Mayflower Revisited

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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.

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Key Figure in Mueller

Simes was prominently involved in Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe of potential Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. The report concluded that Simes did not act as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

As federal agents investigate Simes' Virginia estate, I'm reminded of the complex web of ties that made up Trump's 2016 campaign. My reporting from the era represents one of the few eyes-wide-open real-time archives of this contentious historical period and makes for intriguing reading seven years later as the story unfolds.

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