Good conspiracy theory about Maria Butina. Right up there with those who think the CIA killed Kennedy, the moon landings were faked, and Obama was born in Kenya.
You can bet that the federal prosecutors looked into any connections between Maria Butina and Russian intelligence and found nothing. She was no spy -- she did everything out in the open. If the prosecutors had found any improper money flows they would be trumpeting that now. Instead, silence.
Just like with Donald Trump, people are claiming crimes with no evidence to support it. It will be interesting to see what happens when (or should I say if?) Robert Mueller finally ends his investigation. Will the conspiracy theories continue? We'll see what happens.
3
Just imagine if you changed "Ms. Butina admitted to being involved in an organized effort, backed by Russian officials, to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and in the Republican Party, and to win them over to the idea of Russia as a friend, not a foe."
If eight years ago this had been, "Ms. Chan admitted to being involved in an organized effort, backed by Chinese officials, to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the National Association of Manufacturers and in the Democratic Party, and to win them over to the idea of China as a friend, not a foe," it would have been a top story for weeks and everyone right of center would have lost their minds.
The GOP formerly anti-Kremlin now spouting the Trump family party line Putin is our friend and no harsh words are ever to be said about Putin. Cohen exposed the lies Trump was spouting about no deals with Russia with his Moscow Trump Tower negotiations in process while the GOP is accepting him as their guy for 2016. Trump family signaled to the world that American foreign policy was for sale just show up at Trump Hotel in D.C. or buy a membership in Mar-A Lago to get an ambassador job. Russia has owned Trump before Helsinki where Trump cowered to Putin siding with him over American intelligence agencies. Butina was placed here to peddle influence using the NRA big GOP supporters despite the fact that gun rights do not exist in Russia. GOP seems to be for sale too so they pander to Trump' s pro Putin policies even though they must know he's compromised as is Mitch McCONNELL who covered for Russian interference in our election to get his judges using the Putin puppet who was compromised. More to come form Mueller , Cohen, the dem House until finally the geriatric republicans worry about their re election and move away from TRump just like they did with Nixon after the tapes provided definite proof.
2
It looks like a swamp is being drained, but not by Trump. Keep up the good work, Americans.
3
Not surprisingly, many Americans have been erroneously persuaded by the media that (1) Butina was uncovered by the Mueller investigation and (2) that Butina evidences a connection between Russia and the Trump campaign.
“We should allow them to express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later.” — Maria Butina
Feeling the pressure now, Mitch McConnell? Hello? We can’t hear you.
3
As a Russian living in the US, reading comments to this article is making me sad.
"Russian dominos", "Cooperation with Putin", "Russian money", "Five months is a slap on the wrist", etc.
Really? Did we even read the same article? It says in black and white here that the prosecution DROPPED the charges of her working for the Russian intelligence! The current charges, as spelled out in this article, is that she "networked with connected Americans."
That's a crime? Ok. Does that mean that if I go around talking to influential Americans about my (theoretical) appreciation for Russia and Putin, I will be put in jail on suspicion of being a spy? I read about stuff like this happening in Russia itself (all the time, sadly), but I didn't expect to find similar attitudes in America!
Obviously, she agreed to a plea deal. So I am really looking forward to what we learn from her. And I bet we don't learn anything! Yes, she networked, and yes she didn't register as a foreign agent, probably because she didn't feel it was warranted (as she didn't work for the Russian government in any official capacity). We'll see. Maybe I am wrong.
But for now, I am really disappointed, and a little bit scared. People get swept up in us-vs-enemies mongering so easily, it's not even funny.
5
So the NRA conspired with Russian agents to work against American voters to install a puppet in the White House via the electoral college, in spite of Clinton receiving 3 million more votes than the puppet. NRA members should turn in their membership cards, unless, of course, they really approve of the job Putin is doing.
4
I think it's time to start using the word treason. The only reason some of these people aren't in jail is they had no top secrets to divulge. They did have influence however and peddling that to a foreign country is a crime equal to treason in my book.
7
Let's not kid ourselves. Even if she cooperates (and who knows what that will actually look like), if she is deported back to Russia she will be received as a heroine. Because Putin thinks in terms of "balance": if the success she had outweighs whatever she may (or even can) tell federal authorities here - which I believe will be the case - the idea of any danger to her vis-a-vis her deportation is wishful thinking.
1
I rather see the real dangers for American democracy in such people like Trump, Steve Bannon or Spencer and not so much in this rather naive student Butina working for a better relationship between Russia and the US. And to be quite honest, her socalled interference in American affairs pales in comparison to the massive interference of the US for example in the Ukraine. Therefore I agree to some extent with what Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer says, namely that the real threat to the US is Russophobia. Unfortunately the Democrats got hooked on this subject and are distracted from what I consider to be the real threats for American democracy.
1
Hey NYT this comment by NYT reader Paul Worthman IS SO on point it needs to be investigated. Here's hoping you're on it:
-"Another domino in the Russia investigation falls indicating that the entire Republican Party was a Russian target, especially through the N.R.A., which strangely gave a record amount of $419 million to support Republican candidates such as Richard Burr ($6.3 million), Marco Rubio ($3.2 million) and, of course Donald Trump ($30.3 million). One question now is: How much of that money was laundered from Russia--a major campaign violation?). What this seems to imply is that Russia may have "kompromat" not just on Trump, but many in the Republican Party. That would go a long way to explain why they've never challenged, but often aided and abetted, Trump in trying to undermine the Special Counsel investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election and potential conspiracy by Trump and others."
6
So, are we to believe that Trump "randomly" called on Butina at a 2015 campaign event? And she just happens to ask about lifting sanctions.
I remember reading somewhere, that in the world of high stakes politics, there are no coincidences.
8
If the Trump presidency takes down the NRA then at least something good will have come of it.
7
Russia has played both sides against the other all along.
There were Facebook posts to that effect, during the campaign.
We can believe that "sanction relief" was Russia's motivation. Sanction release was just a hopeful by-product. The real motivation for Russia was "discord and division." That they have done.
Maria Butina is cooperating with U.S. officials. And in a few short years she will be back in Russia.
Nothing is happening that Russia does not expect.
5
Putin moll plays conservative, more-American-than-thou (and me) Republicans and their NRA for chumps.
14
Another example why citizens united was the worst decision by the Supreme court!
Money corrupts!
15
If you were in a Russian prison for a crime you didn't commit, and they told you, "confess and we'll deport you immediately", you'd confess too.
2
If you had bet me serious money that there would come a day when conservative Republicans , the NRA ,and Russians would get in bed together I would have taken that bet in a heartbeat. But my, how Trump has turned the world upside down. NATO is bad Russia is good. Merkel is not a friend and Putin is. Authoritarian governments are good for America and democracies are a threat. Threaten Iran who wants to make a nuclear weapons deal but cozy up to North Korea who does not. What a farce Make America Great Again is. Trump embarrasses fascist ideology, undermines the rule of law, degrades government institutions, and weakens democracy - not mention he brings out the dark side of American character and our racist underbelly.
18
Haven't browsed the comments yet but I'm pretty sure I'll find die-hard Trump supporters calling this a nothing-burger and perhaps alleging that the big, bad G-men subjected this poor gun rights activist to the third degree to get her to fold.
In fact her lawyers pushed back against the prosecutors' original filing and won concessions. Some will call this evidence of out of control Federal thugs. I say it's evidence that we are a nation of laws with an independent judiciary. Does anyone think prosecutors in Russia ever get such push-back from judges?
After the successful parry by her lawyers she still pled guilty. I'm thinking it's because she is guilty. Probably not a sparrow though. Doesn't mean there aren't any sparrows operating here. Any competent intelligence service will have different arrows in its quiver.
5
how successful was her lawyer if she have spend 5 months in jail on the laughable charges even although Mike Flint who was actual the foreign agent is free? Apparently, it has nothing to do with her guilt or with skill of her attorney. Pleading is always suspicious, pleading after 5 months in jail is double so.
If she really tells the truth, I wouldn't want to be her life-insurance company.
7
This NRA Russia connection is the strangest of strange bedfellows. The NRA which is constantly touting their bona fides as the only true defenders of the Constitution against the creeping tyranny of the left, claiming that the left wants to abolish gun ownership. While at the same time, they are lavishing praise on Putin and apparently, although not proven, were receiving funds from the Russians to help Republican political campaigns. In Putin's Russia, general gun ownership on the levels espoused by the NRA is about as popular with him, as a jar of kryptonite is with Superman. Strange, indeed. One would think that Putin was only trying to stir up the hornet's nest, and taking advantage of the most gullible organization in the US, the NRA. Republicans and the NRA, you were played.
12
"Ms. Butina admitted to being involved in an organized effort, backed by Russian officials, to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and in the Republican Party, and to win them over to the idea of Russia as a friend, not a foe."
So exactly what is the crime here? How does this differ from your regular lobbying?
2
Maria Butina, my favorite of all players in this protracted drama. No ordinary facilitator in improving relations between Russia and the US, read greed, Butina was the envy of the powerful as she acted on their lust for power with some sex to jazz it up. While the nobodies in Fox TV land can only gawk at the kittens on the screen, the Republicans leadership got to "handle" the real thing plus all that re-election green.
What a country.
6
Sounds Like she pleasded to nothing. She was all over social media arguing for better relationships between US asd Russia. She is now guilty of not foiling a form with the government telling them the obvious. Where is the damming evidence?
Incidentally.... Why is Russia the Enemy, and not say Saudi, Arabia?
2
I will never forget NRA officials who loudly insulting teenagers who survived the Parkland massacre.The ultimate threat to the 2nd Amendment is the darkness within their hearts.
12
Putin hated Hillary because he knew she would hold him accountable. Republicans hated Hillary because Putin fed their facebook feeds. Putin won, but Putin may be having Buyer's Remorse, like so many other Trump supporters.
4
Every morsel of information from the Mueller investigation (that continues to result to convictions, guilty pleas, indictments, cooperations) plus reports from the NYT & WaPo add to the undeniable and verifiable fact that aside from Trump, the whole GOP is awash in Kremlin money.
Which beggars two questions:
1 — why did Putin choose the Republicans over the Democrats to be his puppet and laundromat?
2 — are the Republicans more gullible or are they just corrupt to the core (think Trump & add McConnell & Ryan to the picture)?
The GOP’s deafening silence is no longer just about complicity so that they can push the agenda of the 1%.
It seems that Putin has a kompromat not just on Trump but on the whole Republican party as well.
Remember the server hack done to the DNC and leaked to Assange?
What are the chances that Putin hacked the GOP as well?
What are the chances that he found more “useful” emails on the GOP versus the DNC? Remember, Hillary’s emails only showed that she needs help with the printer, she loves pasta recipes, and she is bride mom micromanager.
Imagine what McConnell and Ryan has been emailing back and forth as soon as Trump got the nod and NRA “donations” came pouring into the GOP coffers.
5
It is not that the Russians are so smart. The US system based on greed, corruption and excess is not hard to penetrate. Add that the weakest among us , are financially backed and propelled into power and you might wonder how this republic is still standing. I do. Just in my own government experience I saw most promotions based on gender, sexual preference, race. Anything but actual skill set. After forty years of these policies, this is what is left of your country. Donald Trump elected president.
4
This is yet another example of Trumpworld. Lots of toppings and a double dose of side issues. Absolutely zero on the man himself.
Trump has spent 50 years getting away with everything. All I have seen is those around him taking the fall. You can hope he will finally get his comeuppance. I will waste my time hoping I win the Powerball. I like my chances better than the chance of Trump going down.
1
This is the oldest play in the Russian spy playbook: attractive young woman, feigning interest in an older man in power, the guy blabs away during pillow talk, sounds like a Tom Clancy novel.
7
I am indeed worried for our national security if the feds can prosecute someone for trying, “to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and in the Republican Party, and to win them over to the idea of Russia as a friend, not a foe.” Heavens, we can’t have that! And the ACLU is where on this? Oh, that’s right, she’s Russian. What was I thinking!
1
So, a Communist and an NRA member walk into a bar.....
183
@Paul P. Better still: So, a Communist and am NRA member jump into bed after the Styx concert.......
23
I think colluding with the NRA is a worse crime than colluding with Russia. The NRA has killed more Americans than Russia.
320
@JSK Apparently in 2016 they were one in the same.
17
I'm no expert, but it looks like there sure are a lot of toppings on this no-collusion nothingburger.
448
@Randall
And we'll also be served bushels and baskets full of word salads, all trying to jumble ideas and cause confusion.
12
@Bill in Vermont with lots of Russian dressing!
19
Could not agree more
Another domino in the Russia investigation falls indicating that the entire Republican Party was a Russian target, especially through the N.R.A., which strangely gave a record amount of $419 million to support Republican candidates such as Richard Burr ($6.3 million), Marco Rubio ($3.2 million) and, of course Donald Trump ($30.3 million). One question now is: How much of that money was laundered from Russia--a major campaign violation?). What this seems to imply is that Russia may have "kompromat" not just on Trump, but many in the Republican Party. That would go a long way to explain why they've never challenged, but often aided and abetted, Trump in trying to undermine the Special Counsel investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election and potential conspiracy by Trump and others.
654
@Paul Wortman: A superb analysis, my friend!
49
@Paul Wortman . BINGO!!!!!!
37
@Paul Wortman: Indeed! The NRA has, at most, 5 million members, who have each paid approximately $30.00/year to belong (other memberships are available for longer, and more money, but this figure should do). Given their fixed costs, how do they come up with anything close to $419 million? They don't pay taxes as a "charitable" organization, yet have a dedicated political branch that exists to lobby and influence policy and elections. I thought that was illegal. And, that branch is structured so they do NOT have to disclose their donors. I am a former member, and a former service member, (and formerly lived in Setauket) and I'm appalled and disgusted that they would have anything to do with the rooskies, much the less on the down low.
Given the totality of the evidence, and the incredible amount of smoke, one can only conclude there's a hell of a fire burning in Trump's white house.
111
So we don't really think Butina is the only agent the Kremlin sent us. I'd trust the FSB to be much more thorough than that. She's just the only one who has been caught.
And no, I'm not being paranoid. Ask any former Soviet.
5
Butina is just another example of Russia trying to infiltrate American Politics. Putin needs to be put in his place.
Two can play this game.
4
@Bob Burns Two can play this game only when we get a new president other than Trump or Pence.
2
A familiar shirt worn during MAGA rallies:
“I would rather be Russian than a Democrat.”
