This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2019)
You can help expand this article with text translated from
the corresponding article in Russian. (March 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like
DeepL or
Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide
copyright attribution in the
edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an
interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Бутина, Мария Валерьевна]]; see its history for attribution.
You should also add the template {{Translated|ru|Бутина, Мария Валерьевна}} to the
talk page.
Maria Valeryevna Butina (
Russian: Мари́я Вале́рьевна Бу́тина, sometimes transliterated as Mariya Butina; born November 10, 1988) is a Russian politician,
political activist, journalist, and former
entrepreneur who was convicted in 2018 of acting as an unregistered
foreign agent of Russia within the United States.[1][2][3]
In July 2018, while residing in
Washington, D.C., Butina was arrested by the
FBI and charged with acting as an agent of the Russian Federation "without prior notification to the
Attorney General."[8] In December 2018, she pleaded guilty to
felony charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent of the Russian state under
18 U.S.C. §951.[9][10][11][12][13] In April 2019, a federal judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison.[14] She served around five months at
Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution. Her 9-month pretrial prison term[15] was counted towards her sentence. She was released and deported back to Russia in October 2019.[16] She publicly denied being a Russian spy.[17] In 2021, she was elected to the
State Duma as a member of
United Russia.
Early life and education
Butina was born on November 10, 1988, in the
Siberian city of
Barnaul, in
Altai Krai, about 210 miles (340 km) east of the present
Kazakhstan–Russia border. Her mother was the chief engineer of an energy enterprise and her father Valery Viktorovich Butin was an entrepreneur who established a furniture manufacturing business in Barnaul. She has one sister and one maternal niece, Kira.[18][19]
She graduated with honors at the age of 17 from Gymnasium Number 22 with in-depth study of the
English language, and from school years she strove for active public activity.[20] She studied political science at
Altai State University and also received a teaching degree. At age 19, she was elected to the public council of Altai Krai in the last direct election for the council.[18][21]
Butina, at age 21, launched a furniture retail business in
Altai Krai.[18] In 2011, she moved to
Moscow and sold six of her seven furniture stores to start an advertising agency.[18][22]
Further in 2011, Butina founded
Right to Bear Arms [
ru] (Russian: Право на оружие), described as a Russian gun-rights organization.[23] She began traveling back and forth to the US, initially with
Aleksandr Torshin,[22] who was then a Senator in the
Federation Council of Russia (and a half-month later became Acting Chairman/Speaker of this Senate of Russian Federation) and a leading member of United Russia.[22] He had hired her as his "special assistant" that year.[4] In 2012, they lobbied the council to expand gun rights.[23] Butina resigned from her position as the head of Right to Bear Arms in late 2014.[24]
According to Russians interviewed by
RFE/RL, the organization was notable for avoiding opposition to Putin during the
2011–2013 Russian protests, for its "quixotic" support for a cause with little public support and strong government opposition – Putin himself had told Russians "I am deeply convinced that the free flow of firearms will bring a great harm and represents a great danger for us" – for introducing legislation in the Russian parliament that "never went anywhere", and for receding from public view after Butina stepped down as its head.[25] According to US prosecutors who prosecuted Butina on charges of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent, her love of guns was a ruse to advance Russia's agenda within the
Republican Party.[4]Anders Åslund described Right to Bear Arms as a "
front organization with the purpose of infiltrating American groups and forging cooperation with the
