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The Israeli occupation targets Deir Keefa in South Lebanon with 2 surface-to-surface missiles
Philippe Lazzarini: The famine in Gaza is a direct result of banning food and other basic supplies for months including from UNRWA .
Philippe Lazzarini: The spread of famine can still be controlled by a ceasefire and allowing humanitarian organizations to do their work and reach starving people with aid.
The United Nations on the Israeli-induced famine in Gaza: The starvation of civilians for military objectives is a war crime.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini: famine is now confirmed in Gaza city. This is starvation by design and manmade by the Government of Israel.
More than 30 people have been martyred in Gaza since Friday dawn in Israeli bombardment targeting refugee camps throughout the blockaded strip.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The Israeli occupation forces are carrying out demolitions of residential buildings in Gaza's al-Tuffah neighborhood amid intensifying airstrikes.
Israeli media: A man is critically wounded from a shooting near Malachi Hashalom between Ramallah and Nablus, and ambulance crews are on their way to the scene.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: One person was martyred in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a motorcycle in southern Lebanon's Deir Saryan.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent to Southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone strike on a motorcycle in the town of Deir Saryan left one civilian injured

FBI cracks downs on US citizens to prevent 'Kremlin influence'

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 22 Aug 2024 14:09
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

The FBI is conducting raids and crackdowns on US "individuals intentionally spreading disinformation from Moscow" due to their link to Russian media.

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  • FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, on August 15, 2022. (AFP)
    FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, on August 15, 2022. (AFP)

The FBI is targeting US citizens in connection with Russian media in an attempt to allegedly combat "Kremlin influence" ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in November, sources told The New York Times.

The security agency conducted raids on the homes of former UN weapons inspector and RT contributor Scott Ritter, and US-Soviet-born policy analyst, and author Dmitri K. Simes who hosts a local Russian television show, as part of a "broad criminal investigation" to combat "Kremlin influence operations," the New York Times reported Wednesday, citing anonymous US officials. 

The government aims to organize more raids and issue criminal charges, the sources added, despite no charges being brought against Ritter and Simes.

The New York Times reported that law enforcement officials are targeting “individuals intentionally spreading disinformation from Moscow,” highlighting that the probe could “bump up against the First Amendment’s protection of rights to free speech.”

Ritter and Simes critique US official policies

Ritter and Simes are both devout critics of US foreign policy under President Joe Biden's administration and blame the US administration for falsely villainizing Russia and increasing the risk of a nuclear war.

Due to their political beliefs and criticism of the government, the FBI has suspected the US citizens of potentially violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires transparency from people in the US representing foreign governments, as well as sanctions on Russia.

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“The US government works overtime to stigmatize any journalism possessing connectivity with Russia,” Ritter said in a recent opinion article on RT this week. He detailed the main reason he contributes to Russian media is due to US media's compliance with US foreign policy.

“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,” Simes told Sputnik last week after his family home in Virginia was raided.

FBI raids home of analyst Dimitri Simes, Russia dubs it 'witch-hunt'

FBI agents raided on August 13 the Virginia home of Dimitri Simes, who advised Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and currently hosts a program on Russia’s Channel One.

The raid, initially reported by Rappahannock News, had cited the FBI as their source of information.

Simes, who was abroad at the time, stated he had not been notified about the search in advance and was unaware of any ongoing investigation involving him.

Simes' name has been mentioned over 100 times in the 2019 Mueller report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
 
"I’m puzzled and concerned," he said, before adding, "I have not seen a warrant. I was not contacted by any law enforcement or anyone else whatsoever."

More significantly, Simes told Sputnik, "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."

On his part, Simes' son Dimitri Simes Jr. told Sputnik that his father has not been to the US since 2022.

In a tweet on X, Jr. wrote: "The Biden regime is terrified of being called out over Ukraine and Israel," adding, "Elements of Biden regime are trying to disrupt any possibility for de-escalation with Russia and plunge America into World War III."

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