Putin would be so proud.
Duping the NRA and the 2nd Amendment people with the express approval of Trump, McConnell, and Ryan.
“This doesn’t leave the Republican Party. That’s how we know we are family.” — Paul Ryan, on tape, when informed that the GOP is being funded by Kremlin money.
The party of patriots, indeed.
20
The Koch brothers, through ALEC, heritage foundation, fox so-called news, hate radio and other democracy destroying entities have been using their inherited/stolen wealth for 40+ years to recruit people like this, and the supposed Americans she worked with, to take down OUR governments.
Their plan might have worked if WE THE PEOPLE had not taken a stand - through marches, demonstrations, lawsuits and stellar investigation - to stop them.
The Con Don's supposed "empire" is crumbling. WE must make sure OUR justice systems do their job and annihilate the people behind it and anyone who has collaborated with them.
NOW is the time.
8
The sophisticated Putin is making many Americans looking like a bunch of gullible hicks. Or possibly craven traitors?
A pretty young Russian student shows up in the US and all of a sudden she becomes a conduit between the Kremlin and prominent conservatives. Didn’t these prominent conservatives ever wonder how she was able to arrange meetings with prominent Russians? Or was there a little bribery involved?
There are valid reasons why our laws require agents of a foreign government to register with the US government. One is that people have a right to know that they are dealing with a foreign government. Secondly, our government has a right to know what kind of outreach foreign governments are making to private groups, why, and whether the outreach is truthful. And, third, our government has the right to provide information to these private groups that will provide insights, additional facts, and balance.
There is a reason why Ms. Butina didn’t register as a foreign agent. And it isn’t because she was innocent.
11
I hope Bob Mueller is investigating the NRA for complicity in breaking campaign and election laws.
19
@Michael Richter It would be practically imposible to trace in an organization of such size and membership which dollar comes from Russia and which one from the United States.
I sincerely believe that the prescient movie "The Manchurian Candidate" should be required viewing for every potential U.S. voter.
Please keep in mind that the treasonous antagonists in the movie were great conservative flag wavers. Their political platform was extremely similar to "Make America Great Again" while they were ardently yet secretly working for the other side.
Geez, makes ya think, don't it? Wake up, America.
17
What difference 24 hours can make. From the 'Russian agent' and 'conspirator' to 'spy' screaming headlines yesterday, today's the NYT headline is surprisingly calm and to the point:
"Maria Butina Pleads Guilty to Role in a Russian Effort to Influence Conservatives".
Kinda landing on both feet on the ground of reality.
Thank you.
4
The bottom line in this story, and all other political stories in the USA is: Bribery is legal. In other news, we have competing defense industry corporations giving US Senators piles of money to push through multi-billion-dollar contracts! Nothing is going to change, until elections become public-funded and/or capped at a certain amount of spending.
13
Butina seems to have rather openly admitted to espionage without fear of being repatriated to Russia. Could this have been the plan all along. Bringing disruption to US politics is the goal. Putin's ultimate move could be to openly admit to everything including conspiracy to have Trump elected. The objective is not really support of any political party or position. It is to send US politics into a tailspin.
10
Where did you find the admission of espionage? Now, we know how fake news are spread - people just twist the truth in way it suit them. That how charges to conspiracy to be a foreign agent became charges to espionage.
1
"... with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and
in the Republican Party, and to win them over
to the idea of Russia as a friend, not a foe."
WHO has benefitted from the eternal picture of
"the red scare", "USSR/russia = archenemies"?
how much suffering and misery has this 'dichotomy'
brought upon common people, then and now?
how much money has been wasted on military build-ups?
money much better invested in building, not destroying ...
is it just physics?
dark can't exist w|o light, up can't be w|o down.
friend can't be w|o foe?
1
This is a sad commentary on American gullibility. Perhaps our current events will lead us to be more discerning in the future?
10
A cordial relationship between the US and Russia is desirable — in theory. But as long as Vladimir Putin is in power, this relationship must be cultivated with wariness and outright suspicion. Putin is a great, great danger in the world, a despot whose aim, apparently, is world domination. Friendship with Russia, if it comes at all, must come when Putin is gone.
13
@Michael Willhoite
Study the history of America's relationship to Russia going back to Czarist times. The only time the US was happy with the the way things went, when it bought Alaska for a song.
The Bolshevik revolution in 1917 saw the Americans intervening openly, sending an expeditionary force to help the 'whites' (they lost). What followed was the non-recognition of the USSR until 1935, the attempt to play the Nazis and the Communists against each other, withholding aid and assistance from the USSR until it became clear, that the Russians would defeat Hitler on their own. After the end of the European war came Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both directed against the Soviet Union (kind of putting them in their place, using the nuclear monopoly, that didn't last). Next came the Cold War, the policy of containment, the full technological and virtual trade embargo, culminating in the Cuban missile crisis, that brought the entire planet to the cusp of absolute and total annihilation.
If you are looking for a culprit, look closer to home. It is not 'Putin' who is a product of what went wrong after the Soviet Union's collapse and the marauding vultures ripping the country apart, stealing it blind.
4
Those who are duped and conned find it difficult to admit to it. Even to themselves. Its why it is so effective and why so many crimes go unreported. So to save face their only resort is to minimize, deny, and deflect.
13
What exactly did she do that was illegal? All I see is prosecutors acknowledge, they made up and exaggerated thus and that, and that she made no secret of this and that. The new McCarthyism embraced by the left.
2
Unless you are a diplomat, acting as a foreign agent without notifying the Attorney General is illegal.
26
@ Daphne
People who are innocent don’t plead guilty. I know this is hard for some people to understand.
14
Not true in America. We are all remember the teenager that plead guilty to rape and assault in NYC that they didn't commit. Pleading after 5 month in jail is always suspicious.
1
Hmm. Rachel Maddow pointed out that this Russian agent is most likely cooperating because Putin gave her the go ahead and permission to cooperate. So is Putin cutting her loose or Trump? She would have had to have had Putin's blessing to cooperate else her future would be bleak and dangerous. Has Putin decided that Trump has reached the limit of his usefulness and decided to just let the collision come out? She couldn't go back to mother Russia unless Putin gave his full blessing for everything she will be saying to cut a plea.
17
At the time these incidents occurred Russia was still considered a "Friendly Country" and we were trying to help it overcome its legacy of communism. It was also at this stage with a bit of time lag that Putin decided to distance himself from our friendly overtures. Whilst I despise Trump this applies to him as well. We now know that Russia with Putin in charge has gone from friendly to enemy.
3
Maria Butina was like any other young, ambitious, aspiring political player in Washington trying to network their way to power and status. The only difference is that she had ties with officials linked the Kremlin, while seeking to set up “informal channels of communication” with influential conservative groups in the US, and to infiltrate the National Rifle Association – all of which backed Trump in 2016. To do so without registering with the US government is a federal crime, and now she faces a sentence and deportation.
Butina could “get a short prison term” and be released on Feb. 12 at a hearing, after serving more than six months in jail. It remains to be seen how much she has cooperated with investigators that might be seen as treason by the Kremlin.
Given the amount of media exposure she received in recent months, she is now world famous. Even Putin knows about her – her arrest in July was revealed within hours of Trump's heavily criticised Helsinki summit with Putin.
Butina could make herself useful back in Russia with her skills of politicking. A few years ago, in one piece on the Russian Snob website she said her dream was "to live in a prosperous, highly developed country, leading in the world, and without migration". Now she has a mission.
Anna Chapman, a former Russian agent arrested in the US with nine others in 2010, and swapped for Western spies – including the poisoned Sergei Skripal – is now a multi-millionaire with her business ventures in Moscow.
3
Obviously if you will tell lady she could get out or stay in prison for five years it is no brain choice. Problem whatever she will be ask to voice now will be impossible to verify because suspect is outside of usa custody. Prosecutors just could dump any bizarre agenda and claim a victory
It's starting to sound a lot like the most recent season of Homeland. Fact can be stranger than fiction.
10
Butina needs to plead for sympathy to avoid being deported. After cooperating with the prosecutors, her life is at stake when she is returned to Russia.
For the die-hard Trump propagandists who assert everything she did, and with whom she did it, was just fine; “Throughout the conspiracy, Butina wrote notes to Russian Official about her efforts and her assessment of the political landscape in the United States in advance of the 2016 election,” the prosecutors wrote.
You're welcome.
14
@John Pacella
No John. They read it. They are fine with it. Everything did was just fine,
5
Was the goal for Essential Consultants or a clone of it to start awarding contracts to the NRA?
Since Congress is virtually owned by the NRA, the potential for having direct Kremlin bargaining power over whom the NRA targetted or advanced would have been enormous.
7
every fear of the cold war -- that russian spies would infiltrate the government -- has come true, via the republicans and the NRA
we have passed through the looking glass, circled mars, and left for interstellar space
20
How is the Republican Party not a fifth column which is actively working to subvert our system of government? It has allowed itself to be taken over by a witting Russian agent, Donald Trump, and accepted money from organizations, the NRA, that has been a witting agent of a hostile foreign power. By now, the GOP has become so corrupt we can no longer trust it as a legitimate political entity. It should fold up its dirty tents and slink off into oblivion. And, in the process, it should be investigated for aiding and abetting treason against the US.
21
She certainly expressed the actions of a well coached Russian spy.
For many years I was very happy the Cold War ended and our nations enjoyed good relations, but now in light of the fact that the Russian population voted for Putin who interfered in our election that brought upon America the ideal saboteur, I say darn Russia to you know where forever.
Now we can accurately state that the "Party Of Red" Republicans are in with the Red Party.
7
What the article fails to mentions is that the plea was made after months in solitary - what most people would describe as a form of torture.
For that reason the judge should dismiss the case.
3
As if she did not deserve being punished?
1
She definitely is not deserved the punishment without the crime.
1
So what exactly was her crime? Acting as an unregistered foreign agent to influence a election is nothing new. Sounds more like a ambitious women using all of her assets in the US and Russia seeking power on a path used by Arianna Huffington.
This article acknowledges Butina was not a Russian agent.
She would not have spent 5 months in jail had Hillary won the election..others have suffered in similar circumstance.. because Hillary lost...
ain't right somehow.
3
Keep an eye on this space. We don't have all the facts, yet.
The crime could be money laundering for the Russian mob. Any possible political influence may have been simply a sweet side.
It's not over yet.
5
This article does no such thing. She pleaded guilty to trying to infiltrate the US political system on behalf of the Russian Federation.
There are actual laws against being a spy. Which is why she pleaded guilty in a court of law and that guilty plea was accepted.
4
No, she is not. She pled guilty to conspire to be a foreign agent. Foreign agent is not a spy, and to be one is legal in the US.
1
"Ms. Butina admitted to being involved in an organized effort, backed by Russian officials, to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and in the Republican Party, and to win them over to the idea of Russia as a friend, not a foe."
Sounds like a peace maker to me. Do you have to declare yourself a foreign agent to the AG to do that?
1
Yes, the law says that you do.
Let’s not forget that the sanctions they want to remove are in place because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Peace is wonderful, but why would you acquiesce to a demonstrable hostile power, if all benefit goes to Russia? Not only with no benefit to the US, but without Russia correcting any of the triggers of those sanctions.
Law is pretty lax about definitions that why it was used.
There is something very fishy about a plea deal that lets a self-confessed Russian agent fly back home after 5 months time served.
Why is the Trump Justice department letting Butina go back to Russia without serving a stiff jail sentence? Shouldn't Mueller and state prosecutors get a chance to interview her and understand how Russia used Butina to influence American policies and politicians?
The Russian government has called Butina a political prisoner and they claim she was tortured and held without due process. If she really cooperated would Putin be welcoming her home with open arms?
Is this a quick fix by the Trump Justice Department to cover up the involvement of the NRA, Republican politicians and Trump with Russian covert operations, money and influence?
As Lily Tomlinson said: Every day I wake up and think I can't be cynical enough.....
9
There is something wrong with a situation in which the values and objectives of a targeted audience are too fragile to withstand the soft power of influencers coming from outside forces. That their transgressions are apparently with no shortcomings about disclosing their intentions, except a failure to register, is worrisome. I would like to have seen more concise and detailed reporting about the ramifications of the problem, because it seems something of great significance is missing. All I see from the reporting is “someone failed to register,” and if that’s all there is, I’m more embarrassed by the fragility than the failure to register.
4
When I watched the video of Buttina asking Trump a question in 2015, I was struck by the fact he referred to her as ma'am. It is the only time I have ever heard him use that word. Now we discover there is probably a very good reason!
12
Seems safe to say that Ms. Butina is a foot soldier in a large army of Russians working to manipulate US opinion to the advantage of moneyed interests in Russia who are connected to the Kremlin.
I'm sure another smaller army is working on behalf of the US in Russia toward the same ends.
What's wrong with this picture is not her actions per se, but how Americans are so willing to subvert the interests of their own neighbors and friends to make a buck.
10
From the moment the Republicans softened their rabid anti-Russian platform at the 2016 Republican Convention through the subsequent revelations about Russian influence in the 2016 election of Donald Trump, it should have been obvious to everyone what was going on. Republican lawmakers were heavily involved and still are.
Donald Trump had a lot of help getting elected: from the Russians certainly, from the NRA, obviously. But none of this could have gotten where we are now without the likes of RNC Chairman Rance Preibus, (later Trump Chief of Staff), Devin Nunes, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and a host of other House members and Senators being involved. Why else would they continue to stand by their man?
While Maria Butina was under surveillance how many of these crooks do you think showed up on the investigator's radar? We may never know, but we should. The hierarchy of the Republican Party is probably guilty of everything from money laundering to treason and should be investigated along with Mr.Trump. At some point the lies and spin have got to stop.
42
I'm more interested in whether the NRA funneled foreign funds into supporting the Trump campaign. That would be seriously illegal. Perhaps Ms Butina should have been a registered foreign agent but if she was just lobbying for Russia I don't see that as spying. Of course, an American "Butina" in Russia would not be tolerated - would he/she?
9
@JayCasey That's a pretty safe bet.
1
How long before the FBI does a raid on the NRA offices, Cohen style?
I hope this whole fiasco we've been living through serves to bring down Trump, the NRA, and the Republicans who accepted Russian money through the NRA.
37
Butina's Kremlin masters sent her to America to look for Americans who would betray their country. She did not approach liberals. She did not approach Democrats. She did not approach Independents.
