webfact Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 U.S. grand jury indicts woman on charges of being Russian agent Public figure Maria Butina (R) attends a meeting of a group of experts, affiliated to the government of Russia, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on July 17, 2018. Press Service of Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. grand jury returned an indictment against a Russian woman on Tuesday, and added a charge accusing her of acting as a Russian government agent while developing ties with American citizens and infiltrating political groups. Maria Butina, who studied at American University in Washington and is a founder of the pro-gun Russian advocacy group Right to Bear Arms, was charged in a criminal complaint on Monday with conspiracy to take actions on behalf of the Russian government. Tuesday's grand jury indictment added a more serious charge of acting as an agent of the Russian government, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum five-year prison term. Butina has not been charged with espionage or with being a member of a Russian intelligence service. She was arrested on Sunday and is scheduled to appear on Wednesday in federal court in Washington, the Justice Department said. Robert Driscoll, an attorney for Butina, said she was not a Russian agent. Butina is accused of operating at the direction of a high-level official of the Russian Central Bank who was recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury, the Justice Department said. Court records did not name the official. Butina has appeared in numerous photographs on her Facebook page with Alexander Torshin, the deputy head of Russia's Central Bank who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April. A person familiar with the matter has told Reuters that Butina worked for him as an assistant. Other media reported on a business relationship between Butina and Torshin. Torshin did not reply to a request for comment on Monday and the Russian Central Bank declined to comment. The Justice Department said in its complaint that Butina worked with two unnamed U.S. citizens and the Russian official to try to influence American politics and infiltrate a pro-gun rights organisation. The complaint did not name the group, however photos on her Facebook page showed that she attended events sponsored by the National Rifle Association. The NRA did not reply to a request for comment. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh and Diane Craft) -- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chomper Higgot Posted July 17, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) Butina linked to Putin, Russian money, NRA, linked to GOP. Follow the money. Illiberals Get your denial glasses on, you’re going to need them. Edited July 17, 2018 by Chomper Higgot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Credo Posted July 17, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted July 17, 2018 6 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said: Butina linked to Putin, Russian money, NRA, linked to GOP. Follow the money. Illiberals Get your denial glasses on, you’re going to need them. The blind don't need glasses. 3 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mtls2005 Posted July 17, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) Looks like a witch to me, a heavily armed witch. Edited July 17, 2018 by mtls2005 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiangMaiLightning2143 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 A cute bit of a Honeypot there. Bet ol’ Rick Sanctimonious went home and committed a deadly sin of self-destruction crushing on that one! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally123 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 12 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said: A cute bit of a Honeypot there. She ain't bad either. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtls2005 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 6 minutes ago, Rally123 said: She ain't bad either. Can't see the Russians using anything less than a "9", see also Melanija Knavs (20 years ago anyway). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Emster23 Posted July 18, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted July 18, 2018 Judge asked her lawyer if she might need a translator. No, she has testified under oath before. In closed session of Congressional committee. Hmmm Her alleged boss Torshin also has met with Trump administration officials privately even though his bank was under sanctions. hmmm On the bright side, now NRA and some other non profits as of today are not required to reveal donors. There's a pipeline Russia could use. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Hope she sings! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjbrownderby Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 2 hours ago, mtls2005 said: Can't see the Russians using anything less than a "9", see also Melanija Knavs (20 years ago anyway). Yes, look at Anna Chapman. I'd say she was a '9'....................but wasn't she involved in real estate in New York? Oh, wait a minute............there was another guy involved in real estate in New York. What's his name?...........I think he used to be American........until he sold his country down the river recently. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post zaphod reborn Posted July 18, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted July 18, 2018 Starting shortly after the fall of the USSR, Russia commenced a new strategy of implanting operatives in political and business organizations in the US. The goal was to gain standing to conduct influence operations to ease US opposition to Russian global and business interests. Many of these operatives gained US citizenship or have links to other operatives who were able to gain US citizenship. US citizenship allows the operative to legally influence politicians and businesses to favor Russian policies. Two examples: Michael Cohen received $500K from Columbus Nova, owned by Andrw Intrater, the cousin of sanctioned Russian oligarch Victor Vekselberg; Mitch McConnell received a $3.5 million campaign contribution funneled to him through a PAC operated by dual citizen Len Blavitnik. It looks like Bitina slipped up. Either she should have enlisted a US citizen operative asset to handle the foreign agent lobbying assigned to her, or, she was encouraged by the failure of the US to previously aggressively enforce the law which prohibits foreigners from engaging in lobbying. