D.C. police department reportedly dismisses BuzzFeed's allegations that Mikhail Lesin may have been murdered

“After discussing the case with our murder investigations team, we have no reason to suspect that this was a suspicious death,” D.C. police spokesperson Rachel Reid told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, responding to a new report by BuzzFeed that claims “multiple U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials” suspect Mikhail Lesin was “whacked” because he was preparing to cooperate with the FBI. Reid added that the case could be reopened, if any new evidence emerges.

Asked if the D.C. police department is aware of any such evidence, Reid told RIA Novosti, “We have no additional evidence about which we can comment at this time.”

Mikhail Lesin, who served as Russia press minister and as an advisor to President Putin before working as a mass media executive, died on November 5, 2015, in his room at the Doyle Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, D.C. In October 2016, the U.S. Justice Department closed its investigation into Lesin’s death, amending the manner of death from “undetermined” to “accident.” The case’s chief medical examiner determined that Lesin died of several blunt force injuries which were “induced by falls,” with “acute ethanol intoxication as a contributory cause of death.”

In January 2016, without providing concrete evidence, The Daily Beast published an article claiming that “all signs point to the former Kremlin propaganda boss cutting a deal with the FBI.” On July 28, 2017, BuzzFeed published a story supporting these allegations, but the article was once again based on anonymous sources without firsthand knowledge of the investigation into Lesin’s death.