She approached conservatives and Republicans and she found what they was looking for. The Russians knew what they were doing.
When is the media going to start asking the ugly but necessary questions about the acceptance, embrace even, of treason by contemporary Republican and conservatives?
40
To each their own. What I read is Russian influence in the NRA. Why am I not surprised. If Russia was going to pick a front organization in the U.S. the NRA would be an obvious choice. I'll bet many NRA members will not be too pleased about this.
8
Five months in solitary confinement will make you sign anything to get out of this miserable prison system.
5
I’ve read other comments saying the same thing - that Ms. Butina has been in solitary confinement for “months”. Are people not reading carefully? Or maybe trying to spread fake news? She was removed from the prison population on Nov 21 as an administrative move. And though described as “essentially” solitary confinement, it is not, of course, the same thing.
6
You speak as a man with knowledge, as—your lips to God’s ears—many trumpists shall directly be.
What is the practical difference?
The real story here is how much the US government prosecutors lied regarding Butina. Basically all the accusations turned out to be utter fabrications. The "plea" was undoubtedly coerced. Any statement of guilt must viewed with complete disbelief. I have no sympathy for any of these political types of their rotten politics. However, this case is as rotten as it gets.
4
McConnell, Ryan, et al, will never admit the truth.
11
Once again she is broken and agreed to be an instrument of prosecution. Agenda that prosecutors asked her to confess cannot be verified. Specially conspiracy claim. All her other activities could be easily interpreted as an actions of the politicaly active person. Prosecutors abused power over broken woman and acted on witch-hunters , Stalin and McCarthy era justice recipies.
1
This makes me wonder who paid off Justice Kavanaugh’s $200,000 debt. Where did the funds come from?
39
Things that make you go..UHMMM.
Why is it that the Russians seem to be focusing all their energies on Republicans and specifically conservatives as the most vulnerable/easy group to infiltrate?
18
How do you "infiltrate" the NRA? Don't you just fill out an application and pay membership dues? What is there to "infiltrate"? Is it a secret organization? As a Russian am I "infiltrating" something? I need to know.
She pleads guilty after months of solitary confinement. In Stalin's USSR people confessed to being foreign spies all the time, under torture. Since then confession has not been considered a proof of anything. Until now.
She is a political prisoner, pure and simple.
5
A confession is never considered proof. Remarkable.
6
Our democracy has been sold to the highest bidder, currently Trump and the “Republican Party”. This has been unleashed by Citizens United. Can our Democracy , through its laws, regain its fundamental integrity that has prevailed in the past when unethical operatives tried to undermine the country’s interest with their own? I’m not sure unless the forces of Dark Money (aka unaccounted for anonymous donors of special interest groups like the NRA) can be removed by law.
9
@Maureen Conte
Only because Clinton was not elected. Is she was, then "©our democracy" would have been sold to someone else--along with our uranium.
So let's get fed up with all of the politicians taking money from foreign governments. Time for a big change, so we don't have to go through any more of these dramas.
Isn't anyone suspicious about Butina's guilty plea and willingness to cooperate? We know (and how could Butina not know) what the Russian government does to those it perceives as traitors and political opponents. Given the obvious danger to her life, one can only wonder whether her actions are yet another strategic play by the Russians in their ongoing efforts to polarize the citizens of our country.
8
Perhaps I'm just thick, but I'm missing a sense of criminality in this story. To all intents and purposes, Ms. Butina sounds like a lobbyist for a foreign power. Not to say I'm a fan of lobbyists of any variety, but could someone explain just how she broke the law?
5
@Peter Olafson Because she was being paid by the Russian government to influence US attitudes and polices, but she did not tell anyone she was being paid by the Russian government.
3
Was she? Because there is no such thing in charges that she pled guilty to.
1
So it wasn't Moose and Squirrel after all.
7
Styx? Did they get and AARP discount on tickets?
8
Russo-Republican Party.
All that’s missing is the hammer & sickle.
9
@Opinioned! Make the hammer and the dollar sign, and you could have something there.
3
This story makes me speechless. I hope Mueller has a detangling brush - NRA gave $30,000,000 to Trump, who has "ties" to Russia. NRA members went to Russia. Russian woman visits US and cozies up to NRA members and NRA-friendly politicians. Putin denies knowledge of Buttina. US wants to send Buttina back to Putin without further jail time. It's like a really bad James Bond movie without the handsome Sean Connery.
13
I personally know a number of good, hard working, nd patriotic people who are NRA members. I'm concerned they will not be inclined to believe this news. If they do not, I'll scratch patriotic from their list of attributes.
4
Russians are everywhere in the Republican's circle. Talk about sleeping with the enemy. All that bluster about America First seems a bit cheesy when you realize that the GOP and it's supporters are up to their neck in Russians.
14
Ms. Butina did nothing but honorable state craft
Don't take it from me. Take it from CIA director Hayden
Quote:
"I have to admit my definition of what the Russians did is, unfortunately, honorable state espionage,” Mr. Hayden "
"“A foreign intelligence service getting the internal emails of a major political party in a major foreign adversary? Game on,” he said. “That’s what we do.
By the way, I would not want to be in an American court of law and be forced to deny that I never did anything like that as director of the NSA.”'
Michael Hayden. CIA chief, Obama administration
Mr Hayden has no fear to be in an US court of law.
Ms Butina, had, and pleaded guilty
@Talesofgenji
"Mr Hayden has no fear to be in an US court of law."
That's right, even though he perjured himself to the US Congress.
1
I'm sure every foreign graduate student is trying to set up secret meetings between Putin and Trump. Nothing to see here? ;)
4
Despite all of this, Trump still has a roughly 40% approval rating. You can't fix stupid. And that should really concern the rest of us. These people aren't going away, and once they find out they've all been had by Trump and the GOP, they're going to be even angrier and easier to manipulate. It's not good at all. This is the beginning of a major crisis in our country.
10
Maybe, because of that. This charges are clearly politically motivated, that gives people the reasonable doubts about other charges against Trump.
She must be made to sing and reveal who in our government benefited. There is where the rot is.
3
These conservatives are neither dupes nor “good Americans.” They are not ignorant of the facts of what Putin’s Russia is and what it does: white nationalist, oppression of minorities, anti-democratic, anti-United Nations, anti-European Union, an existential threat to Eastern Europe with its imperialist designs, a murderous, corrupt kleptocracy. They don’t want to be “allies” with Putin’s Russia, they want to be LIKE Putin’s Russia.
10
@Gustav Aschenbach
I believe you are right: this is a group which wants a "white" society, a government that is "Christian," and with rigid "law and order" enforced by police unencumbered with concerns for rights. Sounds like Russia.
6
Patriotism requires men to sacrifice their lives, and women could similarly put their charms to the service of their country. Russia will probably decorate her after she gets deported.
US democratic women don't have the guts to become sex workers for the sake of their party. So oligarchs will continue their march to world domination.
What I don’t get is why she gets to go back to Russia instead of staying in jail for a longer time, where other law enforcement officials can interview her. Five months in prison is a slap on the wrist.
Is this the Trump Justice Department cooperating with Putin to re-export her before Mueller and others can talk to her?
Reports are that the Russian officials view her as a political prisoner and will welcome her home.
Something is wrong with this picture.
89
@Alice In Wonderland The charge isn't that serious. It's not like she was involved in espionage or anything. She was simply opening lines of communication with the Russian government which was illegal because she didn't register as a foreign agent.
9
Give months in the prison is a slap on the wrist? Are you speaking from personal experience? By the way, Mike Flint who was a foreign agent without registration got jail time at all. That's how we know that is politically motivated charges. Moreover, if she had to stay longer in the jail, she may not plead guilty at all, and in this case persecutor would have to actually proof her guilt that could be embarrassing, considering how many charges were withdrawn.
3
@Alice In Wonderland Something is very wrong here. You do know she was attacked by other inmates, regularly strip searched, and kept in isolation for days on end? But you probably approve.
After the hysteria engineered by this publication and others, and James Clapper's xenophobic slur on NBC, that "lies and deception ware in the Russian DNA", half of the US population believe Russians can be maltreated, insulted, defamed, and forced to admit guilt, and believe it is a crime to promote closer ties with the US.
Of course, it is a crime, anything which is contrary to US foreign policy is a crime.
7
What I want to know is how much money did Soviet interests donate to the NRA, and how much money did the NRA donate to candidate Trump and other Republicans? This smells of money laundering, and illegal foreign campaign donations. We need some transparency and some very specific numbers.
51
I read that the NRA had given, thirty million to the GOP, in 2016.
5
Do all the financial ties to the Russians and the Saudis explain Trump's responses to them? Dah
How is it possible that our foreign policies are in line with a country whose desire for world power requires the undermining of their greatest opposition, namely the NATO countries.
Russia's need for the removal of sanctions is so great that they have figured out how to get them removed. Do everything they can to elect a president who is clearly indebted for all the financial help they have provided over the years and knowing his desire to continue to do business in Russia. Of course, he would want to remove sanctions why wouldn't he?
What are we missing here?
19
What kind of pressure was she under to eventually succumb to cop a guilty plea? Or was she bought off by some high ranking person in our government to take the plea to stop further investigation?
14
@huh U.S. jails are more inviting than disappearing at the hands of Putin’s henchmen.
2
I thought nothing could surpass the Sky News commentators in their praise and defence of Trump but then I saw Kellyanne Conway giving a interview on CNN (I watch CNN and Fox News to get balance) what a performance she rambles on and on and when the interviewer tries to point out how she is mistaken she just talks over top of them. I don't understand how she can twist known proven actions of Trump into him being the victim.
17
Republicans are working with the Russian government to fund politicians through the NRA.
How many people have died because the NRA pays politicians to vote against common sense gun laws?
This is not only about Russia. Citizens United has left us wide open for foreign oligarchs to buy our politicians with dark money. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, China can poach our politicians because our laws allow it.
Perhaps I am cynical, but the prospect of the US self-destructing in a pit of gun violence and propaganda might be pleasing to some of our adversaries.
It doesn’t surprise me that a foreign operative would support the NRA. Look at the bloodshed. Light the match and watch them explode.
I have no faith in a system bought out by dark money and foreign interests. We might as well go back to being a colony.
29
@Kat I would sign a petition to become a colony of England again at this point.
3
Totally agree. You have nailed the underlying problem with your thoughtful assessment
4
It's time for the Democratic leaders to get angry and show it. The GOP is taking money from our enemy! It should be impossible to watch the news without someone reminding us that
Patriots don't take money from America's enemies.
Patriots don't support anti-democratic regimes.
Patriots don't gerrymander, disenfranchise voters, or commit election fraud.
Louder, angrier, and more often.
37
This is just normal back channel diplomacy.
How do you think our government contacts other governments on the downlow? they talk call someone they met at a private party that has a connection in a government they want to talk to then that person sends messages to that person and then parties talk either directly or indirectly through said person and they make a deal. We get more diplomacy done this way then through normal channels.
2
This article reveals that Butina met with Wisconsin’s Scott Walker.....Does this mean that the Russians are orchestrating the current Republican sponsored voter suppression and virulent anti Democracy efforts going on in Madison? I sincerely hope that good people of Wisconsin will be able to see how the NRA and other Republicans have been seriously compromised by Russian money. I also hope that former Governor Walker was not compromised by Russian influence while in office. With all their corrupt, anti democratic, unpatriotic proposed recent legislation, Republicans at the Wisconsin State House are certainly acting Russian these days.
16
"Prosecutors..... acknowledged in court filings this week that she genuinely wanted a graduate degree, and was not simply posing as a student to live in the United States." I wonder how that acknowledgment will play with her Russian handlers if she's deported to Russia?
3
Who knows how many other such agents have been operating across DC, willing to engage in "romantic relationships" as part of their mission to compromise the powerful?
Suppose you're a young congressman with a wife and family back home and suddenly realize you've been videotaped doing something that you shouldn't have been doing?
There is a lot of trouble buried here and it's going to be interesting to see it all come out.
8
The most relevant point would be if she supplied contacts within the GOP and other politicized organizations that then received Russian funds. She may have had nothing to do with the actual transfers of money but rather was a finder and locator of potential individuals who could then be co-opted and compromised. As attractive and as intelligent as she is, her role need be nothing more than a facilitator for network building. I'm far more interested in Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Dana Rohrabacher, Mitch McConnell and other GOP luminaries.
I am most interested in any NRA connections with Russian money and whether or not the NRA was employed as a money laundering conduit for funds that were then employed in the 2016 election. Maria Butina is likely one of many pawns in the game of global politics. Hopefully she will come out of this without too many harsh consequences. Clearly it takes two to tango here.
9
".... chances “to meet individuals with political capital, learn their thoughts and inclinations toward Russia, gauge their responses to her and adjust her pitch accordingly.”
If I recall - this is first day intel school. After target assessment one looks for vulnerabilities - money problems, ego, indiscretions, MICE in intel-speak) and proceed from there. You would do this in plain sight before passing it along to more clandestine parties.
She chose Republicans because they were the party in charge - but morally weak (Trump is testimony to this) and politically and ethically bankrupt (Trump being an indicator of this as well.)
4
“Butina said that she had "sought to establish unofficial lines of communication with Americans having power and influence over US politics" and that she did so on behalf of the Russian government.”
I’m confused, exactly which laws did she break? None of the above is unlawful, unless the person fails to register officially as an agent of a foreign nation. That would be a violation of FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act). Correct?
But some news accounts are specifically denying that FARA is involved.
Ah, found it. Looks like there is different regulation, “18 U.S. Code § 951 - Agents of foreign governments” where you are penalized, not for a missing FARA registration, and not for the activities themselves, but because you failed to notify the US attorney general of your activities.
That was her crime.
5
Presumed allies of America are doing exactly the same thing. The list includes non democracies such as Saudi, Singapore and increasingly oligopolistic Japan. So what’s new?
1
At the July 2015 meeting where Trump called on her for a question, she did not state that she was Russian, and he did not ask what country she was from. So how did he go right into talking about sanctions on Russia? She could have been from Ukraine, or Slovenia, or Cosovo. If it wasn't prearranged, how did he know where she was from?
9
This kind of news gives a damage not to a defendant itself but mainly to those whose names appear there. Mr. Trump barely got away with it this time.
If she provided any information to the Feds, it would be foolish for her to go back to Russia. My guess is that she'll apply for asylum. The question is what Donald Trump will do if Putin asks for her extradition.
