

This report includes information from the Associated Press.