Maria Butina was the “It girl” of the far right: a young, attractive, gun-toting, NRA-loving, Prayer Breakfast-attending, Russian groupie.
It hardly mattered to her admirers that she was a Russian spy.
Or maybe that’s what attracted them to her.
You know the old saying of the far right:
“Fools Russian where angels fear to tread.”
Butina, a political activist, journalist, and spy, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April 2019 for conspiring to act as a foreign agent.
After she served her sentence, she was deported to Russia, where she now serves as a member of the Russian parliament.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-dc89488c40360150afeeb25941bd44fc
https://www.thedailybeast.com/paul-erickson-dishes-about-maria-butina-his-ex-girlfriend-russian-spy
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Butina’s sentence an outrage.
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/27/717756964/the-nra-maria-butina-and-trump
Putin responded the same way after criminal charges were filed against Donald Trump.
“It shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others democracy,” Putin said.
Putin really said that.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-dc89488c40360150afeeb25941bd44fc
https://www.axios.com/2023/09/12/putin-trump-america-politics
It is of course too early to tell whether Donald Trump, too, will be deported to Russian after his prison sentence — or if he will go voluntarily.
“Butina acted as an agent of a Russian government official,” the U.S. Department of Justice said, by providing “key information about Americans who were in a position to influence United States politics and took steps to establish an unofficial line of communication between Russia and these Americans.”
“As described in the plea documents, Butina sought to do so for the benefit of the Russian Federation. She took these actions without providing the required notifications to the Attorney General that she was in fact acting as an agent of the Russian Federation.”
The FBI arrested Butina in July 2018 after monitoring her meetings with Russian officials in Washington, D.C. She had information that she was in contact with the Russian intelligence agency, the FSB, prosecutors said.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1080761/download
Butina plotted with her boyfriend, Paul Erickson, a longtime GOP operative, to establish back-channel connections to promote Russian interests with the Trump presidential campaign and others in the conservative establishment, including the National Rifle Association and the National Prayer Breakfast.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
SEE PAUL ERICKSON
The New York Times reported that there were strong connections between Erickson, Butina, the NRA, the Russian gun rights community, and the Trump campaign. The Russians, the newspaper said, used the “three foundational pillars of the Republican Party — guns, veterans and Christian conservatives — to try to make contact with his unorthodox campaign.”
In addition, the newspaper said that Russia, according to emails from a Trump campaign official, was “quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S.” A Russian official wanted to make “first contact” with Trump officials at the NRA’s annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky.
The N.R.A. spent tens of millions of dollars to help elect Trump, The Times reported.
The Times reported in a separate story that Butina had twice attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., where politicians mingle with religious leaders “to establish a back channel of communication.”
Butina’s arrest and conviction were part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential Election that included the possible collusion of the Trump campaign.
The Washington Times reported that Butina was the “first Russian national convicted of seeking to influence the U.S. and the 2016 election.”
The newspaper reported that Butina was charged and prosecuted by the FBI and not by Mueller.
Mother Jones released a conversation of a video between Trump and Butina at FreedomFest, a meeting of conservatives in Las Vegas in July 2015.
Butina asked Trump what he would do as president about “damaging” U.S. sanctions against Russia.
Trump said he would get rid of the sanctions..
“I am visiting from Russia,” Butina said into the mic.
“Ahhhhh, Putin!” Trump interjected, prompting laughter from the audience as he added a mocking riff about the current president: “Good friend of Obama, Putin. He likes Obama a lot. Go ahead.”
“My question will be about foreign politics,” Butina continued. “If you will be elected as president, what will be your foreign politics especially in the relationships with my country? And do you want to continue the politics of sanctions that are damaging of both economy [sic]? Or you have any other ideas?”
After going off on Obama and digressing into trade policy, Trump responded: “I know Putin, and I’ll tell you what, we get along with Putin. . . . I believe I would get along very nicely with Putin, OK? And I mean, where we have the strength. I don’t think you’d need the sanctions. I think we would get along very, very well.”
