Putin appears to be targeting U.S. officials who worked to sanction Russia

By Carol Morello, Tom Hamburger and John Hudson

July 19 at 5:06 PM

Almost from the day he arrived in Moscow as the U.S. ambassador in 2012, Michael McFaul and his family were subjected to a campaign of surveillance and harassment.

According to McFaul’s book, “From Cold War to Hot Peace,” Russian authorities followed him to his son’s soccer game and outings to McDonald’s. They trailed his children’s bus to school and sat behind the family at church. They slashed the tires of an embassy staffer’s car and broke into the homes of other employees.

Embassy security officials advised McFaul there was only one secure room at the embassy he and his wife should use if they ever quarreled, because everywhere else was monitored by the Russian government.

Now, McFaul is one of 11 U.S. citizens a Russian prosecutor wants to question in connection with an investigation many U.S. officials say is bogus. The list is believed to include at least two other former diplomats, a congressional staffer, a CIA agent, a staffer for the National Security Council and two special agents at the Department of Homeland Security.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/putin-appears-to-be-targeting-us-officials-who-worked-to-sanction-russia/2018/07/19/289059ac-8b67-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html