National Rifle Association of America."[26]
In 2013, she met Republican political operative
Paul Erickson in Russia. The two became close, started dating, and eventually moved in together. In 2015, she emailed him a description of a proposed project to influence the Republican Party to be friendlier to Russia, through the NRA.[11] In January 2015, Torshin became deputy governor of the
Central Bank of Russia, and Butina worked as his special assistant until May 2017.[6][27] In 2017, Butina told The Washington Post that she never worked for the Russian government.[28]
In August 2016, she moved to the US on a student visa, and enrolled as a graduate student in International Relations at
American University in Washington, D.C.[29] While a student at American University, Butina got drunk on at least two separate occasions and bragged to her fellow students about her contacts in the Russian government; on both occasions, her classmates reported her to law enforcement, sources told
CNN.[30]
In February 2016, Butina and Erickson began a
South Dakota business, Bridges LLC.[27][31] Erickson later said the company was established in case Butina needed any monetary assistance for her graduate studies, which Butina commenced in mid-2016
American University in Washington, D.C.[32] In 2018, she completed a master's degree in international relations.[33]
Involvement in U.S. politics
National Rifle Association
As part of her work as a foreign agent, Butina worked to infiltrate the National Rifle Association on behalf of Russia.[5][34][35]
Torshin and Butina established a cooperative relationship between the NRA and Right to Bear Arms. Torshin has attended NRA annual meetings in the United States since at least 2011. Following the 2011 meeting, then NRA President
David Keene expressed his support for Torshin's "endeavors" and extended an invitation to the 2012 meeting.[36] Torshin also attended NRA annual meetings in 2012 and 2013.[37]
Butina and Torshin attended the 2014 NRA annual meeting as special guests of former NRA president Keene.[27][38] Butina attended the Women's Leadership Luncheon at the 2014 meeting as a guest of former NRA president
Sandy Froman.[28][38] Butina presented to then NRA president
Jim Porter a plaque from Right to Bear Arms. Afterwards, she tweeted "Mission accomplished". Butina and Torshin also attended the 2015 NRA annual convention.[39]
In 2015, a number of NRA officials attended Right to Bear Arms's annual gun conference in Russia. Among them were Keene, gun manufacturer and NRA first vice president
Pete Brownell,[40] conservative American political operative
Paul Erickson, and
Milwaukee County sheriff
David Clarke. One of their hosts was Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Dmitry Rogozin, who in 2014 was
sanctioned by the White House following
Russia's annexation of Crimea. Clarke's trip cost $40,000, with all expenses paid by the NRA, Pete Brownell (an NRA board member and CEO of a gun-parts supply company) and Right to Bear Arms.[28][41][42] According to a disclosure Clarke filed, Right to Bear Arms paid $6,000 to cover his meals, lodging, transportation and other expenses.[22] During the meeting, Clarke met the Russian foreign minister and attended a conference at which Torshin spoke.[28][42] In November 2016, Torshin
tweeted that he and Butina were lifetime NRA members.[37][43]
Republican Party
Butina has attempted to develop ties to conservative American politics. In a supporting affidavit to the government's support for pre-trial detention following her indictment in United States of America v. Maria Butina, the FBI stated that she had successfully sought ties to the
Republican Party, where it is referred to as "POLITICAL PARTY 1".[3] According to The Daily Beast, she has presented herself as a "Russian central bank staffer, a leading gun rights advocate, a 'representative of the Russian Federation,' a Washington, D.C. graduate student, a journalist, and a connection between Team Trump and Russia" in order to gain access to "high-level contacts" in Washington.[27] At the 2014 NRA annual meeting, Butina took pictures with Louisiana Governor
Bobby Jindal and former U.S. Senator and 2016 presidential candidate
Rick Santorum.