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally123 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 2 hours ago, zaphod reborn said: Starting shortly after the fall of the USSR, Russia commenced a new strategy of implanting operatives in political and business organizations in the US. The goal was to gain standing to conduct influence operations to ease US opposition to Russian global and business interests. Many of these operatives gained US citizenship or have links to other operatives who were able to gain US citizenship. Link please. And unlike Russia, the USA, and others, don't do the same.? Get real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 16 minutes ago, Rally123 said: Link please. And unlike Russia, the USA, and others, don't do the same.? Get real. So you're saying it happens, but still want a link. And yes, others may do the same, but a country has to protect itself. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod reborn Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 2 hours ago, Rally123 said: Link please. And unlike Russia, the USA, and others, don't do the same.? Get real. I'm sorry that you are the product of the American education system and thus part of Trump's fake news and moral relativism base. Here is a lay summary so you can understand Russian espionage techniques. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40367736 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally123 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 46 minutes ago, zaphod reborn said: I'm sorry that you are the product of the American education system and thus part of Trump's fake news and moral relativism base. Don't be sorry. I'm a Brit. God knows what that link is supposed to prove. By the way Sergei Skripal springs to mind. One of many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally123 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 6 hours ago, zaphod reborn said: Starting shortly after the fall of the USSR, Russia commenced a new strategy of implanting operatives in political and business organizations in the US. Link please. 3 hours ago, stevenl said: So you're saying it happens, but still want a link. No, Zaphod is saying. Not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally123 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) All countries spy on each other. Britain was caught out spying on Germany in 2013. https://www.dw.com/en/british-spying-from-berlin-with-love/a-17208752 Quote "Intelligence workers must first break a law in order to suffer the consequences," Christopher Nehring, Head of Research at the German Spy Museum in Berlin, told DW. "If the host country merely identifies someone as an employee of a secret service, then that isn't a criminal offense in itself — only spy-related activities, such as recruiting sources, installing of espionage technology, or similar would be considered illegal." Governments don't want to expel foreign spies That so many countries followed the UK in expelling Russian state actors comes as a major diplomatic coup for British Prime Minister Theresa May. Most governments often don't even want to expel foreign spies based in their country as this risks retaliation and more political unknowns. On the domestic front, the government will no longer keep track of an identified intelligence worker by expelling him or her, which in turn means it can no longer collect information about them and the adversary state. It's then up to the domestic government to identify the new spies who will ultimately take their place. https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-russia-and-the-west-allowed-to-spy-on-each-other/a-43170428 Edited July 18, 2018 by Rally123 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod reborn Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 15 hours ago, Rally123 said: Don't be sorry. I'm a Brit. God knows what that link is supposed to prove. By the way Sergei Skripal springs to mind. One of many. Then you are a tool of Cambridge Analytica and emboldened that company to export private FB data to Russia for categorization and targeting of people who might have been susceptible to social media influence with respect to the Brexit vote. Unfortunately, your Parliament has shown itself to be equally ineffective as Congress in bringing CA to justice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtls2005 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Hopefully, she doesn't get shivved by some Bratva's moll in lock up. Or accidentally ingest a Polonium cocktail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chomper Higgot Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 It looks like the GOP have a sex scandal coming their way: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-butina-russia-agent-sex-position-20180718-story.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 16 hours ago, Rally123 said: Link please. No, Zaphod is saying. Not me. Of course you're saying it is happening: " And unlike Russia, the USA, and others, don't do the same.? Get real. " " All countries spy on each other. " 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chomper Higgot Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 16 hours ago, Rally123 said: All countries spy on each other. Britain was caught out spying on Germany in 2013. https://www.dw.com/en/british-spying-from-berlin-with-love/a-17208752 https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-russia-and-the-west-allowed-to-spy-on-each-other/a-43170428 Not all presidents defend their nation’s enemies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocacoc Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Bitches all over the place. What happen to this world... Sent from a so called Smartphone using an App. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camble Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Trump will pardon her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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