A mysterious 29-year-old Russian woman has been arrested and charged with conspiring against the US
WASHINGTON, U. S. – A mysterious 29-year-old Russian woman has been arrested and charged with conspiring against the U. S.
On Monday, Federal prosecutors in Washington revealed that they have arrested the woman, identified as Maria Butina and have accused her of acting as a covert agent inside the U. S. on behalf of a senior Kremlin official.
Hours after the U. S. President Donald Trump met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, prosecutors in the U. S. revealed details of Butin’s arrest in court papers.
According to the documents, Butina is a Russian national who has been living the U. S. and has now been charged with conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian government.
Further, the Russian gun rights advocate has been accused of working to infiltrate American political organizations, including the National Rifle Association.
The charges that do not appear to be related to the U. S. Department of Justice investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the U. S. Presidential election so far, were brought by the U. S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Court papers further show that Butina “met with U. S. politicians and candidates, attended events sponsored by special interest groups — including two National Prayer Breakfast events — and organized Russian-American ‘friendship and dialogue’ dinners in Washington with the goal of ‘reporting back to Moscow’ what she had learned.”
The alleged Kremlin official is described as a member of the Russian legislature who later became a top official in the country’s central bank.
Reports noted that while the Kremlin official was not named in the court papers, prosecutors note that the official has since been sanctioned by the U. S.
Further, some reports revealed that Butina has been pictured in numerous photographs on her Facebook page with Alexander Torshin, the deputy head of Russia’s Central Bank.
Further, a report in Reuters quoted a person familiar with the matter as confirming that she worked for him.
In April this year, Torshin was sanctioned by the U. S. Treasury Department.
While details about the mysterious woman have been scarce otherwise, local media reports noted that in 2011, Butina founded a pro-gun organization in Russia called the Right to Bear Arms.
In recent years, she is said to have been involved in coordinating between American gun rights activists and their Russian counterparts.
A report in The New York Times and Time also noted that Butina hosted several leading NRA executives and pro-gun conservatives at her group’s annual meeting in 2015.
The reports further pointed out that former NRA President David Keene, conservative political operative Paul Erickson and former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke are among those who have attended such annual meetings.
Announcement about Butina’s arrest has come less than a week after the U. S. Department of Justice appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 12 Russian intelligence officials with directing a sprawling hacking effort aimed at swaying the 2016 election.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors said that Butina was arrested on Sunday and was ordered held pending a hearing set for Wednesday.