Obama administration officials
In 2015, Torshin, then the Russian Central Bank deputy governor, and Butina met the Treasury undersecretary for international affairs,
Nathan Sheets, to discuss U.S.-Russian economic relations.[44] Separately, they also met with a Federal Reserve vice chairman,
Stanley Fischer, and with a State Department official.[44][45][46]
Donald Trump campaign
In a June 2015 article published in The National Interest, a conservative American international affairs magazine, just before Trump announced
his candidacy for president, she urged better relations between the United States and Russia,[37] saying, "It may take the election of a Republican to the White House in 2016 to improve relations between the Russian Federation and the United States." The next month, Butina attended
FreedomFest, where Trump gave a speech, and asked him from the audience about ending U.S. sanctions against Russia, to which he replied, "I don't think you'd need the sanctions."[47] Butina hosted a birthday party attended by Erickson and Trump campaign aides shortly after the 2016 election.[37][a]
Relationships with Trump associates
Butina was in a relationship with
Overstock.com CEO and Trump conspiracy theorist
Patrick M. Byrne. Byrne claimed the
FBI encouraged him to pursue Butina, a claim retired FBI officials denied.[50] In 2019, Byrne divested himself of all shares of Overstock after his relationship with Butina was revealed.[51]
For five years, prosecutors claimed, Butina lived with and maintained an intimate relationship with activist and fraudster
Paul Erickson. During Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, Erickson attempted to develop a back-channel between the NRA and the Russian government. Erickson was jailed and convicted of fraud unrelated to his relationship with Butina, then pardoned by Trump in his last week in office.[52]
United States of America v. Mariia Butina, aka Maria Butina
Complaint
United States of America v. Mariia Butina, aka Maria Butina
On July 15, 2018, Butina was arrested in Washington, and charged with acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government; specifically the Russian Federation, without prior notification to the Attorney General, a conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, to wit,
18 U.S.C. §951 (foreign relations, agents of foreign governments), in violation of 18 U.S.C. §371 (conspiracy).[54]
After her arrest, it was mistakenly reported she was charged with a violation of the
Foreign Agents Registration Act (
22 U.S.C. §11 foreign agents and propaganda). United States law dictates that all
lobbyists representing foreign governments must register as such with the Department of Justice.[10] Her attorney said that "the allegations of the indictment are essentially that her only illegal act was not registering."[55]
On July 18, Butina pleaded not guilty,[56] and a
District Court judge ordered her jailed pending trial.[56] She was also said to be cooperating in a federal fraud investigation in South Dakota.[57] Butina was held in solitary confinement in
Alexandria Detention Center.[58]
Affidavit
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, from as early as 2015 and continuing through at least February 2017, Butina worked at the direction of a high-level official in the Russian government, who, according to The New York Times, was believed to be Torshin. The court filings detail the Russian official's and Butina's efforts for Butina to act as an agent of Russia inside the United States by developing relationships with U.S. persons and infiltrating organizations having influence in the Republican Party and in conservative politics—such as the National Rifle Association, the
National Prayer Breakfast and some religious organizations—for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.[59]
The filings also describe certain actions taken by Butina to further this effort during multiple visits from Russia and, later, when she entered and resided in the United States on a student visa. The filings allege that she undertook her activities "without officially disclosing the fact that she was acting as an agent of Russian government, as required by law."[60]
Butina, Torshin, and Erickson have been subjects of an investigation by the
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence into
Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Erickson is referred to in Butina's indictment as "Person 1." In addition, George D. O'Neill Jr., a conservative writer and Rockefeller heir, is "Person 2."[32][37][61] Torshin has also been the subject of a probe by the
FBI into whether the Russian government attempted to illegally funnel money to the NRA in order to help Trump win the presidency.[32][39]
The FBI began to monitor Butina in August 2016, after she had moved to the United States on an
F-1 student visa. Rather than confront her immediately, the FBI chose to track her movements and gather information on whom she was meeting, and what her end goals were to be.[62]
Plea deal
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Butina's attorneys and federal prosecutors declared in a November 16, 2018, court filing that they had entered into
plea negotiations.[63] On December 13, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal foreign agent, while the original charge of failing to register as a foreign agent was dropped.[64][65] She faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison and, according to a CNN report, will "likely be deported after serving any time."[12]
On April 26, 2019, Butina was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Judge
Tanya S. Chutkan, in accordance with the recommendations of prosecutors.[66] Butina was released from prison on October 25 and deported back to Russia.
