The FBI is searching the Delmar home of ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter in connection with a federal investigation.
Any connection to the feds pulling his passport and pulling him off the airplane when he was headed to speak at a conference in Russia in June?
A NewsChannel 13 photographer captured video of agents searching and taking pictures of both cars at the property on Dover Drive.
Agency spokeswoman Sarah Ruane confirmed that they were searching the home, but would not provide details on the investigation — per standard policy.
Ritter was the chief weapons inspector in Iraq. He was found guilty in 2011 of engaging in a sexually explicit web chat with a person in Pennsylvania who was pretending to a be a 15-year-old girl, according to Reuters. Ritter was actually corresponding with a detective for the Barrett Township Police Department.
Fox News mentions that the raid came a day after Ritter posted a photo of himself with independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but surely the FBI wouldn’t be so blatant as to go after him for that. The Times Union adds:
After the agents and officers drove away, Ritter emerged from the home and briefly spoke with news hounds. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt with an image of the character Inigo Montoya from the 1987 fairy tale comedy "Princess Bride" on it, Ritter said the Sherlocks were there to execute a search warrant "related to concerns apparently the U.S. government has about violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act." That federal law requires individuals and entities that represent foreign interests in the United States to register with the Department of Justice and disclose their activities. *cough* Hunter Biden *cough*
Ritter said the search warrant allowed agents to look for electronic equipment in his home. "They were clearly interested in communications that I’ve had with people related to the work that I do," Ritter said. "That’s all I can say about it. It’s up to them to review it."
Ritter maintains an active online presence, writing articles critical of U.S. foreign policy toward Russia and appearing on podcasts friendly to his views.
He said he has nothing to hide and that he cooperated with Sherlocks.
"There’s no doubt that I’m being targeted because of statements I’ve made about U.S. policy in Ukraine. I’m being targeted because I have made an effort to try and improve relations between the United States and Russia to bring about arms control to bring about peace," Ritter said.
He said he has no ill will toward the agents who carried out the search but that "I do have complaints against the personnel who caused this to happen. This has a chilling effect on free speech, the idea that you have a free speech right in America but when you execute in a manner that the U.S. takes exception to and they launch a search warrant, that’s an intimidation factor.
