President Donald Trump's administration denied assisting an Israeli official who was reportedly charged with child sex crimes in Nevada.
In a statement last week, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said that eight individuals had been arrested in a sting targeting child sex predators. Israeli government cybersecurity official Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, 38, was charged as part of the operations, Las Vegas officials said.
By Saturday, Alexandrovich had been released and returned to Israel, according to The Guardian.
Independent journalist Sean King reported that "the Trump administration personally intervened, at Israel's request, to override U.S. law enforcement, including their own federal agents involved in the sting, to make sure that Alexandrovich got back to Israel quickly and safely."
On Monday, however, the U.S. State Department denied any involvement in Alexandrovich's return to Israel.
"The Department of State is aware that Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, an Israeli citizen, was arrested in Las Vegas and given a court date for charges related to soliciting sex electronically from a minor," the department said in a statement. "He did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the U.S. government intervened are false."