Butina later complained that in the U.S., she was forced to sign a plea-deal. She claimed that she was sentenced for simply being
Russian.[67]
Russian reaction
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had no prior knowledge of Butina.[68] Russian foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov made a statement saying that Butina's arrest was designed to undermine the "positive results" of the
Helsinki summit between U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin.[69] She was arrested a day before Trump met his Russian counterpart.[33] Butina's father has called the accusations against her "a witch-hunt".[70]
Leonid Slutsky, head of the lower house of the
Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, called Butina's case a "modern political inquisition."[71]Russia's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of forcing
false confession from Butina.[72] According to the foreign ministry spokesperson,
Maria Zakharova, "having created unbearable conditions for her and threatening her with a long jail sentence, she was literally forced to sign up to absolutely ridiculous charges."[73]
Timeline
This article may require
cleanup to meet Wikipedia's
quality standards. The specific problem is: should be prosified and integrated into the rest of the article. No separate timeline as it duplicates the same content as should be covered in the rest of the article. Please help
improve this article if you can.(December 2021) (
Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Early October: Butina makes a presentation on "Right to Bear Arms" to the Association for the Promotion of Weapons Culture in Israel. Her presentation includes a slide claiming her organization has cooperation agreements with similar organizations in
Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and
Estonia, and she informs the group that it also has a cooperation agreement with the NRA. Another slide states it has a cooperation agreement with the
International Defensive Pistol Association, which the Texas-based organization denies when asked in 2018.[83]
Early November: Keene,
Alan Gottlieb, Gottlieb's wife, and Paul Erickson attend the "Right to Bear Arms" conference in Moscow where they meet with Butina and Torshin.[76][84] Gottlieb and Keene are invited speakers at the event.[79][85][86] Gottlieb and his wife dine with Torshin and Butina, and receive "gifts that [display] research into their interests." In 2017, Gottlieb tells the Washington Post, "They wanted to keep communications open and form friendships."[76]
December 10:
John Bolton promotes gun rights in Russia in a video made for Butina's "Right to Bear Arms" organization.[81][87]
2014
Unspecified: Butina tells an American Facebook friend who complained about California's gun restrictions that he should "hold demonstrations" for gun rights.[88]
April 24: Butina presents NRA president
Jim Porter with an honorary membership in "Right to Bear Arms".[89][90]
April 25–27: Butina and Torshin attend the NRA annual conference in Indianapolis. Butina attends several meetings as a guest of Keene.[84][91]
September 3:
Paul Erickson attends a "Right to Bear Arms" forum in Moscow where he is a featured speaker.[84][92][93]
Late 2014: Butina resigns from her position as the head of "Right to Bear Arms".[94]
Butina and Torshin meet with Treasury undersecretary for international affairs
Nathan Sheets to discuss U.S. Russian economic relations during the
Obama administration. The meeting was arranged by the CNI.[95]
Torshin and Butina participate in discussions about the "Russian financial situation and its impact on Russian politics" at a private event moderated by
Hank Greenberg and organized by the CNI.[95]
April 7: Torshin and Butina meet with
Federal Reserve vice chairman
Stanley Fischer to discuss U.S. Russian economic relations during the Obama administration. The meeting was arranged by the CNI.[95]
April 10: Butina, Torshin, and David Keene attend a fundraiser in Tennessee for Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker.[84][97]
April 11–12: Torshin and Butina attend the NRA convention in
Nashville, Tennessee.[84] Torshin briefly converses with Trump. Torshin and the Trump family dispute how much was said.[98]
July 11: Butina attends
FreedomFest in Las Vegas, where Trump is speaking and taking questions. She asks Trump his stance on continuing sanctions; he replies he knows Putin and doesn't think sanctions are needed.[74] Reviewing a video of the encounter, Bannon points out that "Trump had a fully developed answer".[101]
