The Trump administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats on Monday and ordered Russia's consulate in Seattle to close. All consulate staff must be gone by Friday, March 30, 2018.
Senior Trump administration officials said all 60 Russians were spies working in the U.S. under diplomatic cover, including a dozen at Russia's mission to the United Nations. The officials said the administration was taking the action to send a message to Russia's leaders about the "unacceptably high" number of Russian intelligence operatives in the U.S.
They added that the Seattle consulate is a counterintelligence concern because of its proximity to Naval Base Kitsap, as well as Boeing's operations.
The Russian diplomatic mission in Seattle consisted of 7 officials, 42 people all together with family members in total.
The decision to close the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Seattle and expel 60 Russian diplomats including about ten Russian permanent representatives to the UN, was taken by the US Presidential Administration in response to the poisoning of a former GRU officer Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury on March 4, 2018.
Read more in the Seattle Times article: "Russian spies in Seattle: Black ops, Soviet subs and counter intel in the Pacific Northwest".
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