InquisitR: Metropolitan Police Officer Sean Hickman said officers were called to the Dupont Circle Hotel at close to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday and found a man dead. The Russian embassy in Washington confirmed that man was Mikhail Lesin.
A Russian embassy spokesperson told Sputnik, another Russian state-run news outlet, about Lesin’s sudden death.
“Our consular officials had an opportunity to confirm that the Russian national who passed away in DC is indeed Mikhail Lesin. Out of respect to the privacy and sensitivity of the matter we are not at liberty to disclose any other information, and would ask you to refer all further requests to his family and the law enforcement officials.”
Mikhail Lesin is recognized with creating the English-language news network Russia Today. Now known as RT, and backed by the Russian government, the network “provides an alternative perspective on major global events, and acquaints an international audience with the Russian viewpoint,” according to its website.
Last year, one U.S. lawmaker claimed Mikhail Lesin “led the Kremlin’s efforts to censor Russia’s independent television outlets.”
Former Putin Aide, Found in Washington, Died From Blows to Head
NYT: Washington — A former close aide to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia who was found dead in a hotel room in the Dupont Circle neighborhood in November died of blunt force injuries to the head, the chief medical examiner’s office here said on Thursday. Russian state media had reported that the aide, Mikhail Y. Lesin, died in the hotel of a heart attack.
A member of Mr. Lesin’s family who reportedly spoke with RIA Novosti, the state news agency, also said in November that Mr. Lesin had died of a heart attack.
On Thursday the medical examiner’s office said that Mr. Lesin’s body showed signs of blunt force injury not only to the head but to the neck and torso, as well as upper and lower extremities. The medical examiner’s office did not explain the timing of the announcement, although officials said that findings often take 60 to 90 days.
The matter remains the subject of a police investigation here. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department, Lt. Sean Conboy, declined on Thursday to provide additional comment. Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the F.B.I. in Washington, also had no comment.
The death of Mr. Lesin, who was 59, had prompted no shortage of speculation here and in Russia in recent months.
Mr. Lesin’s body was found in a hotel room with no signs of life at about 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 5.
Lesin was once a political leader, a media advertising executive and an inside advisor to Putin. He was head of communications for the Russian Federation and Minister of Press under Putin.
In 2011, Lesin moved from Russia to Beverly Hills where he has connections at Warner Brothers. He did in fact return to Russia in 2013 where he led the marketing. propaganda and media for Gazprom an oil infrastructure of which Putin has ownership.
On December 3, 2014, Assistant Attorney General Peter J. Kadzik replied to Senator Wicker’s letter by stating the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been referred for appropriate disposition of Mikhail Lesin and “similarly situated Russian individuals and companies with assets in the United States that may be in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Statutes.” The properties are located at
$13.8 million house of 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft) at 10 Beverly Park, Beverly Hills, California
$9 million house of 980 square metres (10,500 sq ft) at 321 Bristol Avenue, Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
$5.6 million house of 630 square metres (6,800 sq ft) in Beverly Park, Los Angeles, California
$4.3 million house along Mulholland Drive at 13327 Java Drive, Beverly Hills, California
$3.995 million house of 570 square metres (6,100 sq ft) in Palisades Highlands, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
It’s unclear if the FBI ever initiated a probe into this matter yet given the results of the autopsy…..other investigations are likely now underway.