August 4–6: Rohrabacher and Behrends travel to Russia.[102] While there, Rohrabacher meets Butina and Torshin for breakfast.[103] In July 2018, Rohrabacher tells Politico he dined with Butina and another congressman accompanying him on the trip.[104]
November 25: In an email to incoming NRA President Pete Brownell, Erickson writes, "most of the FSB agents 'assigned' to her [Butina] want to marry her", saying that is why she was able to arrange a tour of a Russian arms factory for the NRA delegation.[105]
December 8–13: Outspoken Trump supporter
Milwaukee SheriffDavid Clarke, former NRA President
David Keene, future NRA President Pete Brownell, NRA Golden Ring of Freedom Chair Joe Gregory, major NRA donors Hilary[106] and Arnold Goldschlager,
Outdoor Channel CEO Jim Liberatore,[107] and NRA member
Paul Erickson travel to Moscow for the "Right to Bear Arms" convention. They meet Russian government officials, including
Deputy Prime Minister of RussiaDmitry Rogozin[108] and
Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov. Rogozin is under
U.S. sanctions. Butina accompanies the delegation on a tour of the gun manufacturer
ORSIS, where they meet with the company's executives, including Svetlana Nikolaev, president of ORSIS's parent company and wife of billionaire
Konstantin Nikolaev. They also meet with Torshin and Sergei Rudov, the head of the Saint Basil the Great Charitable Foundation. They attend a party at a Moscow hunting club hosted by Torshin and
Pavel Gusev, the Chairman of the Public Council of the
Russian Ministry of Defense. Clarke later files an ethics report showing that Butina's organization, "Right to Bear Arms", covered $6,000 of his expenses.[74][97][109][110][111][112] After the Lavrov meeting, Butina emails Torshin, writing, "We should let them express their gratitude now, and put pressure on them quietly later."[65] In May 2018, NRA spokeswoman
Dana Loesch denies there was an NRA trip to Moscow, then clarifies in July 2018 that it wasn't an official trip.[92][113][114]
Erickson contacts Trump campaign advisor
Rick Dearborn. In an email headed "Kremlin Connection", Erickson seeks the advice of Dearborn and Sessions about how to arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. Erickson suggests making contact at the NRA's annual convention in Kentucky. The communication refers to Torshin, who is under instructions to contact the Trump campaign.[115][116]
At Butina's urging, Christian activist Rick Clay emails Dearborn with the subject "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite"[117] offering a meeting between Trump and Torshin.[118] Dearborn, then Sessions's Chief of Staff, sends an email mentioning a person from West Virginia seeking to connect Trump campaign members with Putin. Dearborn appears "skeptical" of the meeting request.[119]Jared Kushner rejects the request. Torshin and Trump Jr. later meet and speak at the NRA convention.[118]
May 10: Dearborn receives an email about arranging a back-channel meeting between Trump and Putin with the subject line "Kremlin Connection." It is sent from a conservative operative who says Russia wants to use the NRA's convention to make "first contact."[120]
May 16: Dearborn receives a similar second proposal, which he forwards to Kushner, Manafort and Rick Gates. Both efforts appear to involve Torshin, who was instructed to make contact with the Trump campaign.[120] Kushner rebuffs the proposal.[120]
May 19–22: The NRA annual conference is held in
Louisville, Kentucky. Trump and Trump Jr. attend.[121][122][123][124] Trump Jr. meets briefly with Torshin and Butina on May 20.[120]
September 29: Butina meets
J. D. Gordon at a party at the
Swiss ambassador's residence. Gordon was the Director of National Security for the Trump campaign from February to August. That night, Erickson emails Butina and Gordon offering to "add an electronic bridge" to their meeting at the party. In his email to Butina, Erickson writes that Gordon is "playing a crucial role in the Trump transition effort and would be an excellent addition to any of the U.S./Russia friendship dinners to occasionally hold." He writes that all the "right" people listen to Gordon on international security. Erickson's email to Gordon describes Butina as a "special friend" of the NRA and the special assistant to the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia.[128]
October 18: Butina and Gordon attend a
Styx concert together.[128][129]
November 12 : Butina holds a birthday party at Cafe Deluxe in Washington, D.C., attended by Erickson and Trump campaign aides.[107][126] She claims to be part of Russian communications with the Trump campaign, something she has bragged about for months.[126]
February 2:
Alexander Torshin and Maria Butina attend the
