Putin-aligned Russian lawmaker, two aides charged with meddling in US politics

Federal prosecutors charged a high-ranking Putin-aligned Russian legislator and two of his staff with operating a foreign influence and disinformation network in the United States that included attempts to sway members of Congress.

According to an indictment unsaved Thursday in Manhattan federal court, Aleksander Babakov, who serves as deputy chairman in the lower house of the Russian legislature, and two of his aides, Aleksandr Nikolayevich Vorobev and Mikhail Alekseyevich Plisyuk, conspired to violate U.S. sanctions and influence U.S. policy toward Russia.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the alleged propaganda campaign was levied to advance Russia's malevolent political designs against Ukraine, the United States and other countries.

Today's indictment shows that Russia's illegitimate actions against Ukraine extend beyond the battlefield, as political influencers under Russia's control plotted to steer geopolitical change in Russia's favor through surreptitious and illegal means in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West, Williams said in a statement.

The indictment is being unveiled by the Biden administration, as they try to make sure Russian officials and oligarchs who have been hit with sanctions over the war in Ukraine are not able to evade them.

Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, told the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. on Thursday that our focus will be on evasion in the coming days.

Three Russian men in Thursday's indicted indictment are charged with one count of conspiring to have a U.S. citizen act as a Russian agent in the United States without notifying the attorney general, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. The three men who were sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2017 face a single count of conspiracy to violate and evade U.S. sanctions, a violation that carries a maximum 20 year sentence.

The defendants were accused of trying to obtain visas to enter the U.S., which could carry an additional maximum of five years in prison if convicted.

Beginning in 2012, Babakov and his two deputies conspired to erode U.S. partnerships with European allies and promote Russian efforts to destroy Ukraine's sovereignty through staged events and paid propaganda, according to the indictment.

The defendants allegedly used a Russian-based nonprofit organization, the Institute for International Integration Studies as a subterfuge for their foreign influence campaign, funneling money through the nonprofit between 2011 and 2019 to pay two European citizens who served as foreign consultants charged with carrying out the group's efforts, the indictment says.

The defendants and the American allegedly recruited for the scheme are accused of having contacted members of Congress from 2012 to 2017 and request meetings for Babakov that were aimed at advancing Russian interests in the United States.

The indictment states that no U.S. lawmakers met with Babakov, but his efforts included an offer to one unnamed member of Congress for an all expenses paid trip to meet European political figures.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said the Department will not hesitate to prosecute those who try to influence the American political process and evade U.S. sanctions.

A federal district court judge will decide on the sentence for Babakov, Vorobev and Plisyuk, who are based in Russia but remain at large, the Justice Department said.

NBC News reached out to the Russian Embassy in Washington and the Institute for International Integration Studies for comment.