5
@Gabe Bokor
To the contrary. The only information that she will provide is about Americans who cooperated with her, not Russians. Russia is happy for her to show how corrupt American politics is.
4
This is why the Russian plots are so nefariously successful. It doesn't matter whether she is caught, goes to jail, cooperates or not. All that is irrelevant because all roads lead to the same place . . . undermining democracy in America. She knows this, otherwise she would not be willing to cooperate with American authorities, then be deported to Russia. She knows Russia is more than happy to have her rat out every American she touched, wreaking havoc in the political industry.
11
“Her activities look sinister only to those who see the world through the outdated lens of the Cold War”. No her activities and the possible collusion of the NRA, prominent republicans and the Trump organization look sinister through the current lens of Russian cyber warfare, election interference here and in Europe and the generally aggressive posture that Putin so loves. That there is of conservatives who admire Putin’s Russia isn’t surprising considering their infatuation with authoritarian thugs like Trump. If liberals and Democrats were doing this it would be considered treason by the Fox and friends cult, with Trump and the NRA its business as usual. Saint Ronnie must be spinning in his grave.
6
Her 'collusion' with NRA is not a crime. NRA is a private organization, it could collide with whom they want. If NRA collides with politicians that could be a crime, but that is politician's crime.
2
Given the political climate vis a vis Russia in the U.S. right now, this "confession" has about as much credibility as political "confessions" extracted by Chinese authorities. Ms Butina was likely told that things could be made very much worse for her if she didn't give her U.S. prosecutors something they could parade before the press. When things go to extremes, credibility suffers every time.
8
@Nick Wright@
The Buttina pleas agreement is hardly a confession extracted through the methods used by Chinese authorities. Ms. Butina was represented by attorneys. They must have been competent since they made pleadings in court causing the prosecutor to retract several statements regarding her. That is correct that she agreed to cooperate for leniency but I'm sure she was advised by her attorneys if this was the best decision based on the evidence proffered by the prosecutor. The plea agreement will be presented in court for the judge to determine it is acceptable. All out in the open. That's not the way Chinese or Russian authorities work at all and you know that.
7
@Nick Wright - You seem to presume Mueller's only evidence is Ms. Butina's testimony. Why not wait for and learn about all the facts before making a proclamation that implies the plea deal is a simple matter of witness coercion?
5
@P Lockbut: "I'm sure she was advised by her attorneys if this was the best decision based on the evidence proffered by the prosecutor." This statement undermines your initial assertion that she wasn't coerced unfairly into a plea, because we don't know what the prosecutors were threatening her with, so the logic doesn't hold.
To be clear, before the current "Cold War II" I wouldn't have questioned the uprightness of a U.S. court in a case like this; now, I see good reasons for doubt.
My own country, Canada, is having its citizens taken hostage by the Chinese, solely because we honored our extradition treaty with our long-time U.S. ally. But we've been forced into this position because your government violated the international treaty to prevent nuclear weapons development by Iran and imposed sanctions "intended to destroy Iran's economy", which neither we nor any of your other Nato allies agree with.
The U.S. has become an outlaw nation as far as we're concerned, but we're tied to it in ways that subject us to its newly arbitrary injection of international politics into its law enforcement and prosecution. That's why I said "When things go to extremes, credibility suffers every time."
3
Fox and other right sources are either glossing over this story completely or are literally saying it's not a big deal. Imagine if the Russians infiltrated Planned Parenthood and funnelled money to Clinton's campaign? The right would be apoplectic
178
@northeastsoccermum
I would not be surprised if they did, except Russia is a poor country, and the amounts it has spent to influence are politics are de minimus, even laughable.
Sending a single grad student to "infiltrate" the NRA and the right is a comedy plot, not spycraft.
1
@northeastsoccermum Watching Kellyanne Conway now as she takes giving an interview to a whole new level. We are a lot more plain speaking in Australia she would not get away with such blatant rudeness and inaccuracies.
11
Yeah, but PP is just for women and girls. The NRA and GUNS, now, we’re tawkin’ ‘bout LIFE and FREDONIA.
You know...important things. Sometimes there have to be tradeoffs to protect important things.
1
FEC Campaign Records show the NRA spent $30 Million supporting Trump campaign ... more than they have ever previously spent.
In a letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) about foreign money donated to the NRA for political purposes, and specifically Russia, the NRA refused to turn over any records saying they were done cooperating ...
"The National Rifle Association reported this week that it received more money from people with Russian ties than it has previously acknowledged, but announced that it was officially done cooperating with a congressional inquiry exploring whether illicit Kremlin-linked funding passed through the NRA and into Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign". Politico April 11, 2018
Wonder why the Republicans want to shut down this Muller "Witch Hunt"? Their fingerprints are all over that money ...
93
You really have to be fascinated and repelled by the state of the GOP in all this. Infiltrating our fragile democracy via god and guns! It’s. Just. Brilliant! Smacks of fear and desperation of both Russian government and U.S. evangelicals and republicans. Madness resulting from attempts to win the argument against democracy as the best (and yes messiest) governing system. The unraveling continues...
37
She is a political prisoner caught up in a palace intrigue forced to cop a plea for a ticket to Moscow and time served. All the great powers have now resorted to the hostage-taking of foreign nationals to score points both domestically and aboard. This marks a new low in international relations and is a prelude to war.
9
I agree with the premise but I certainly hope not the WAR observation.
It means we are all ...
3
Sound like they need to shut down the NRA for cause. No telling what will show up in the fallout when NRA support and guidance stops.
32
What an absolute joke this politically motivated prosecution is. I never harboured any illusions about American judicial system, but this kangaroo court circus is obscene even by US standards. Shameful.
2
@David And I suppose you think Julian Assange is a good guy too, fighting for truth and justice?
5
"I'll take 'stories you won't see Fox covering' for 1000, Alex."
101
Donald/NRA/GOP are in soooooo much trouble. Butina is working with prosecutors; testimony; docs;emails; facts;etc; etc.. Be afraid; be very afraid. Ray Sipe
18
Hollywood or real life? I cant tell anymore. I believe I saw this movie once. It was called Red Sparrow.
10
The NRA.
Russian dupes or willing participants in the destabilization of the United States?
Just take a look at the death toll from assault style weapons and other armaments in this country.
School children massacred as the NRA, with help from the republican Supreme Court and many, many republican politicians, who portray as protectors of the second amendment and patriotic Americans.
Cynical, slimy behavior from people who have combined in a conspiracy to create chaos in our society and have participated in the deaths of thousands of citizens of this country.
28
No story here. Minor league intrigue. Move on.
Ms Butina should be careful. The poison is coming.
22
Russia has traditionally been a bad actor on the World stage & now in our own backyard. The Trump's are being connected more & more to the Russian/Putin attempts to subvert our Government into a manageable diversion via a subservient President. The man is an open-threat to our future and continues to defend his distaste for our Justice system when it becomes all too obvious he's now in the cross hairs of history. This so-called foreign agent has done her job well...too well as she buddy's up to high rollers of the Conservative cause & the NRA. Her motivation? A Graduate degree!? Don't be numb to this by pretending the picture of a shirtless Putin is anything other than what it truly is. Her employer & Trump's fan boy obsession.
19
@Nick W. "Russia has traditionally been a bad actor on the World stage..." how so? Please elaborate with facts, or this comes from just watching Hollywood movies? Many know Russia gave a lot to the World stage, or you specifically talking about the US?
@Andre If Russia is such a darn good country with great leadsership than why do Russians emigrate to the west? Please explain comrad.
1
Something tells me that Ms. Butina is still on her job.
Putin only cares about creating internal chaos in the USA. That has been his goal all along. If Ms. Butina pleads guilty and “cooperates” with Mueller, that just adds gasoline to the fire.
Moreover, Putin found the proverbial useful idiot in President Trump, who is now helping Putin make a point to the rest of the world that the myth of the USA is just that. A myth.
20
Let’s all pause for a moment and realize that the Russians thought the Republican Party and the NRA were (are) both ripe for infiltration and manipulation, and ask ourselves why. How has the GOP gone from defenders to saps? Let’s just look at the fact that it’s Trump’s party and Trump was more than willing, for a little bucksheesh. Maybe the Republicans should start to think about a new identity.
35
Yes, they should be known as the Russian National Committee. The NRA is now the National Russian Association.
18
@Derek. Or the New Russia Agenda
Let's see - Butina was in the U.S. legally, eventually made contact with government officials attempting to gather information from them, as well as influence their thinking about Russia, obtained financial support from a distant relative of one of the moneyed-families of the U.S., and got invited to a national conference of the NRA and managed to be recorded asking a question of a U.S. presidential candidate, attended a recognized university and got a secondary degree. All in the service of one of our acknowledged adversaries, Russia.
And she was in the U.S. legally. And Trump is worried about people who happen to be less economically well-off and possibly threatened in their native countries, trying to immigrate to the U.S., at our southern border? Has anyone of those people been convicted of being a "foreign agent", here in the U.S. primarily to subvert our government? The irony continues to be so very rich.
49
A person apprehended in Russia admitting to what she did would be taken to the woods or the basement of the Lubyanka and shot. End of story.
Every day there’s something new about trump and his cabal, or should I say coven, and each new story is worse than the last. It makes me wonder if there will be enough federal prison capacity to hold all those convicted of participating in these crimes. I don’t think anybody can imagine how many people, intentionally or unwittingly, are directly and indirectly involved.
20
Only during Stalin's regime which ended more than 60 years ago.
For decades Republicans painted Democrats as "soft" on national security. It turns out, not only this farther from the truth, Trump and now this case with Maria Butina has shown that Republicans are in bed with Moscow. The fact that Ms. Butina infiltrated the NRA and conservatives in general shows it was far easier for Russians to get a grip on Republicans than on Democrats.
31
Butina's sponsors in Moscow sure knew their GOP players: the National Rifle Association has become the equivalent of an armed, informal militia of the GOP, and the "National Prayer Breakfast" is just the "religious freedom" excuse for the GOP's authoritarian tendencies.
A plague on all of them!
29
This woman was a foreign lobbyist, the same way that manafort was a lobbyist for the Ukrainian government - the same way countless people are all over the world. Does anyone make the ridiculous claim that manafort was a secret spy or that these people are spies? The treatment of this woman was disgraceful.
4
@Stefan E Apples and Oranges. Manafort is a US citizen who tried to enrich himself, albeit in less than legal ways. Butina is a Russian citizen who came to the US primarily with the intent of making political connections and influencing Republicans to the benefit of Russia. Therefore,a foreign agent. The student part was a cover. If she just wanted a masters degree, there are other universities in the US with better reputations than American. That was a strategic choice to be close to DC politics.
3
@Stefan E...What is the definition of a spy?
How do we know she just wanted to enrich herself? She definitely got money from some Americans?
This is just the beginning. Before long we will learn why so many GOP politicians have attempted, time and again, to thwart the Russia inquiry.
32
How did Trump have an answer ready when Maria Butina asked him a question at a campaign rally? Someone told him to call on her?
29
And by Trump standards a very well rehearsed answer.
1
National Russia Association (NRA)
"The National Russia Association of America, formally the National Rifle Association, is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for Russia. Founded in 1871, the group has informed its members about firearm-related legislation since 1934, and it has directly lobbied for and against firearms legislation since 1975. In 2015 we altered our focus away temporarily from thoughts and prayer for massacred little children and concert goers to taking money form Russia and Vladimir Putin. Funneling those now clean campaign donations with the help of that little red headed firecracker Maria Butina and her "boyfriend" on to Mr. Putin's chosen pro Russia candidate Donald J. Trump! Phew Phew God Bless Russia!"
11
A modern Dr. Zhivago
1992. A momentous year. Paul Erickson runs the failing campaign of Pat Buchanan. Thousands of miles away, a red haired toddler called Maria Butina dreams of playing cowboys and ..., let's say cowboys and others. With a real big cowboy hat and two real guns, one in each of her hands.
25 years later, fate brings them together. And Maria is as impressed by the manager of a failed campaign of 25 years past as only a Russian can be.
They are united in eternal love, and Butina gets to wear a real, big cowboy hat and to fire two real guns, one in each of her hands. Though not at others. America is truly the land of dreams fulfilled.
But then, the cruel fate splits them again, and sends her back to Moscow. Where private citizens who aren't mobsters just can't have guns.
And every failed campaign manager, from Nixon's 1960 on, who had hoped that flame haired Butina would bring to life his wildest dreams too, with hats and guns included,
every failed campaign manager goes back to his old memories of election night vote counting, his hopes once more in shatters.
9
Hilarious. NRA and GOP get played big-time as chumps by Russian honey pot. With Trump at its wanna-be czar, the Party of Lincoln is now the party of stinking.
18
From the beginning I have assumed that every time Trump met with a republican he showed them the kompromat he had on them and they all know - he is not afraid to use it.
He probably presented with the same flourish as Putin did for him...just saying
8
@Deirdre That May explain the flaky decisions of Sen. Susan Collins.
2
The adventures of Ms. Butina are going to make for a great movie - along the lines of" Catch Me If You Can." from al appearances, which o doing her duty for the homeland she was having a great time.
It's the Americans, the NRA and GOP idiots that are of concern, are apparently open to any overture as long as the person flatters them, and extremely dim when it comes to appreciating the deeper interests in their activities. From parties who aren't about to allow their own citizens to be armed to the hilt, or to voice open opposition to the powers in charge, and who would like to see the US fractured and depleted of its superpowers.
But as I said, it looks to me as tho' she had a really good run.
Should have seen this coming from a continent away; guns for Russian civilians. That will be the day.
4
Failure to register...
Is that, what, like, selling Rolexes on the sidewalk without a license?
5
no, it's like espionage.
2
@cliff
I thought spies are hiding, using aliases and are behind all that cloak and dagger. Was I wrong?
"Ms. Butina hardly lived her life in the shadows. ..."
Why does it matter that Butina had Putin's photo on her cell-phone case? Or that she loved social media?
The point is: she was working as a foreign agent without license to do so.
It does not matter that she did so covertly or overtly. That is beside the point. ... then the journalist slips in, "She also made no secret of her desire to help broker a secret ..."
Oh, so criminals can act overtly? You mean just like the man who occupies the White House?
Please end these coy games and stick with the straight-forward facts of criminality in high places, involving the very powerful NRA & many GOP luminaries.