National Prayer Breakfast. Torshin is scheduled to meet privately with Trump beforehand, but the meeting is canceled after a national security aide points out that Torshin is under investigation for organized crime and money laundering.[74] A spokesman for Torshin later says Torshin was officially on vacation at the time, adding, "President Trump has never proposed a meeting to Mr. Torshin."[131]
August 11: The Senate Intelligence Committee asks
Sigal Mandelker, the
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, to provide any "suspicious" or "derogatory" transaction records reported by banks involving Maria Butina, Alexander Torshin, Paul Erickson, Investing With Dignity, or Bridges LLC. Erickson owns Investing With Dignity and jointly owns Bridges LLC with Butina. The committee sends a follow-up request on December 7 complaining that it hasn't received a response.[132]
December: Butina declines a request to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee because of lack of support from Republican members.[132]
January: Federal agents photograph Maria Butina dining with Oleg Zhiganov, the director of the
Russian Cultural Center. Zhiganov is expelled from the U.S. in March for being a suspected Russian spy. In a July hearing, prosecutors offer Butina's association with Zhiganov as one reason she should be considered a
flight risk and denied bail.[133]
March 12: Butina responds to a
Federal Election Commission query "about whether or not certain donations had been made to political campaigns."[134]
April: Butina testifies before the
Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed session for eight hours.[85] She tells the committee that Russian billionaire
Konstantin Nikolaev funded "Right to Bear Arms" from 2012 to 2014.[135] In July, A spokesperson for Nikolaev confirms the funding support after initial denials.[135][136]
April 25: FBI agents in tactical gear search Butina's apartment. One of the warrants executed is related to a
fraud investigation of Paul Erickson.[85][137][138][139]
May 7: The NRA announces board member
Oliver North will replace
Peter Brownell as president of the organization after Brownell announces he will not seek a second term. The selection of North is unusual because the NRA board normally selects someone who has served two terms each as the first and the second vice president, and North has held neither position. In August,
David Corn of Mother Jones points out that the move comes two weeks after the FBI raided Butina's apartment and that Brownell is an associate of Butina.[138]
June: Butina offers to assist prosecutors in an investigation of Paul Erickson.[85]
July 15: Butina is arrested in Washington, D.C., on charges of being an
unregistered foreign agent of the
Russian Federation working to infiltrate politically influential organizations in the U.S. and influence U.S. officials.[124][142]
Rohrabacher tells Politico he is unsure whether he is the U.S. congressman mentioned in the Butina indictment, though he admits to being
in Russia in August 2015 and dining with Butina and another congressman. He calls the charges against Butina "bogus" and a function of the "
deep state."[104]
July 18: Butina pleads not guilty at a preliminary hearing. The judge orders Butina be held without bail pending trial.[145]
July 19: The
Russian Foreign Ministry calls on people to show their support for Butina by changing their social media avatars to a photo of her, in 'Free Maria Butina' campaign.[146]
July 23: Senators
Ron Wyden,
Robert Menendez, and
Sheldon Whitehouse send Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin a letter demanding the "production of any documents relevant to financial links between the NRA, its associated entities and Ms. Butina and any entities or individuals related to her." The letter is a follow-up to a similar letter Wyden sent Mnuchin in February.[147]
July 23: After initial denials,[135] a spokesperson for Russian billionaire
Konstantin Nikolaev confirms that Nikolaev funded "Right to Bear Arms" from 2012 to 2014.[136]
August 9: The Daily Beast reports that Igor Pisarky, the founder and chairman of the Russian public relations firm R.I.M. Porter Novelli, was Butina's point of contact for the funding she received from billionaire
Konstantin Nikolaev.[148]
September: The U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, D.C., sends Paul Erickson a letter informing him that it is considering bringing charges against him for secretly acting as a foreign agent and a possible additional charge for conspiracy.[149]The Daily Beast reports that Erickson is under investigation by the FBI and
the U.S. attorney in South Dakota for fraudulently seeking $100,000 investments at conservative political events to fund North Dakota companies allegedly involved in the
