U.S. adds second charge against Russian national linked to NRA
Source: Politico
A federal grand jury indicted Mariia Butina on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent, adding a new charge against the Russian national, who was arrested over the weekend in Washington and accused of playing a part in a secret Russian attempt to influence U.S. politics.
Jessie Liu, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, signed off on the two-count indictment against Butina, 29, who is accused of working as an unregistered Kremlin agent from at least 2015 through the present day.
Butina was already charged Monday with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, an offense with a statutory maximum of five years in prison. On Tuesday, U.S. officials persuaded the grand jury to add the second offense of acting as the foreign agent, which has its own 10-year-maximum prison sentence.
Like the charging documents released Monday, the latest complaint against Butina says she was working under the direction of a high-level official in the Russian government and Russian central bank to arrange introductions to U.S. persons having influence in American politics, including an organization promoting gun rights
for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.
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Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/17/russia-nra-foreign-agent-728305
sandensea
(21,648 posts)AlexSFCA
(6,139 posts)everyone must see this movie now
sandensea
(21,648 posts)They even look like each other.
edbermac
(15,942 posts)dchill
(38,515 posts)appalachiablue
(41,165 posts)Very serious times..Not a movie!!
Leghorn21
(13,526 posts)wishstar
(5,271 posts)"Sources have suggested to CBS News that the fact that Torshin wasn't charged along with Butina is a sign that special counsel Robert Mueller is trying to secure her cooperation and get her to turn on Torshin or other Russian officials."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grand-jury-approves-indictment-of-russian-national-maria-butina/
DeminPennswoods
(15,289 posts)nt
pecosbob
(7,542 posts)Americans or anyone else...in addition anyone that had contact with Torshin (as a proscribed Russian national under the Magnitsky sanctions) is toast.
gademocrat7
(10,665 posts)Good.
HeiressofBickworth
(2,682 posts)They always say, "follow the money", and in this case, the money flows directly through the NRA. Butina is the connection between the oligarchs of Russia and the dirty NRA money in the 2016 campaign.
It explains why so many GOPers are not taking a side, no matter how offensive or evil Trump and his henchmen are. They KNOW that the money they received from the NRA (and there was a lot of it!) is their connection to the conspiracy to deprive the US of it's duly elected officials. They certainly didn't ask any questions when the checks arrived. To find out who these people are, we need to see a list of the top recipients of NRA money. That will tell the story.
You just KNOW there are lots of people in Congress who spend all their time clenching their butt-cheeks, hoping that they will be overlooked in the investigation. They are all GUILTY!
watoos
(7,142 posts)This red headed spy issue should be getting more attention. People can understand if money went from the Russian government to the NRA to politicians, and as you said, lots of money. Funny how all of a sudden the NRA gave so much more money than ever before.
This is a big story to me, the spy didn't get away, we have her in jail without bond. If she were to flip she would definitely need a new identity because Putin will hunt her down.
peekaloo
(22,977 posts)in hopes of gaining an "audience" with Putin.
Good post!