14
She actually didn't even work, she just was thinking to work as such
The commentary from the right dismissing this report is a really sad mental contortionist act. First, Butina has pled guilty to a federal crime. Whatever happened to all those right-wing slogans they trot out to justify separating migrant families and locking up children: "we are a nation of laws," "the law is the law," "enforcing the law is very biblical?"
Second, failing to register as a foreign agent is a serious crime. (18 U.S.C. 951.) Registration allows FBI and other counter-intelligence agencies the activities of foreign agents inside the US to make their they are not doing anything that threatens the US. The main reason foreign agents would not register is because they know their intended activities would not be tolerated. This is a law that ensures national security.
But the attitude of denial is typical of the "patriotic" Republican Party of the 21st century - party before country, getting in bed with Putin to own the libs.
15
@citybumpkin Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings / steal a little and they throw you in jail / steal a lot and they make you king
8
Is it serious crime? Flint worked as unregistered foreign agent and yet was able to avoid the jail time. Yeah, that is how serious the crime is. To me just convenient crime to use for political purposes and intimidation.
Putin knows manipulative fanatics when he sees them, hence NRA.
13
Rod Blagojevich is in prison for around 15 years because at the sentencing he couldn’t admit his guilt. He had tried to sell Obama’s senate seat and it was caught in a recorded conversation. If he had and asked for leniency, he could have possibly cut his sentence in half by simply fessing up. Which makes me wonder what will happen when Trump has to make that decision.
This has all been great reading and hopefully it will end soon, but I would like to have something to say about the leniency we need to show both Trump and his criminal organization bigwigs. A simple deal to have him/them step down and swear to stay out of politics and real estate is simply not enough for the blatant profiteering and disgraceful behavior, the Russian meddling, tax cheat and on and on.
The punishment should be dignified but it should do what it is intended to do and make them suffer. Laws need to written so that this can never happen again.
9
The Kremlin and NRA? The Kremlin probably wants to promote Russian-made firearms in the US. Other than that, the whole reads as a plot of a spy novel.
As to Ms. Butina's appearance, a different color ofr heair would have suited her better.
2
Dear New York Times
You need to inform the US as to which congressman Ms Butina attended thanksgiving dinner. How much money did this congressman receive from the NRA?
11
@FDNYMom
They already reported it -- and it's Mark Sanford (R-SC).
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/10/us/politics/maria-butina-russia-nra.html
6
It was Mark Sanford who was defeated
6
@FDNYMom. Thank you. I am happy that mark Sanford was defeated.
2
The shared goals between American conservatives and Russia is the most potent result of the Maria Butina investigations.
"She surrounded herself not only with high profile American conservatives but also with dubious characters who seemed bent on making a fast buck - and it was not always easy to tell one from another" Sept. 2, 2018,NYT
I also want to know how much money McConnell, Ryan, Orin Hatch, and the other shaky characters in our institutions are taking from the NRA and indirectly from Russia?
We are now seeing this Republican party of criminals for what they are - a group of people that are at the far end of capitalistic exploitation and immorality that do not represent the majority of Americans
17
I've always viewed the NRA as American Fascists. Who knew they were commies too!
33
The Centre for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org) keeps track of how much politicians take/receive from the NRA. The majority are Republican but even Democrats and Independent Members of the House and Senate have received donations from the NRA.
The NRA has its tentacles deep inside the US government and has immense control over the gun laws of the nation. Legislators pretty much do whatever the NRA want when it comes to guns and the law.
This not going to change as long as the NRA is allowed to hand out truck loads of cash to politicians.
13
In prison her until after 2020 Presidential election and then only trade her for Snowden.
6
@Barbary Coast
And maybe throw in Julian Assange ...
2
Franklin Graham, the shill who imagines that he represents Christianity in America right now, and who is glued to Trump, was singled out as one of Butina's targets at that prayer hoo-haw thing where the gun crowd and the religious nationalists now mingle with Russian agents apparently.
For someone who grew up in the 50s, that is a Hell Freezing Over moment. Keep looking into Graham. Talk about selling out. Literally, his beliefs were for sale at the "prayer" breakfast.
28
"For all of the headline-grabbing talk of a flame-haired Russian spy seducing unwitting Americans that followed her arrest, they say, Ms. Butina hardly lived her life in the shadows."
I won't posture as some kind of spymaster or anything, but as a layperson, I find that the ways in which a number of parties (both in this case and in general) have been trying to defend themselves.
Bit by bit, being brazen, amateurish and/or incompetent in an illicit activity is being held out as quasi-exculpatory, at least as certain attorneys and apologists spin it. Yet, cultivating an air of outward guilelessness or simple-mindedness can itself be a form of deception; hence the term "hiding in PLAIN SIGHT." That's just a matter of style.
Consider (of course) Trump. He is so obviously corrupt in his intentions and so clumsy in his lying that some people seem literally incapable of accepting that he IS corrupt and IS lying. He abuses his powers of office... openly. Is it any less of any abuse? Some people seem to believe that it is.
The same is true of Butina. She set out give Russian interests greater sway over U.S. policy wearing a black catsuit and a zip-lining off rooftops, would it make a difference? Some people seem to believe that it would.
Would someone trying to poison me TELL me, "hey, drink this poison, haha!" [shrug] Perhaps. Would a person be so foolish as to consume a drink from a total stranger who had just said it was poisonous? [shrug] Perhaps.
6
Who would have thought, NRA as the enemy of the people? Huh.
13
@Grunchy I would. They have proven it over and over. This is not the NRA I knew as a young man.
4
To be taken in by Butina, the NRA Execs and other Republican bigwigs are either incredibly naive or incredibly craven.
Is an all-expense paid for trip to Moscow really worth betraying your country?
12
@Rita, are the NRA execs and the Republicans bigwigs all men? If so, perhaps they were expecting something more exciting than a trip to Moscow.
7
@REF
"perhaps they were expecting something more exciting than a trip to Moscow"
And they probably got it, too, along with the Kompromat....to be used at a future date..
The Russians thought the NRA was a suitable vehicle for the subversion of our country. Need one say more?
20
In 2016 the NRA spent tens of millions of dollars on political ads for Trump and other Republicans. Conveniently, they are not required to disclose where this money came from. They wanted us to believe that they amassed this money from donations from law-abiding U.S. gun lovers. Fast forward to 2018 and they are claiming they are on the brink of bankruptcy. The NRA needs to be investigated on where their money came from and exactly where it went. Butina is only the tip of the iceberg.
20
Martina Butina knows and understand better than any American citizen is that even if she had not divulged any information, her life would be in jeopardy regardless of where she might have chosen to live. In other words, she knew her life would be snuffed out in a cold/professionally methodical manner with Russian agents (ultimately report to Vladimir Putin) . The question is under what circumstances would her death be reported, and whether or not her body might ever be found. If Ms. Butina hasn't fully cooperated thus far, Robert Mueller's team can show her what a can of Alpo dog food looks like .
What I perceive as the real value of Butina's cooperation is the link between Russia and the NRA. (There is no Second Amendment Rights in Russia, no matter what FOX News might assert.) The NRA through shadowy contributions and what now looks like laundered external funding from Russian sources donated $30M to Trump - Mitt Romney got only $12.7M. Smells like a payoff, a quid pro quo bribe from Russia to Trump. Arrest the NRA in this investigation - they have abetted in this criminal act.
15
Ms. Butina has been in a US jail since July; this is an unpleasant place for a Russian national. It’s not clear if she agreed to a plea bargain, with an admission of guilt, because she committed a crime, or because of an understandable desire to seek release from a US jail and deportation home.
Reading this article, it is hard to be convinced there was criminal malfeasance. Ms. Butina was originally accused of selling sex for access, and the media had a field day with titillating headlines. Then the prosecutors retracted those claims. Today, Ms. Butina is accused of being a Russian agent, but the allegations seem vague and tenuous. It’s hard to know if there’s substance to them, or if this is a case of prosecutorial overreach, goaded by the media.
Frankly, if this is representative of the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections, things have been overblown. Having conversations with members of the NRA should not be considered criminal, whatever you may think of that organization.
US prosecutors need to be careful; what goes around comes around. Many US citizens travel abroad, and visit Russia. This is a good thing for the world. Many Americans likely talk about politics while in foreign countries, including Russia. It would not be good if foreign governments are quick to jail Americans for the sorts of offenses allegedly committed by Ms. Butina.
3
@Alex
You seem to be suggesting she was framed by the FBI. She has just pled guilty to attempting to subvert the US election. You wouldn't be a Russian agent by any chance would you?
25
@Alex
Hey, Alexyev: The article states that this situation is NOT part of the rest of the investigation into Russian interference in our election; so nothing has been "overblown."
Meanwhile, Butina has confessed to being a spy for Russia. Why do you feel the need to defend and make excuses for her?
And about your "threat" that Russians will retaliate by jailing American tourists: If Russia feels that it can interfere with our elections and jail our citizens who haven't committed any crimes there, well then, we need to tell our citizens to stop supporting the Russian economy with our tourist dollars.
It's all quite simply, really....
26
She didn't do such think. She pled guilty to CONSPIRE to be a FOREIGN agent without registration. Where did you find 'spy' here? Talking about fake news. That how it works. You take the news and twist it in way that fit your narrative.
If stories such as these replaced the simple term "Russia" with "Putin's Mob Family Oligarchy," and "U.S. conservatives" with "Obama's fuming right-wing enemies," the entire picture of the last decade of strange "Russians" trying to influence "U.S. conservatives" comes into better focus. Putin, stung by Magnitsky sanctions and other such opposition, is executing a long-term plan to leverage our ideological hatreds and political pathologies to undermine our democracy. It's long past time to wake up.
5
@ Waldo
Last I checked the CIA and FBI have not concluded that Finland interfered in the US elections.
8
Poor Donald. Looks like Russia wants to be friends with lots of other Republicans, too. And all this time, he thought he was the only one....
13
Putin's agents, the Republicans and the NRA?
Remember the old label about the "Axis of Evil"?
2
What a tangled web we weave, when at first we try to deceive.
Is this "infiltration" or just nasty people finding each other?
@Tim
It's nasty infiltrators finding each other. The Russians, the NRA and the Republican party.
7
Yes! I want to know what McConnell, Ryan and Nunes have been getting from the Russians via the NRA. Does anyone else wonder why, all of sudden (last 10 years) the NRA went from annoying kooks to this incredibly forceful lobby in Congress? Why? Answers, please.
15
I wonder if SC Mueller is actually saving lives, providing witness protection to people in over their heads with the Kremlin. A little jail time bay be a small price to pay compared to vigilante justice with shadowy Russian figures.
1
Russian spy is girlfriend of "Paul Erickson, 56, a longtime Republican operative who ran Patrick J. Buchanan’s 1992 presidential campaign".
Fitting that this career doofus goes-out as a witting or unwitting stooge for the Russians.
What are the chances that self-described "paleoconservative political commentator" Pat Buchanan FESSES-UP TO HIS LATEST DEFENSE of Donald J Trump's lying to the American people before the 2016 Election?
OUR Congress has oversight duties of Trump's alleged malfeasance. But "Patriot" Buchanan has nothing to say, other than to mock us and OUR representatives' responses to possible criminality: "We are an unserious nation, engaged in trivial pursuits, in a deadly serious world."
https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/columnists/pat-buchanan-we-are-an-unserious-nation/article_a1e0ce45-98de-52d4-90f0-992afa40eb0c.html
We are a serious nation, Mr Buchanan. Serious about those who continue to stifle investigation of their man. Get on board or go overboard.
1
One can only imagine the collective foaming at the mouth that would have occurred if Planned Parenthood had been found to be consorting deliberately with foreign spies.
13
My apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein, but they wrote the perfect song for this display of democratic disruption from Russia, with love.
"Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?
When I'm with her I'm confused
Out of focus and bemused
And I never know exactly where I am
Unpredictable as weather
She's as flighty as a feather
She's a darling! She's a demon! She's a lamb!
She'd out pester any pest
Drive a hornet from its nest
She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl
She is gentle! She is wild!
She's a riddle! She's a child!
She's a headache! She's an angel!
She's a girl!
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Maria?
A flibbertigibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!"
6
Throw all the GOP bums out! The GOP 2016 campaign was partially funded with Russian money. What a disgrace for the GOP self-styled, hypocritical patriots.
8
Trump's chickens (some of them Russian) coming home to roost: If this isn't cause for celebration, I don't know what is.
14
Let's not forget that a few weeks ago, Butina was accused of using sex to hoodwink Americans - but that turned out to be totally false.
Looks like FBI apples don't fall very far from the J. Edgar Hoover tree.
2
@Peter Zenger
Butina pleaded guilty to a real crime, not a fake one.
Feel better soon.
12
@Peter Zenger - Absolutely. I'm sure she had sex with that 56 year old politician because he's just so darned irresistible.
7
@Socrates
Their nothing more disconcerting, than a person who parades about as a roaring liberal, and then applauds when someone is arrested under an obscure sedition law, for acts committed in the full light of day.
"In exchange, she will most likely get a short prison term, or possibly be released after having already spent five months in jail"
Is she actually guilty of committing a crime? I have no idea, since she made the convenient decision to cop a plea. And who could blame her for it - besides you?
What a shame it is, that revulsion against Trump (which is 100% justified) has caused liberals to start behaving like the Joe McCarthy fans of the early 50's.
All the focus now should be on getting behind a candidate who can beat Trump across a wide spectrum of states - wide enough to win the election. Time is running out for that discussion to start.
Playing the "I hate Trump more than you do" game is a terrible distraction; one that is supported by the major media for its "click value" - just as "Kate is mad at Meghan" is.
Liberals need to be smarter than that. There is a world at stake.
2
Butina would not have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate without her Russian handler blessing unless she is planning on committing suicide.
The real question what is the message and the benefit that Putin is getting with her guilty plea
7
@aj
A little presumptuous of you to assume someone's future suicide.
1
@Socrates
Soc, my friend, I believe he meant "planning on going to the top of the FSB hit list."
4
@Socrates
I see your point, it was poorly worded. What I was eluding too, that a Russian agent risks her life if she deviates from her handler directive.
2
In January of this year, McClatchy reported that Mueller was investigation NRA ties to Russia. In April, Alexander Torshin, Butina's Russian handler is sanctioned. In May, right about the time the heat was turned up on Butina, NRA President Pete Brownell resigns saying he "wants to spend more time with his family" and is replaced by who else but Ollie North. In July, Butina is arrested. Torshin quietly stepped down from Russia's Central Bank and has now disappeared. Now go backward, to July of 2015 when Butina was the very first person to ask Trump about removing sanctions on Russia on camera at "Freedom Fest." What are the chances that this was a mere coincidence? I'm betting zero.
