Former Soviet leader Gorbachev says he knows who plotted the siege on U.S. Capitol Former Soviet leader Gorbachev says he knows who plotted the siege on U.S. Capitol By Susan Katz Keating* The symbolic reset button presented to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Alexander Nemenov/Getty Images Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said that he knows who planned the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and that the incident bodes ill for America’s future. “The storming of the Capitol was clearly designed in advance, and it is clear by whom,” Gorbachev last week told an interviewer for Russian media. And, while he didn’t identify the plotters, the renowned statesman said that he senses machinations at work.