Tag Archives: Maria Butina

The Daily Beast reports: Convicted Russian agent and Donald Trump enthusiast Maria Butina tried to convince BBC Radio host Nick Robinson that it was Ukraine’s own military raining bullets and mortars over the country, not Russian troops. When asked if the war was going to plan, she said, “Yes absolutely. I do trust my president as well as the majority …

The Argus Leader reports: A Sioux Falls man who used his connections in the conservative movement to help his Russian girlfriend gain political access was sentenced Monday to serve seven years in federal prison. Paul Erickson was not charged with any wrongdoing involving his efforts to help Maria Butina make inroads with political contacts. Instead, he was accused of defrauding …

From the pro-Trump Washington Examiner: Maria Butina wore a “foreign agent” T-shirt to promote her new gig as a Russian state television host. Butina, who was not charged with espionage but pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a foreign agent by infiltrating a gun rights group and cultivating relationships with conservative politicians, was deported in October after an 18-month …

Reuters reports: Russian national Maria Butina, who was jailed in the United States in April after admitting to working as a Russian agent, arrived in Moscow on Saturday, greeted by her father and Russian journalists who handed her flowers. “Russians never surrender,” an emotional Butina told reporters at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, flanked by her father and the Russian Foreign Ministry’s …

Reuters reports: Convicted Russian agent Maria Butina was released from a Florida prison on Friday after serving most of her 18-month sentence for conspiring to influence U.S. conservative activists and infiltrate a powerful gun rights group, and taken into custody by immigration officials to be deported to her native country. A prison official confirmed she was released on Friday morning …

NPR reports: Maria Butina says this is all a big misunderstanding. Was she part of the vast Russian government effort to influence politics within the United States? “Absolutely not,” she said. All she wanted, Butina said, was to be a “peace-builder” between Russia and the United States. The Russian woman who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to serve as a …

Buzzfeed News reports: Maria Butina, the Russian gun rights activist who pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent for the Russian government in the US, was sentenced on Friday to 18 months in prison, although she’ll get credit for the nine months she’s already served. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said she agreed with prosecutors that Butina …

The Daily Beast reports: Paul Erickson, the American political operative and boyfriend of admitted Russian agent Maria Butina, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in South Dakota on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. The U.S. attorney for the district of South Dakota is handling the prosecution, which is separate from the case that was lodged against …

Reuters reports: Russia said on Wednesday that it had caught former U.S. marine Paul Whelan, who is being held in Russia on spying charges, while he was in the act of carrying out illegal activities in his Moscow hotel room. Whelan, a former U.S. marine who also holds British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service …

The Daily Beast reports: The Kremlin has long denied that it had anything to do with the infiltration of the NRA and the broader American conservative movement. A U.S. intelligence report reviewed by The Daily Beast tells a different story. Alexander Torshin, the Russian central bank official who spent years aggressively courting NRA leaders, briefed the Kremlin on his efforts …

The Associated Press reports: Russia’s deputy foreign minister brushed back suggestions Saturday that an American being held in Moscow on suspicion of spying could be exchanged for a Russian citizen. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, who also holds Canadian, British and Irish citizenship, was detained in Moscow in late December. His arrest has led to speculation that Russia could …

The Washington Post reports: The Marine Corps found Paul Whelan, the American citizen detained by Russia on espionage charges, guilty of attempting to steal more than $10,000 worth of currency from the U.S. government while deployed to Iraq in 2006 and bouncing nearly $6,000 worth of checks around the same time, according to records obtained by The Washington Post. The …

The New York Times reports: The Russian authorities have brought espionage charges against an American citizen, Paul N. Whelan, who faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, the news agency Interfax reported on Thursday. Mr. Whelan’s lawyer, Vladimir A. Zherebenkov, who said he spent much of Wednesday with Mr. Whelan, said he had found his client in an …

Bloomberg News reports: The U.S. government fears for the safety of Maria Butina, the 30-year-old Russian who’s cooperating with U.S. prosecutors after admitting she failed to register as a foreign agent, according to a court filing. “Although the fact of defendant Butina’s cooperation is now public, the details of her transportation to and from the jail are not,” Justice Department …

Talking Points Memo reports: Accused Russian agent Maria Butina pleaded guilty in a Washington, D.C. federal courtroom today to a conspiracy charge, according to reports from the courthouse. CNN reported that Butina admitted at the plea hearing to “knowingly engaging in conspiracy against the United States.” Butina ran much of her infiltration campaign while studying at a master’s program at …

CNN reports: The Russian government claims that Maria Butina, the accused Russian spy who had cultivated connections with the National Rifle Association before the 2016 US election, was “tortured” while in US custody. In an exclusive interview with CNN Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova alleged that Butina was treated to a “medieval inquisition” while in detention and said …

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 …

ABC News reports: Maria Butina, a 30-year-old Russian gun rights activist who stands accused developing a covert influence operation in the United States, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and cooperate with federal, state and local authorities in any ongoing investigations. She admits, as part of the deal, according to a copy obtained by ABC News that is expected …

Talking Points Memo reports: Prosecutors and Maria Butina — a Russian national who’s been accused of being an unregistered foreign agent — requested Monday that a judge schedule a hearing this week so that Butina can change her plea. The filing was a suggestion that Butina and prosecutors may have reached a plea deal in the case. Butina had pleaded …

The Daily Beast reports: Paul Erickson, a longtime Republican politico whose Russian girlfriend is in jail on charges she acted as a covert foreign agent, has been informed that he may face similar accusations. The Daily Beast reviewed a so-called “target letter” that federal investigators sent Erickson’s lawyer, which said they are considering bringing charges against him under Section 951 …