39
@B Go back even farther to November 2013. That's the month that Trump was in Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. It's also the month that David Keene, then NRA president, appeared at one of Butina's "Russia gun rights" events in Moscow. And also the month that Butina debuted the video she made for her "organization" featuring no other than John Bolton.
All coincidences? Maybe. But at a certain point, it becomes hard to believe in coincidences for everything.
17
@C. Gregory Just unreal...
4
This is a very minor story that is being intentionally inflated to keep up pressure on Trump. As the polls show, it isn't working.
@Mike Livingston So, conspiring w/ a foreign national to establish backchannel communicates nodes between the U.S. and Russia is a minor story. Yeah, right.
13
@Mike Livingston
Yes, Pearl Harbor was also a minor attack.
Perhaps you should sample some polls not shown on FOX-Pravda News.
14
@Mike Livingston
Of course that depends on which polls you're looking at.
But given what we've seen so far, I daresay most Americans don't think Trump is working out.
2
I don't see what is bad in talking. Russia is enemy of US because of what? Gathering arms in the US neighborhood and getting ready to attack US or is it vice-versa?
How will this lead to charges against the NRA and politicians who accepted her helping hand.
5
The woman is a con-artist. Should we believe her confession?
She was in like Flynn!
11
@Hootin Annie - Good one.
2
I wouldn't characterize her actions as an "attempt" to infiltrate the NRA. She succeeded.
As a spy, Butina was a transparent dimwit. But she was easily smart enough to outwit the NRA and its GOP shills. (Or should I have written, "The GOP and its NRA shills"? Either way.)
12
So the Russians said just get a beautiful female spy who likes guns and church and you can hoodwink most republican men into doing just about anything. They must have read Obama’s “they cling to their guns and religion” speech and thought, “Yes, this is how to do it.”
11
@Oliver
The really cringy thing about that is that it apparently worked!
11
It’s time to shut down the NRA. Not only are they complicit in the murder and suicides tens of thousands of Americans annually, they have now aided and abetted a foreign power to influence elections. It is now a criminal organization, and should be arrested under RICO for their conspiracy.
We have had enough.
16
Oh goody. Now we get to the part about espionage.
7
She’ll provide no useful information, be deported to Russia in an exchange, and be wecolmed in Moscow with a parade in her honor.
1
NRA Conspires with Russia because both love the idea of Americans shooting each other.
Just a Normal Russian Alliance against America right?
Republicans and the NRA seem to define what it means to be a traitor.
10
A lot of red faces at the NRA today. How a bunch of saps in one of the most powerful American lobbies fell for the wiles of a red-haired college student claiming to represent "gun rights" in Russia. I always thought Wayne LaPierre was an idiot but now he turns out to be one of Putin's "useful idiots."
45
@Christy No red faces at the NRA today. The NRA doesn't care about one little spy. It owns Congress.
8
@Christy
Who can keep track? Putin has so many ‘useful idiots’,
especially in this White House!
9
Can you imagine that....A russian attempting to infiltrate and influence republican organizations but there is no reaction from republicans. Next up, the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, chickens cluck, cows moo and dogs bark. If any of this had happened under a Democratic administration, there would be impeachment hearings. There is no need for a "Go Fund Me" page because she is already being funded by putin. Great. Just great.
34
@rich
........and The Great Orange Leader lies, very difficult to believe!
6
This is a two-way street. In order to "work with" someone there is, by default, another entity in the game. So when are we going to tackle the elephant in the room and investigate the GOP and NRA, especially the former?
The very fact that the GOP's so-called "investigations" of this debacle supposedly exposed "nothing" --yet anyone with a ...forget the shovel...spoon could dig in anywhere and uncover glaring evidence of criminal wrong doing on a host of fronts so vast this caper has become a continent unto itself-- should signal major issues with collusion and covering up.
It'st time to demand answers to why every GOP member sitting on those investigatory committees supposedly found "nothing," and talked of a "nothing burger." If money passed hands to bury evidence and keep quiet, they should be jailed for aiding and abetting. The stain they've left on this country may not be scrubbed clean. They have failed abysmally to uphold their sworn oaths to protect and defend this country. One might think they misheard and thought it was to "defect and pretend."
If nothing else, this debacle leaves a grand old stench in its wake. Any GOPer with a functioning moral barometer and brain should start back peddling fast. The first to utter the word "impeachment" will become a hero; that they haven't figured that out yet suggests they're thicker than they appear. And that is saying something.
20
Well it does seem that Mueller can get just about anybody to plead guilty to something. Why in the world did we bother then torturing people all those years to make confessions we wanted to hear when we've had him all this time?
2
@John Doe She's pleading guilty to something because she is (wait for it) GUILTY!
12
@John Doe
Actually torture in relatively ineffective. Interactive conversations are a good way to get someone to slip up and divulge important information. A good book on this subject is:
The untold story of the Ritchie Boys
How German-Jewish refugees who fled the Nazis gathered military intelligence in Europe for the U.S.
by Brian Bethune J
They could interrogate German POWs in German
3
I can't but think as I read the comments to this article that we as a nation have succumbed to fear. Whatever happened to the belief that a market place of competing ideas is most likely to bring about good policy. Maria Butina plead guilty to a charge which is the equivalent of what the Chinese are now accusing two Canadians - working for unregistered foreign interests. Except when China arrested the Canadians we recognized that for what it is - selective enforcement of a law for political gain. Ms. Butina didn't self identify as a Russian governmental agent. If she had, she wouldn't be on the front page of this newspaper.
6
@Not all Russians are enemies If she hadn't self-identified as what she was we wouldn't be having this conversation? Twilight zone is here. Calgon and vodka, take me away.
5
@Not all Russians are enemies
Next time read the article before posting. She pled guilty to infiltrating U.S. organizations for the purpose of influencing the US Presidential election. And she is not done assisting the US Government. That's why she is still in custody.
3
The self- appointed great patriotic Conservatives with their guns and American apple-pie should be the ones directly in the line of fire. I do not for a moment believe that the 30 something Russian student could reach the people in the highest echelons without their involvement and those in Russia. What better way to hide but in full sight! Such brilliance can only come from the wily Putin himself. But what gets my goat is the fact that all rats in this sad saga of Russian collusion are getting away with plea bargains of little or no jail time. While the fat cats stay hidden behind the veil of patriotism. Unbelievable!
10
I like the idea that cozying up to our ultra-moral Republican men was an effort to promote more friendly relations between our two countries.
As with Trump's dossier, there appears to be a big gap between what looks suspicious and what can be proven and I'm a little surprised she got caught in the first place.
3
I would love to know exactly how a 30 year old (and consider that she's been at her charm offensive for some years now, so she started in her 20s) bank rolled her active life style.
It is even more imperative to follow the money with respect to the N.R.A. The basics questions: Where did foreign money come from and where did it go? There is surely an enlightening set of facts to be revealed.
21
Sure, she was sent here by all the NRA chapters in Russia and the
gun-toting populace over there. Ah, what is the status of the gun owning civilians in that peace loving state anyway that could produce this innocent grad student ?
2
Flying lessons and Georgetown University aren't cheap, and she is from Siberia. Who paid for all those "twenty-something activities"? Most twenty-somethings are not living the lifestyle of someone with a six-figure salary.
Especially if they are from Siberia.
23
Where did she get her money, how much and where did it go.
11
With any luck, tomorrow could be Junior's day to be served.
15
@Blue in Green - Please, please, please, please...….
7
She loved guns and the church- that says it all. To the Republicans, that is all that matters. Will Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul visit her in jail?
12
This reads like the back-story of Remains of the Day: naive amateurs playing at diplomacy. Do they realize how silly they look?
1
Good grief. A lot of trumped charges for doing normal things. Like with Carter Page, whose advocacy of a better relationship with Russia got him spied on by his own government for a year.
What's our problem with Russia? This has gotten ridiculous. I myself have two clients in Russia who are trying to sell some new technology. They needed some electronics from the US and the company wouldn't ship it to them. I had to get it shipped to me, take it to the post office myself, and ship it to them.
Our prosecutors ought to spend their time and our money on real criminals. Robert Mueller for starters. And these prosecutorial fools as well.
4
@John Smithson Did someone say Benghazi?
2
Russia isn’t a friend of the U.S. or other democracies around the world. They influenced the outcome of our election, and the Brexit vote. They’ll undermine NATO and the EU in order to advance their own interests—and Trump is helping them do so. The Putin government kills journalists and political adversaries. Why do we want Russia influencing our politics, especially clandestinely?
10
@John Smithson On what basis do you conclude that Robert Mueller is a criminal?
7
More related coverage not linked below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/opinion/maria-butina-putin-infiltration.html
There is a deep state and she's part of it.
A Russian honey trap packing a Glock 19 at an NRA meeting.
It was just too easy, the old Republicans never had a chance.
10
It strikes me (though my knowledge of this is no doubt superficial) that Republicans have reoriented their feelings toward Russia as Russia has become dominated by oligarchs driven by wealth accumulation. They didn't like Russia under the Soviet Union because of communism--in its Soviet form a punitively enforced egalitarianism. The human rights and civil rights record of the Soviet Union compared to Putin's Russia is a matter of degree, and not really a change in philosophy. Individuals are still not fully free to dissent. Republicans are okay with that--it's just they need to see that politics is motivated by money rather than egalitarian idealism (albeit violently distorted--a friend of mine likes to say that the trouble with communism is that humans aren't evolved enough to have ever really given the genuine form a try).
Not a coincidence, either, that Republican favor toward Russia has increased as conservative religion, suppressed under communism, is more tolerated now as an expression and tool of nationalism.
Our relations with former enemies should always be on a path toward repair. It was hard for many veterans of WW2 to see Germany and Japan thrive as our allies. That isn't what is happening with the Republican party and Russia. Republicans aren't interested in influencing Russia to become a more open society with greater freedoms and respect for human rights. They are interested in allying with authoritarian oligarchy and having the influence run the other way.
26
How can people call themselves Christians and love this picture.
A pretty Russian operative cuddling a machine for killing a lot of people in a hurry!
Try the gospels.
21
Single issue voters are easily manipulated. In this case it is the gun nuts, but the anti-choice types, those who key for or against a particular race, the anti-immigration types...all are very receptive to manipulation by anybody to panders to them.
15
The real key is whether she can provide evidence that Russia funnelled money from Russia to the NRA to support Trump.
20
@Patricia Kvill I wonder if she can provide evidence that Russia funnelled (and is currently funnelling) money to many other Republicans currently in Congress?
2
When do we get the accounting of Russian money that found it’s way to the NRC and which Republican traitors knew about it?
26
Does anyone know what Mueller's voice sound like? Or if he's ever been on Twitter? Or ever gave a press conference since being appointed to his current job?
1
@Fiatlux - Why would he give a press conference? He's not a politician. He's not a celebrity. He is a prosecutor working withing the framework of the US justice system. His self control and professionalism are admirable.
11
I had a heated discussion with a loyal trump supporter. He was dismayed and disappointed that I did not vote R and that I never joined the NRA. I told him that both were corrupt and controlled by Putin’s Russia, he didn’t believe me then and I doubt he will ever admit of his delusions. Hilary was going to take his guns away, that’s all he truly cared about.
24
The plea deal seals it, now Putin has now abandoned Trump.
There is no way Butina struck a deal without approval from her handlers in the Kremlin.
Putin brazenly gave her the green light and ensured her safety after she is deported to Russia.
17
Let's hope the CIA is better at concealing their infiltrating "schmoozing" about the world.
Seems Butina needs to get back to the Kremlin for a training update.
6
@Alice's Restaurant If I were her, I would seek asylum in another country.
2
Why did the Russians target Republicans so thoroughly?
Democrats are too smart. I hope they stay that way.
12
@IanC - I don't know if Democrats are smarter, but they are certainly more principled and place a much higher value on living in a constitutional republic.
5
Ditto!!
3
Seems an investigative piece looking into possible Russian ties to McConnell and Nunes is an obvious story.
28
I’m dreaming of a white collar Christmas (!)
7
more spies than the cold war
5
"... her boyfriend, Paul Erickson, 56, a longtime Republican operative..." Pssst... Paul.. that 30 year old redheaded Russian you're dating? She wasn't really into you for you. Sorry to break the news, buddy.
34
A very clever young lady who will no doubt receive the Order of Lenin upon her return to the homeland. And we could ask Mr Erickson whether she used the obvious to infiltrate her rather extraordinary list of targets. If prosecutors have put her activities in a somewhat benign, although illegal, light, there is probably more to the story than meets the eye.
8
Well, at least now we have an explanation for why the rabider NRA types keep braying about needing guns to take on their own government in Washington.
8
You are understating Butina’s crimes a little bit, aren’t you? She pled to Conspiracy against the United States (USC 18 951, 371). This is not mitigated by how “open” she was about her activities. After all, Trump is an object lesson in how to openly witness tamper and obstruct justice.
26
People like this need to be exposed for what they -- enemies of America; much like the Pro Nazi Americans prior to and during WWII.
"George O’Neill Jr., a Rockefeller relative and conservative writer..."
9
I would like to know the members of Congress - Republicans and Democrats - who met with Ms. Butina or her boyfriend and/or who accepted Russia-tainted donations from the NRA. Whoever they are, they have been "bought" by the Russian Government and deserve to be thrown out of the Senate or the House. Those who run the NRA should be questioned and charged, if necessary, for accepting blood money from a foreign Government. These politicians all knew what they were doing but did it anyway. And they continue to defend our nation's antiquated gun laws while our children are shot to death in school.
15
What we need to know is how much money the Russians funneled into the campaign through the NRA. Did they, the NRA, also have access to the Cambridge Analytica data. All of this is highly illegal, and Republicans in Congress may be co-conspirators through a cover up. Just the secrecy suggests knowledge aforethought of wrong doing.
9
@loveman0
What we need to know is what's inside Trump's tax returns.
10
Gun rights groups overwhelmingly support GOP candidates, contributing $5.9 million into Republican campaigns in the 2016 election cycle, compared with $106,000 to those of Democrats. It’s also the most money gun lobbyists have given in a campaign year since at least 1990.
