Simonyan Mocks US Allegations of Sputnik Radio's Role in 2016 US Election

The US establishment has reached a "new intellectual height" by alleging that Sputnik Radio influenced the 2016 presidential election, Sputnik and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said, pointing out at the fact that the radio has been working for just two months so far.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Sputnik and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan on Tuesday mocked the US congressmen allegations that Sputnik Radio had a role in meddling with the 2016 US presidential election calling them "a new intellectual height" reached by the US establishment as the station went on air on FM radio eight months after the vote.
Earlier in the day, three members of US Congress called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a letter to investigate the alleged role of Sputnik Radio played in influencing the 2016 US presidential election.

"To accuse a radio which had started its broadcast two months ago of interfering in last years' election is the new intellectual height, reached by the US establishment. [Former White House spokeswoman Jen] Psaki rises in applause," Simonyan said.

In a letter, the congressmen cited the article in the New York Times newspaper, titled "RT, Sputnik and Russia’s New Theory of War" and suggested that the radio station "was used as part of the Kremlin's effort to influence the 2016 presidential election" and that "the Russian government may be using our country's own airwaves to undermine our democracy."
The lawmakers urged the FCC to investigate the activities of the radio station and take action in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. They asked the FCC if it has already launched the investigation as to whether Sputnik's broadcast license contradicts "public interest"; if not, whether the commission will open such an investigation and if the commission should launch such investigation, what specific steps it would take.The congressmen refer to the Sputnik radio at the 105.5 FM in Washington, ignoring the fact that the first broadcast on the radio took place in July, 2017, more than half a year after the day of the presidential election, which was held on November 8, 2016. The congressmen failed to give any arguments as to how Sputnik radio managed to affect the presidential election after it took place.

The accusations from the lawmakers are the latest in a series of allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting that it does not meddle in the internal affairs of other countries. Sputnik's and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan refuted the allegations as groundless, while Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called them absurd.
The letter of the US lawmakers has emerged several days after the former employee of Sputnik was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), which also received access to the internal emails of the news agency. The actions of the FBI was condemned both in Russia and in the United States for violation of freedom of press under the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The US Freedom of the Press Foundation expressed concern over the FBI actions.

Last week, the Yahoo News portal reported, citing its sources, that the FBI had questioned former Sputnik's corresponded Andrew Feinberg as part of its investigation into whether Sputnik was acting as a tool of so-called Kremlin propaganda in violation of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The media outlet claimed that the FBI had access to Sputnik's working correspondence from Feinberg and another former employee of Sputnik's Washington bureau Joseph John Fionda. The FBI itself has not responded to Sputnik's inquiry on whether it was conducting an investigation against the news agency.