FBI raids home of former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter amid investigation into foreign agent allegations

Former Marine Corps officer and UN Inspector maintains search is retaliation for efforts to improve U.S.-Russia relations

DELMAR – Scott Ritter emerged from his front door shortly after a procession of federal agents carried boxes out of his home on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 7. The FBI described the evidence-gathering exercise as part of an ongoing investigation into the outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy.

Ritter told reporters that the search warrant related to his work as a writer and that authorities were concerned about alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires representatives of foreign interests to register and disclose their activities to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“I will tell you right now, I am not in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” he said. “Hopefully, by executing the search warrant and taking the materials that they did, they will rapidly reach that conclusion.”

Members of the FBI’s Evidence Recovery Team extracted two dozen boxes full of evidence. Ritter said investigators were cleared to search for electronic evidence.

Investigators, accompanied by New York State Police, arrived at his Dover Drive home shortly before noon in unmarked cars with heavily tinted windows. They lined up in front of the quiet suburban home, with a dark SUV blocking two cars parked in the double-wide driveway. Inside the two-story colonial, hints of activity could be observed in one upstairs bedroom, where an overhead light shone through a thinly veiled window.

FBI spokesperson Sarah Ruane confirmed the activity was in connection with an ongoing federal investigation, but could not disclose anything further citing U.S. Department of Justice policy.

Ritter is a former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer and United Nations weapons inspector. He gained attention in the late 1990s and early 2000s for his outspoken views on U.S. foreign policy regarding Iraq, and more recently, concerning the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Ritter’s career began in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as an intelligence officer. His work with military intelligence provided him with a strong foundation in the complexities of global security and U.S. defense policy.

In the 1990s, Ritter joined the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), which was tasked with inspecting Iraq for weapons of mass destruction following the Gulf War. He played a key role in overseeing efforts to ensure Iraq’s disarmament in compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.

During his time with UNSCOM, Ritter developed a reputation for being tough, thorough, and unyielding, often clashing with both Iraqi officials and his superiors in the UN and U.S. government. He was highly critical of what he perceived as political interference in the inspection process, particularly from the U.S., which he accused of using the inspections as a pretext for maintaining sanctions and eventually justifying military action against Iraq.

Ritter’s most publicized role came in the lead-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. He became a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s claims that Iraq possessed WMDs, arguing that the evidence did not support the case for war. He insisted that Iraq had largely been disarmed by the late 1990s and that the push for war was based on misleading or fabricated intelligence.

Ritter’s stance made him a controversial figure; he was praised by some as a courageous whistleblower and condemned by others as being naive or politically motivated.

After leaving UNSCOM, Ritter continued to speak out against U.S. foreign policy, particularly regarding Iraq and the broader Middle East. He wrote several books and frequently appeared in the media to discuss his views. He has remained an outspoken critic of U.S. military interventions and has continued to comment on international security issues, often challenging the mainstream narrative on U.S. foreign policy.

His views have often put him at odds with both the U.S. government and much of the media establishment.

In June, Ritter claimed Customs and Border Protection had seized his passport before he could board a plane at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. He said he was on his way to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia. Ritter also claimed that CBP agents failed to show a warrant or explain the reason behind their actions.

“I’m being targeted because I have made an effort to try to improve relations between the United States and Russia, to try to bring about arms control. To try to bring about peace,” Ritter said on Wednesday. “Apparently, someone in the U.S. government takes umbrage at this.”

Ritter has been equally critical of U.S. involvement in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. On the YouTube program “Judging Freedom,” which aired less than 24 hours before the FBI raid on his home, Ritter described Israel as the “worst incarnation” of Nazi Germany after alleging rapes of political prisoners by Israeli soldiers.

The night before the raid, Ritter also posted a picture of himself with presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy Jr., who was in Albany attending court to face claims he doesn’t live in New York—a case that could keep his name off state ballots in November. Ritter often appears as a guest on Kennedy’s podcast. Kennedy had not shared any comments on social media following the raid on Ritter’s home; however, he told the Times Union that he admired Ritter’s stance on foreign policy.

Ritter did not mention the raid on his podcast, which was published on X (formerly Twitter) a few hours after the raid, appearing in the same red shirt he wore earlier that day. Instead, he focused almost entirely on his guest, a Russian national formerly detained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. He did, however, make one possible quip about the incident.

“I have experienced the American justice system,” he said.

In 2001, Ritter was caught in a Colonie police sting operation, where he attempted to meet what he believed was a 16-year-old girl, but who was actually an undercover officer. The case was later dropped as Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal. Ritter has claimed it was an attempt to discredit him.

Less than a decade later, Ritter faced similar legal trouble when he was convicted in Pennsylvania in 2011 for masturbating in front of a webcam, believing he was communicating with a 15-year-old girl who was, again, an undercover officer. He was sentenced to up to five and a half years in prison but was released on parole in 2014 after completing required programs.

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