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/gun-lobbying-spending-in-america-congress/
7
So Maria Butina (Russian operative) worked to manipulate the election by funneling money through the NRA to Trump's campaign AND to the campaigns of other GOP legislators. This is much larger than Trump making a deal for a Moscow Trump Tower and GRU election assistance in return for lifting Russian sanctions and political access. This borders on an orchestrated coup.
21
Somehow, Butina gets called on by Trump at a news conference. An illusion?
Or could it be......COLLUSION?
National enquiring minds want to know
13
Huh, a Russian infiltrating conservative political groups that were trying to get Donald Trump elected. Knock me over with a feather.
So basically during the 2016 election, we voted not knowing that Donald Trump had a powerful media outlet buying up and hiding stories about infidelity, and every organ of the Russian government working in concert with Americans, Wikileaks, and likely the Trump campaign itself to undermine Hillary Clinton and elect Trump.
26
It's like a lost episode from The Americans, the one where "Cousin Maria Comes To Town."
It's comical. There are very limited gun rights in Russia, and they have nothing resembling our Second Amendment. Look up what it takes to own a gun of any kind there, and who approves it. Nothing resembling her activities by a Russian citizen is allowed without Putin's blessing. And, as a lawyer, I always follow the money. Without the rubles from home to support her lifestyle and activities, none of this happens. It was paid for by Russian oligarchs tied to Putin.
And, the NRA? It has five million or so individual members, less than two out of every hundred Americans. Their dues are not paying for the massive lobbying and media pushes, much of which has nothing to do with gun rights. Again, let's follow the money there?
50
A full forensic audit of the NRA is in required to determine if the organization accepted Russian money. Having long wrapped itself in the flag we ought determine just which flag it is wrapped in... ours, or theirs.
Likewise, all the politicians smilingly photographed with and associated with Ms. Butina need that same forensic audit.
33
She is an intelligence agent of a hostile foreign power who attempted to cause harm to our nation. Why is she getting off so easily?
5
My question is this, how does Butina tie into the presidency of Donald Trump? During one of his junkets while running for president Butina was in the audience . Hundreds of hands were raised to ask questions but what do you know, he picked her out of the crowd. Her question and his response were clearly orchestrated, it very strange at the time and much stranger now. How did he come to call on her? Does this not show Trump's ties (collusion) with the Russians? Shame on Trump, shame on the GOP.
15
In the 2016 election, the NRA spent $11,438,118 to support Donald Trump’s campaign and donated $19,756,346 to groups opposing Hillary Clinton’s. However, the bulk of the contributions have gone to House and Senate members. Here is a look at the top 10 recipients of NRA contributions.
https://www.ajc.com/news/national/senators-house-members-who-offered-condolences-after-shooting-called-out-for-donations-from-nra/tpitHXUY9jDH3pr4f7f7cM/
6
Ms Butina sounds more like a smart young Russian woman on the make with hypersonic networking rather than primarily or even seccondarily an official asset of Russian intelligence services.
1
She literally just pleaded guilty to being that. Is denial that much fun?
6
@Doug Broome Networking is something that intelligence operative are trained for and excel at.
4
Of course Russia is funding the NRA. There is nothing Russia, a country that, itself, has seriously restrictive gun laws, likes better than to see the carnage the NRA has loosed on America.
The only thing Russia and Putin want is the destruction of the U.S. They can’t do it from without so they’ll do it from within. That’s what they do. That’s to be expected.
What is shocking is the that they are abetted in America’s weakening by conservatives and Christians. People who no doubt call themselves patriots.
Anyone who thinks Putin just ‘wants to be friends’ is ... well, let’s call it naive.
13
Poor 56 years old boyfriend Mr. Erickson.
What a rude awakening!
He thought pretty Butina loved him for his youthful charms, and instead it was because he was a 1992 campaign advisor for Pat Buchanan.
Even Ronald Reagan 1980 campaign advisors thought they had a once in a lifetime chance with her, but instead now she will be sent back to Russia.
PS I just warned my family that if they were to be approached by a pretty young Russian saying that they were her lifelong dream, they better be cautious...
6
A Russian Honey Trap. God Bless America.
8
Another Domino falls......And yes, collusion is not a crime until it becomes part of a conspiracy to commit treason.
5
Clearly, the NRA is a money laundering operation for Russia.
6
The gun club thought ahead on this one.
It is very easy to re-brand from NRA to ИЯѦ
5
@Don
That makes no sense in Cyrillic.
1
As an American citizen, I am far more interested in learning the identity of Republican recipients of Russian money. Once (upon a very long time ago) Republicans told us that they hated the godless, soulless Soviet Union as a poisonous nest of socialist anarchist serpents. They shrilled that Russia was the Antichrist.
Now, Maria Butina turns up however, as a “From Russia, With Love” mole, complete with academic dossiers and credentials from The American University (conveniently located in NE Washington, D.C.) Ms. Butina, who has KGB written all over her laundered on-line profile, then captured the fancy of gun-loving, hard-right “Christian” conservatives so she could indoctrinate her marks with smoothness and cash. Of course, Republicans, recognizing a kindred anti-democratic spirit in Russia, took the bait.
I want to know how much money Mitch McConnell; Paul Ryan; and other GOP movers and shakers took from the NRA after they took it in from Russia. I want to see amounts with dates of receipt. If a Democrat had taken money from Russia, the GOP would have been all over him—or her—for accepting funds from a hostile power.
Only in America. Only if you’re a Republican. They can justify anything.
1429
@Red Sox, '04, '07, '13, ‘18,
Absolutely! I speculate further investigation will prove many Repubs in Congress (McConnell, Nunes, Jordan, McCarthy, etc...) will be found to have received funds from Russia through the NRA. Hence, their constant denials and support for the guy in the WH. They're scared of being outed as traitors and conspirators... and they should be!
404
@Red Sox, '04, '07, '13, ‘18,
American University - like Russia House (near Dupont Circle), and the White House - is in Northwest (NW) Washington, DC, not Northeast (NE).
21
@Red Sox, '04, '07, '13, ‘18,
great, GREAT COMMENT!!!
61
Here's the question: If Russia were indeed such a "friend" to the U.S., why would they need to resort to this kind of trickery in order to infiltrate the conservative end of the American political landscape -- especially now when this president and his associates are in the headlines for questionable activities both before and after the elections, along with possible charges of defrauding the American public.
One can only wonder how much longer Trump's claim of "No Collusion" will play out before it starts to sound hollow.
13
that's actually a silly question. Germany is an Ally of the US, it didn't stop the US to wire Merkel's phone. Or should we remember Israeli spy in the US. Friendship comes and goes, but the state interests are always there.
@N. Smith - That has sounded hollow to me for a long time...
2
@yulia
First of all. There's no such thing as a silly question.
Second of all. Germany is a REAL ally of the U.S., unlike Russia -- and just for the record, SPIEGEL reported the German BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) also reportedly spied on the president's phone as well.
But most importantly, neither Germany or Israel tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential elections.
There. I fixed that for you.
4
Maria Butina is not spy, as many people assert, and she has never been charged with being a a spy. She pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent. The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires foreign agents to register with the Justice Department. She probably didn’t register because she doesn’t consider herself an agent of the Russian Federation, even though in an email messages she mentioned being introduced to U.S. politicians as a "representative of informal diplomacy"of the Russian Federation. In email messages, she also referenced efforts to build better U.S. Russian relations in preparing for a “post-Putin Russia,” a phrase that might have raised eyebrows in the Kremlin.
When the FARA Registration Unit discovers someone has failed to register as a foreign agent, its normal protocol is to notify them that they have to register. The Justice Department’s FARA goal is voluntary compliance. If the Justice Department had notified Butina she had to register as a foreign agent, she would have complied. Instead of receiving a notification, she was arrested and indicted because she happens to be Russian.
5
@William Case......You need to explain her relationship to the NRA and certain "Christian" organizations.
1
@William Case
Perhaps you are being a bit selective in your argument. This investigation began while the Russian Federation was running a large scale operation to degrade confidence in our electoral system and, later, to try to influence the outcome of the election. I would certainly hope that this would increase scrutiny of any operative/agent from Russia.
10
@William Case, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the USA
7
Because you make no secret of breaking the law doesn't make you any less guilty. As we are seeing, many of the committed in conspiring to throw the 2016 election were committed "in plain sight". And obstruction continues to be.
14
Russia's link to Republicans has already been established. Read House of Trump, House of Putin by David Unger. From the Dallas Morning News, August 2017:
Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank. During the 2015-2016 election season, Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonard "Len" Blavatnik contributed $6.35 million to leading Republican candidates and incumbent senators. Mitch McConnell was the top recipient of Blavatnik's donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik's holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documents and OpenSecrets.org.
25
In Russia brutality, poverty, bribery and corruption was always transparent. Here we have "Pro-life Action", "Americans for Prosperity", lobbying and PACs. Kremlin could humanize GOP NRA and show the Dems that they are so enmeshed in USA money/power conglomerate that they have no right to call themselves "liberal".
3
I doubt Butina is cooperating with prosecutors to the fullest extent possible. Doing so would likely put her life on the line with her higher-ups in Russia.
8
@Alex
If you read the piece carefully, you will see, that the prosecutors had to walk back most of their initial and rather salacious accusations. Think about it this way: if they had a strong case, they wouldn't have agreed to a plea deal.
@waldo Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point, but I don't see the relevance of your reply to what I said. She's still pleading guilty to conspiracy, even if the more "salacious" accusations were dropped. And I imagine the Russians are not happy about this.
4
Incorrect! They were able to create a plea deal exactly because they have a strong case against Butina. They are not interested in prosecuting her alone. They want to catch bigger fish and they can do so by leveraging the strong case against her to get information about more powerful people in exchange for a lighter sentence.
2
Even if Republicans are taking Russian money, they will just gloss over it and tell their constituents it doesn't matter and let it go. Years of prosecution will lead to mistrials and slaps on the wrist.(Like John Edwards).
Unfortunately, the Democrats will just let them get away with it, and won't bother to mention it when campaigning.
3
@Gdnrbob, a trial/hung jury isn't a slap on the wrist. They didn't have the evidence to convict.
2
if there's an american sickness, some sort of entertainment-fueled mental malaise of uncritical, slack-jawed credulity, well, surprise, our adversaries know this just as well as we do. park a pretty face before a camera lens, shouldering a serious-looking weapon... presto, you've got a star! it's as if jimmy carter's prophesy has come true: we've got the government we deserve.
9
"...took a Trump campaign aide to see the rock band Styx..." That should be an extra 18 months on the sentence right there.
17
@Jim - Best laugh of the day. Thank you.
3
Sounds like any of the 100s of (US) lobbyists infesting D.C. right now.
4
And is there evidence she was successful in actually influencing the NRA or anyone else? If so, how?
1
Even if she failed to influence anyone, she still committed a crime.
3
@CHM conspiracy is a crime. Attempted murder is a crime, even if you never get to kill the person. You can fail and still break the law.
1
Locked for sure, loaded?
1
OK so spell out how she steered $30M from Russia to the NRA and how Trump dictated to the NRA how to spend that to get him elected.
2
Can't wait until the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth comes out regarding the NRA and its ties to both Russia and the GOP. Glad to see Mr. Mueller and his team being comprehensive and thorough.
67
I feel rather sorry for her. She resembles a would-be spy trying to ingratiate herself with both sides. It seems both sides listened to her, encouraged her to continue and waited to see how far she progressed before washing their hands of her. Ms. Butina's efforts were clumsy and ultimately backfired.
But do her actions qualify her as a spy? Or merely a confused lobbyist trying to make herself useful to everyone?
1
@Hamid Varzi
A true lobbyist registers as such and deals directly, openly and honestly through the US Congress not through back channels and in secret.
5
@Hamid Varzi
She is a paid agent of another country; not all of them are spies in the classical sense of that word.
1
@Hamid Varzi
Would you still feel sorry if it were an American spying on Iran?
1
The day is coming when Republicans are going to have to choose what model of government they prefer: a Russia-style oligarchy where the media is not allowed to criticize the leadership and elections are rigged through voter ID laws and gerrymandering, or the United States Constitution, which assures a free press and fair elections in which your own party does not always win.
With Butina's plea and the aftermath of 2016, there can be NO DOUBT that the Russians themselves are feverishly trying to push Republicans toward the oligarchy model. The GOP is going to have to decide who they admire more: Vladimir Putin or George Washington.
34
@Htb, they have no choice. If they want a russian government, move there. They will not change ours.
2
@Htb
They've already chosen. It's the former. Or hadn't you noticed?
2
@Htb
Oh, you mean we don't have an oligarchy already? Could have fooled me.
3
The real question here is why NONE of the conservative media outlets are running this story... we literally live in to separate information-nations.
Keeping your head in the sand doesn't mean the world stopped turning.
67
@Cameron I bet Congressional Republicans will be astonished to find that when you google NRA today, that all the stories come up with that the Russians, NRA, Trump and Republicans are all tied together. They'll ask "Why aren't there any positive stories about the NRA? See - Google has a liberal bias" and want to hold more hearings.
SMH
4
Wait, I thought that the GOP, guns, the church, and the NRA were the province of loyal Americans. Can't imagine why the Russians targeted these groups of staunch patriots.
Expect a tweet from the WH any minute explaining how this plea proves conclusively that there's NO COLLUSION and how it totally clears the President.
24
At the very least, the NRA should lose its non-profit status. It is clearly focused on lobbying and undermining democracy.
131
Another tentacle of the Russian (and soon to be Middle Eastern) investigation starting to come to light. Mr. Mueller certainly has been busy with this team. I'm hoping that we continue to learn all the lies coming out of Individual 1 get exposed for what they are. I believe he uses the presidency to hide behind his criminal ways (and was one of the reasons why he ran).
This has got to be modifed back to a more reasonable set of social norms or are lose our guidance and country.
3
And now we have a situation where Putin has leverage against the NRA, any Republicans involved or who received funds, and of course Trump and his acolytes. She may co-operate or she might just do what Manfort did. Who knows what backroom deals will be made to make sure the pendulum swings the right way for those whose necks are on the line.
7
@Dore I'll bet she's also going to seek asylum as part of the deal as it might be deadly for her to return to Russia. Just my opinion, but I know I would not want to return to Russia if I were her.
The only people that influenced my vote were Whoopee and Cher. They swore to leave if Trump won... I quickly re-registered Republican.
