Mayflower Revisited

A prominent figure in the original Trump-Russia probe gets a visit from the FBI, seven years on

When I first encountered the name Dimitri Simes while researching a story back in 2017, I had no idea how significant it would become. Yesterday, that same name resurfaced in a dramatic way: the FBI descended on Simes' 132.6-acre property in Huntly, Virginia, conducting what they described as "court-authorized law enforcement activity."

This raid on the home of the 76-year-old former president of the Center for the National Interest and current Russian state TV commentator immediately transported me back to the story I wrote seven years ago, titled "Meet Me at the Mayflower." That piece detailed a pivotal gathering at Washington's historic Mayflower Hotel, where then-candidate Donald Trump gave a foreign policy speech. Even then, the odd campaign event had the whiff of Russian collusion, and my investigation soon uncovered a web of connections between key players in Trump's orbit and Russian officials.