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Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina cooperating ahead of plea hearing Thursday

JacksinPA

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https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/12/politics/maria-butina-cooperation-russia/index.html

Washington (CNN)Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina has been offering investigators information on the American she conspired with to infiltrate US political circles and the Russian official who directed her activities, as she prepares to make her guilty plea official on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The 30-year-old Russian national initially pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent after prosecutors accused her of infiltrating political groups like the National Rifle Association to bolster Russian interests. But on Thursday morning Butina is slated to appear in DC federal court to plead guilty to conspiracy as part of a deal with prosecutors.
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She is supposed to sing like a canary after she pleads guilty to conspiracy charges in court in D.C. today. One of the Americans she is ratting out will be her boyfriend, GOP political operative Paul Erickson. Meanwhile, her Russian handler, Alexander Torishin, has vanished from the public arena. She is expected to be deported but she may seek asylum rather than suffer her inevitable fate in Russia.
 
Doesn't seem to have any direct Trump connections (that makes it Trump 1, Mueller 1,000,000).

Still, this could put the NRA in a very bad light.
 
https://boingboing.net/2018/12/13/butina-flipped.html

Maria Butina, presumed Russian spy, says she “knowingly engaged in conspiracy against the United States”

Maria Butina, 30, stood in a D.C. federal court this morning and told the judge that she “knowingly engaged in conspiracy against the United States.”

The accused Russian spy acknowledged that she acted "under direction of" a Russian official who has been identified as Alexander Torshin.
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Good luck to you, Maria. You will need it.

She built strong political ties with the Repubs & the NRA.

In related news, the NRA spent $30M on the Trump campaign vs. only $12M on Romney's. I wonder where all that extra money came from? We know Russia was a major contributor to the NRA but they have claimed it was not used for 'political purposes.'
 
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https://boingboing.net/2018/12/13/butina-flipped.html

Maria Butina, presumed Russian spy, says she “knowingly engaged in conspiracy against the United States”

Maria Butina, 30, stood in a D.C. federal court this morning and told the judge that she “knowingly engaged in conspiracy against the United States.”

The accused Russian spy acknowledged that she acted "under direction of" a Russian official who has been identified as Alexander Torshin.
=====================================
Good luck to you, Maria. You will need it.

She built strong political ties with the Repubs & the NRA.

In related news, the NRA spent $30M on the Trump campaign vs. only $12 on Romney's. Wonder where all that extra money came from?

giphy.gif
 
Doesn't seem to have any direct Trump connections (that makes it Trump 1, Mueller 1,000,000).

Still, this could put the NRA in a very bad light.
It does make one think that other NRA leaders, who have ties to the GOP, are involved.

Butina helped arrange a trip to Moscow for NRA leaders in December 2015. She pushed for those Americans to visit with senior Russian politicians, according to the plea deal. The Americans on the trip met with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s powerful minister of foreign affairs; and Dmitry Rogozin, a deputy of Vladimir Putin and a subject of U.S. sanctions.

After the trip, Butina sent a message to the central bank official in Russian that has two translations in the plea agreement.

“We should let them express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later,” reads the first translation.
LINK
 
Thirty years ago, if you had asked, “which political party is most likely to be completely infiltrated by Russian agents?” I wonder what answer most people would have given.
 
...about that awakened Cold War.
 
Doesn't seem to have any direct Trump connections (that makes it Trump 1, Mueller 1,000,000).

Still, this could put the NRA in a very bad light.

The Butina prosecution is being led by the D.C. Federal prosecutors & has nothing to do with Mueller - at least so far.
 
Another day, another thread and NO Trump collusion.

How can this be? ;)
 
I feel sorry for her. Even if she's granted asylum, she'll spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. I wonder how much collateral damage there will be when the SVR inevitably attempts to murder her? How many civilian casualties? I wonder if they'll dare to do it on US soil?
 
I feel sorry for her. Even if she's granted asylum, she'll spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. I wonder how much collateral damage there will be when the SVR inevitably attempts to murder her? How many civilian casualties? I wonder if they'll dare to do it on US soil?

The Russian security services are like the inmates that Michael Cohen will soon be breaking bread with in Federal prison - they hate snitches.
 
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