US Lawyer, a Former DOJ Official, Ejected from Russia

Apparently refused to cooperated with Russia's spying agency

A US lawyer and former Justice Department official was expelled from Russia earlier this month after he apparently refused to co-operate with Russia's domestic spy agency.

Thomas Firestone was posted to the US embassy in Moscow by the Justice Department but had left the US government to work at private law firm Baker & Mackenzie. On May 5, according to an acquaintance who requested anonymity, he was returning to Russia from a trip abroad when he was detained and interrogated at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport for 15 hours and then declared persona non grata.