Thread: Russian woman who tried to broker Trump-Putin meetings is busted for espionage

Russian woman who tried to broker Trump-Putin meetings is busted for espionage

By Nikki Schwab
July 16, 2018 | 3:51pm | Updated


Maria Butina at a rally in Moscow in 2013Zuma Press


WASHINGTON – A 29-year-old Russian with links to the National Rifle Association who reportedly tried to broker secret meetings between President Trump and Vladimir Putin was charged Monday with acting as an agent of the Russian Federation within the US.

The Justice Department said that Maria Butina was “developing relationships with U.S. persons and infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.”

The announcement came just hours after Trump said at a joint press conference with Russian leader Vladimir Putin that there’s no reason Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.

Butina is a known protege of Alexander Torshin, who McClatchy reported in January was being investigated by the FBI to see if he had been funneling money illegally to the NRA to help President Trump win the White House.

Butina twice tried to arrange meetings between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during the 2016 US presidential election, according to the New York Times.

During the 2016 cycle, the NRA donated $30.3 million to Trump’s campaign, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Butina was charged because she did not disclose she was acting as an agent to the Russian government to U.S. officials, which is required by law.

https://nypost.com/2018/07/16/russia...ed-for-spying/

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Accused Russian agent Butina poised to plead guilty-court filing

By Sarah N. Lynch
,Reuters•December 10, 2018

Accused Russian agent Maria Butina poised to plead guilty-court filing


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accused Russian agent Maria Butina appeared poised this week to plead guilty in the case, after her lawyers and prosecutors filed a joint motion asking a federal judge on Monday to schedule a change of plea hearing this week.

The filing comes after Butina's attorney and prosecutors revealed last month they were actively in talks to settle the case.

Butina had previously pleaded not guilty to charges that she was acting as an agent of the Russian government and conspiring to take actions on Russia's behalf.

Specifically, prosecutors have accused the former American University graduate student of working with a Russian official and two U.S. citizens to try to infiltrate the National Rifle Association, a powerful lobby group that has close ties to Republican politicians including President Donald Trump, and influence American foreign policy toward Russia.

Butina’s lawyers previously identified the Russian official with whom she was accused of working as Alexander Torshin, a deputy governor of Russia’s central bank who was hit with U.S. Treasury Department sanctions in April.

They identified one of the two Americans mentioned in the criminal complaint as being Paul Erickson, a conservative U.S. political activist who was dating Butina. Neither Erickson nor Torshin have been accused by prosecutors of wrongdoing.

Butina has been in jail since her arrest in July.

In the joint motion filed Monday morning, prosecutors and defense lawyers proposed holding a hearing sometime between Tuesday and Thursday of this week.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/accused-r...5--sector.html

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