Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was contacted by a mystery individual who sought to gain insider information concerning American sanctions against Russia, a new report says.
Shaheen’s staff was contacted by a person who claimed to work for the foreign ministry of Latvia last year in an attempt to coordinate a phone call between Shaheen and Latvia’s foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, to talk about “prolongation of anti-Russian sanctions,” among other topics.
A date and time was arranged, but Shaheen’s office reached out to the Latvian embassy first to verify the identity of the individual, who claimed his name was “Arturs Vaiders.” However, the embassy told Shaheen’s office that the outreach was not authentic, the Daily Beast reports.
[Also read: Mitch McConnell threatens Russia with sanctions legislation]
As a result, Shaheen’s office did not follow through with the phone call, prompting Vaiders to send an email and a subsequent voice message.
“Hi again, this is Arturs Vaiders. I work for the minister of foreign affairs and I left you a message about trying to do a call with the senator and the minister. Could you respond on our email, please? Thank you,” the individual said in the voicemail message, claiming that the call was made from Latvia.
According to Ryan Nickel, a spokesperson for Shaheen, law enforcement officials have been notified about the incident.
“Sen. Shaheen’s office is working with all relevant authorities to investigate these incidents and determine their origin,” Nickel told the Daily Beast.
Nickel said that the office often receives hoax emails, comments that come as lawmakers are particularly sensitive to fishy emails following various attempted hacks associated with the Russian government.
However, there is no evidence to indicate that the Kremlin was behind the outreach to Shaheen, the Daily Beast reports.
