Putin: None Of My Spies Have Heard Of Maria Butina

The New York Post reports:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday claimed none of his intelligence chiefs knows “anything about” alleged Russian spy Maria Butina.

The 30-year-old grad student is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to conspiracy for working with a GOP operative and a Russian official to establish unofficial lines of communication between US politicians and the Kremlin.

But Putin on Tuesday said it was unclear to him why Butina had been arrested in the first place, because she’s a stranger to his senior spooks. “She risks 15 years in jail. For what?” said Putin. “I asked all the heads of our intelligence services what is going on. Nobody knows anything about her.”

Butina actually faces five years in jail.