Bakken oil fields.[150]
September 19: NPR reports that beginning in 2014, Maria Butina urged Americans to hold gun rights demonstrations.[88]
December 11: CNN reports that Butina agreed to plead guilty to spying and is now cooperating with the prosecutor.[151]
December 12: Reuters reports that Putin is unclear about why Butina was arrested. He said, "She risks 15 years in jail. For what? I asked all the heads of our intelligence services what is going on. Nobody knows anything about her."[152]
December 13: Butina pleads guilty in a D.C. federal court to trying to infiltrate the
U.S. conservative movement as an agent for the Kremlin. She admits to working with Erickson to forge bonds with NRA officials and conservative leaders while under the direction of Torshin. In her plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of failing to register as a foreign agent in exchange for cooperation. In the statement of the offense, Erickson is identified as "U.S. Person 1", Torshin as the "Russian Official", the Republican Party as "Political Party #1", and the NRA as the "Gun Rights Organization".[65]
December 19: In a Moscow news briefing, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman
Maria Zakharova says that Butina was coerced into making a false confession: "Butina confirmed that she had done a deal with U.S. investigators and confessed to being a foreign agent. Having created unbearable conditions for her and threatening her with a long jail sentence, she was literally forced to sign up to absolutely ridiculous charges."[153]
December 17: Butina got a job on the
RT channel as the host of the "Beautiful Russia boo-boo-boo"
YouTube channel.[157]
Life after prison
In 2021, she visited
Alexei Navalny, who was on hunger strike, in prison, stating that the conditions in the prison are better than in hotels in the Altai Territory, and Navalny himself is eating candy, not starving.[158] In October 2021, she became a member of the
State Duma representing
Kirov Oblast for the
United Russia party.[159]
Response to invasion of Ukraine
She expressed support for the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, sharing a video on social media displaying the
Z symbol on her jacket.[160] She had previously made an appearance the day after the beginning of the invasion on state-controlled TV talk show Time Will Tell condemning the Ukrainian government for arming civilians to repel Russian assaults on cities.[161] In a HARDtalk interview in March, she refused to give credibility to any non-Russian source.[162]
Sanctioned by
Canada under the Special Economic Measures Act (S.C. 1992, c. 17) in relation to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine for Grave Breach of International Peace and Security.[164] and by the
UK government in 2022 in relation to
Russo-Ukrainian War.[165]
^Allegedly, during a birthday party on 12 November 2016, Butina claimed that she participated in communications between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 United States presidential campaign and that she was responsible for Russia relations for the Trump campaign.[48][49]
^"Бутиной в США сократили тюремный срок". RBC (in Russian). June 22, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2021. Суд в США 26 апреля 2019 года приговорил Бутину к 18 месяцам тюремного заключения. В срок лишения свободы было зачтено время, которое россиянка провела под стражей в ожидании приговора (почти девять месяцев).
^
abcdМостовщиков, Егор (April 17, 2014).
"Как создать оружейное лобби и не прогореть" [How to create a weapons lobby and not burn out]. GQ Russia (in Russian).
Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
^
abSarah N. Lynch (July 22, 2018).
"Exclusive: Alleged Russian agent Butina met with U.S. Treasury, Fed officials". Reuters.
Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018. took part in separate meetings with Fischer and Sheets to discuss U.S.-Russian economic relations during Democratic former President Barack Obama's administration.
^Bob Davis (July 22, 2018).
"Accused Russian Agent Butina Met With Stanley Fischer". The Wall Street Journal.
Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018. A career State Department official also attended the session, Mr. Saunders said.
^Jeremy Herb; Sophie Tatum (July 23, 2018).
"Alleged spy met with US officials in 2015". CNN.
Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018. Butina attended meetings in 2015 with Stanley Fischer, then Federal Reserve vice chairman, and Nathan Sheets, who was then Treasury undersecretary for international affairs in the Obama administration.