1
@Jay, Wow, surprised someone would own up to being so easily influenced in such a shallow fashion.
5
@Jay
Don't quit your day job.
1
“Maria Butina Pleads Guilty to Being Part of a Russian Effort to Influence Conservatives”
“She loved guns and the church and networking with top officials in the National Rifle Association. She schmoozed with Republican presidential candidates, and became a supporter of Donald J. Trump.”
Butina has been characterized as a Russian gun rights activist..." In Putin's Russia, wouldn't that phrase be an oxymoron?
Why is it that the Russians wanted to meet and deal with the N.R.A., "conservative leaders", republicans and republican candidates for president? And why is it that those organizations, their leaders, "conservatives", republicans and republican politicians and candidates for office would want to have anything to do with Russia which is and has been the number one enemy of the United States? A Russian, republican relationship smells to high heaven.
13
@RetiredGuy
"Butina has been characterized as a Russian gun rights activist..." In Putin's Russia, wouldn't that phrase be an oxymoron?"
In any other country, like for instance Germany, France, or Portugal (the list is long) gun rights activists would be up against the entire society. Gun culture is an American phenomenon, sadly.
3
Well, one thing Maria Butina has shown us, is that the letters “NRA” definitely don’t stand for -
“No Rubles Allowed” - quite the contrary.
5
@Susan they stand for Not Really American
4
More than two years after the election, and all the pieces are beginning to fall into place. Rachel Maddow, Seth Abramson, David Corn and Michael Isikoff, among others, must feel vindicated at last.
23
Where are the quotes from the NRA?
The once-honorable organization dedicated to the safety of its members has not only sold its soul to push assault weapons, even after children are murdered - now it's proven to be the lackey of an enemy of state intent on controlling our government.
26
"But she was hardly a shadowy figure."
Isn't she just a new kind of spy, or, as folks say, an "illegal," that is, a spy who does not have diplomatic cover or protection? She "plausible deniability" written all over her. Her results are indistinguishable from the results of traditional espionage.
Ms. Butina's cover was the public nature of her advocacy and scheming. Yes, she was both a student and a spy. Those activities aren't mutually exclusive. The school, too, was cover.
Isn't some skepticism is in order? Why would an attractive young woman like Butina work so hard to have sex with fat old Republican men?
Butina submitted reports to the Russian government. She sought to influence American policy toward Russia. She worked to sow division and undermine our democracy. She was funded by an oligarch who is close to Putin.
Why does this new kind of spy exit? There are now few impediments to international travel. The internet has globalized everything and everyone. Interference and provocation can be orchestrated by anyone anywhere.
Yes, one still does, of course, have to jump through bureaucratic hoops and turn over a ton of private information in order to get a Russian visa. One also needs an invitation letter.
8
@Robert
Fixing a typo or two:
"But she was hardly a shadowy figure."
Isn't she just a new kind of spy, or, as folks say, an "illegal," that is, a spy who does not have diplomatic cover or protection? She has "plausible deniability" written all over her. Her results are indistinguishable from the results of traditional espionage.
Ms. Butina's cover was the public nature of her advocacy and scheming. Yes, she was both a student and a spy. Those activities aren't mutually exclusive. The school, too, was cover.
Isn't some skepticism in order? What kind of foreign student does what she did? Why would an attractive young woman like Butina work so hard to have sex with fat old Republican men?
Butina submitted reports to the Russian government. She sought to influence American policy toward Russia. She worked to sow division and undermine our democracy. She was funded by an oligarch who is close to Putin.
Why does this new kind of spy exist? There are now few impediments to international travel. The internet has globalized everything and everyone. Interference and provocation can be orchestrated by anyone anywhere, though the old methods still work better than ever.
Yes, one still does, of course, have to jump through a million bureaucratic hoops and turn over reams of private information in order to get a visa for entering Russia. One also needs an invitation letter.
“A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
““There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,”” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.
Some of the lawmakers laughed at McCarthy’s comment. Then McCarthy quickly added: “Swear to God.”
Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: “No leaks. . . . This is how we know we’re a real family here.”
The remarks remained secret for nearly a year.”
-Washington Post, May 17, 2017
It’s all beginning to make sense. I guess Maria was family too?
187
@Philip, yes and we Californians dumped rohrabacher
19
@Philip Good memory. I never forgot how strangely scared Paul Ryan sounded on that recording. Also wondering, who was making the recording? Was it secret? Who leaked it to the Washington Post?
17
If there are any NRA members reading this who are also patriots, perhaps you should think seriously about quitting the organization.
41
@SalinasPhil I quit the NRA when they referred to government agents as "jack booted" thugs. My dad and I were both Life Members. They are despicable traitors in our house.
15
Let’s look at the facts a RUSSIAN guns rights activist who just happens to be beautiful with connections in Vlads russia and romantic with a nerd who’s well connected with other eager older men who like guns.
It’s comical on it’s face but hey who knows miracles happen......RIGHT?
I want to see it on Broadway.
7
The walls are closing in on Individual-1 and his cronies. We are at a dangerous point in our country's history at this point. We have someone with frightening powers who is more and more acting as a cornered beast, and no one to oversee him to ensure that our country doesn't descent farther into the abyss he has created with his lies and anti-American behavior.
God bless our United States of America. Stand strong against the Wicked Man (see Prov. 6:12-19):
"12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
13 He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
14 Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren."
4
This episode partly illustrates why the Republicans in Congress are so willing to play along with Trump. Many of them are knee-deep in this as well. Through their links with the NRA and other such organizations, they have all been recipients of Russian money, either explicitly or implicitly. Ms. Butina is only the tip of the iceberg.
852
@newton
Couldn't agree more. It is high time this GOP was put in the hot seat and investigated. That its "investigatory" committees, with access to this material, supposedly found "nothing" reeks of collusion and covering up. Nunes should be the first to take a seat in front of a prosecutor, but there's a long line behind him.
If our system works, our prisons may soon be teeming. By any reasonable definition, everyone involved is a traitor.
30
Butina was obviously hiding in plain sight, which seemed to work for a while. Unfortunately her escapades will probably make American universities more hesitant to accept Russian nationals as students, even those that do not have her extracurricular interest.
103
@Milliband And this is a bad thing?
1
@Milliband Universities [professors] vie for foreign students because they often are more compliant and pay higher fees [especially at public universities]. Foreign graduates with US technical degrees are easier to 'retain' as post-doc/ researchers. And in that they often get access to 'somewhat' classified-restricted info.
Over the last 10 years there has been a SURGE in long, attractive, east European/ Russian women in Silicon Valley. They rub shoulders etc with the high and might VCs etc. I have seen 65+ year old men getting 'married' to 25yr old 'Russians'. [Same goes for Chinese, and lesser extent, India, by the way.] We are being attacked in broad daylight -- and Mr tRump is busy with trade wars; we need immigration restrictions for these 'enemy' countries.
3
Every post I've read so far is spot on. Thanks NYT for bring the public this story. Not sure what many people will do with it, though. The general public has sunk so low it seems a lobotomy is in order. They keep voting for corrupt politicians. But, honestly, the behavior fits the individualistic, self-serving heart of capitalism itself. Which is, after all, the economic system of the U.S. Until citizens come to terms with that, they will remain under the spell of self-serving corrupt individuals who only reflect the system's core premise.
256
@Rennie She wasn't a politician. In fact, nobody mentioned in the article is a currently elected official besides people that she only "managed to get photos with". So I'm not sure what your commentary is supposed to be about
2
@Benjamin
Rennie didn't say she was a politician. It's about money and access to money. Do you think those dinners she attended are "free"? People pony up big money, I mean big campaign contributions to attend and rub elbows with the lawmakers.
9
@Benjamin
Rennie's observation is reflective of a broader view of which this particular situation is symptomatic. Given the circumstances of our historic moment in time there are deeply rooted questions regarding the efficacy of the foundational models upon our economic, social, and political realities are built which need to be critically addressed. This is what the commentary is about.
10
So this woman was in the US legally, attended university, earned a Masters Degree, socialised ('networked'), rubbed shoulders with a number of people and was interested in politics; in other words she was a political junkie. She also happened to like guns.
Nothing nefarious so far. Unless of course her being admittedly (and proudly) Russian counts.
Try replacing her Russian-ness with being say, from Finland.
80
@waldo Finland isn't our enemy, Russia is.
62
@waldo except there's the part where she plead guilty. There would be nothing to plead guilty to if what you said was the case.
114
@waldo
looks like you missed this part:
"Ms. Butina admitted to being involved in an organized effort, backed by Russian officials, to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and in the Republican Party"
196
First the Trump campaign, now the NRA, now (currently) anonymous Republican members of Congress. How far does this pro-Russian treason go?
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It goes all the way: rotten to the core.
4
Wayne and Maria. Such a cute couple.
8
Send lawyers, guns and money!
8
@Katz
How appropriate the opening lines to the song are:
I went home with a waitress the way I always do
How was I to know she was with the Russians, too?
2
You forgot to mention Nikolayev's on the Board of Directors of American Ethane Company in Houston. Trump attended with Xi the signing of an agreement of that company with one in Beijing. There is big money in ethane - a by-product of oil and gas drilling and shale industry.
https://www.ft.com/content/38f733d4-8e95-11e8-b639-7680cedcc421
14
Sorry, the coincidence is just too suspicious, with this woman, in 2015, planted in the Las Vegas audience for Trump to select for his first question shortly after declaring himself a candidate. Nope, don't buy it at all. I fully expect additional ties to Russian intelligence to be revealed as this case is unspooled, not to mention the utter complicity of the NRA, as well.
257
@Pete . wow! planted for trump to pick? go mueller!!!
8
Where did she get the money? Besides from the Rockefeller.
8
@David Burman, from Nikolayev, according to the story, and who knows who else?
2
I would bet that Butina's question to Trump was staged by Trump Jr. The clever little rascal.
14
I would say that Butina is only one of many "Red Sparrows" here in America whose job it is to infiltrate the Republican Party and plant right wing nonsense in the heads of the uninformed base.
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@DSS
Very bad movie. Poorly written and cheaply produced. So bad, that they had to change the venue, so it plays out in Budapest, not Moscow.
Bet Putin never dreamed it would be so easy to infiltrate and affect American Politics.
31
@DSS
I'm hoping that, in due course, Putin would never have dreamed that genuine patriots** would rise up thru the use of laws, activism, and the checks & balances to thwart and restore the democratic principles guiding the country.
I'm also hoping that he would never have dreamed of the comeuppance that should be in store for his regime.
** like Robert Mueller and the millions of people who actively protested and marched against Trump.
1
@DSS
He's known that for a fact since 2016.
1
I am now utterly convinced that this will be dubbed the "Age of Duh!"
Was anyone laboring under the delusion that Butina was anything other than an operative? Did anyone really think Cohen hadn't carried dirt for DJT? Does anyone not grasp that team DJT is corrupt across the board? Did anyone believe for a minute that the meeting in that tower was about ...wait for it...adoption?!! Is anyone still struggling with why the WH cannot find a chief of staff? Did anyone who saw Maddow's show, two years ago, on the money laundering scheme in Florida not grasp that that was the story in microcosm?
The saddest part of this debacle is that it has reduced everything n this country to the most moronic level. The obvious is so obvious it fills the room. The crimes are so evident they're in plain sight. And still we pretend there are "revelations" and "breaking news." My god. How much dumber can the dumbing down make us?
Here's breaking news...none of this is a surprise;none of it is new(s); all of it was was promised and inevitable the day a man with a criminal track record* like DJT's was allowed to become a candidate. Maybe it's time we went "inside" our own protocols and thought about setting the bar as low as this: A criminal cannot run. Because tragically, right now we don't even meet that abysmal low.
Every single day Putin must awaken marveling anew at how absurdly easy it was to take this country to the cleaners. It's time to up our game. Dramatically.
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@AhBrightWings
He also helped push the UK into the lunacy of leaving the European Union.
8
So at what point does this story appear on Fox News? I forgot this is all fake news so Fox cannot tell this story. How are the republicans going to explain this away?
31
@Wade
I'm no Fox-watcher (have no cable) but Fox was the No.1 watched channel last year.
@waldo
Waldo,
Does it make you wonder who is watching fox? Or better yet who is gathering the information and from what source?
5
@waldo
Number 1 cable station. All three networks were higher.
3
Trying to influence policy is not a crime. Setting up meetings is not a crime. What I’m interested in is whether money flowed from Russians to the NRA or Republican politicians. That’s what the Butina case is really about. And that’s what we all suspect happened.
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@CharacterIsDestiny
Why don't you also ask the question, where the money McFaul (the former US Ambassador to Russia) was openly handing out to anti-Putin opposition groups and individuals in 2011 came from and whetehr that wasn't meddling, or interference?
1
@CharacterIsDestiny
We're all interested in whether Russian money flowed to the NRA on its way to the trump campaign, but we can't know because of an IRS rule that forbids us knowing about it. Sen. Jon Tester did manage to get a bill passed this week in the Senate that would have overturned that IRS rule, but it will die at the end of this congressional term and will go nowhere in the next term because it won't have the support of the Republican Senate. Apparently, Senate Republicans like dark money.
14
@Kathleen I assume the FBI can subpoena the NRA--if they have strong evidence of a crime--irrespective of the IRS rule. Is that not correct?
4
This case is nothing but a complete joke cooked up to protect the pitiful suckers who should be embarrassed by being played by a young woman who had the audacity and intelligence to be honest with them. They're not used to that being members of the lie all the time just in case social class. They're the ones, if anyone, who should be facing charges for their bone-headed stupidity. She told them exactly what she wanted and it didn't bother any of them one bit. "You gotta meet Don, Jr., he's gonna love you! Wanna go see Styx?"
She, on the other hand, seems highly organized and motivated. Since no-one else wants the job, I nominate her as Trump's new Chief of Staff. She seems to be a lot brighter than anyone currently working in the White House.
43
This reads like a spy fiction movie. Red headed Russian, NRA, Republicans, Manchurian Candidate who actually won the Presidency. Suspension of disbelief? What happened to the "better dead than red" NRA, the Russian hating Republicans and the everyday American who were disturbed by the hint that Obama was "socialist"?
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@GEO2SFO I would amend that to "a spy fiction movie treatment that never got made because the US repub characters were way too stupid to be believable".
7
@GEO2SFO They got bought out with "anonymous" donations.
Now we have the "better Russian than Democrat" party.
4
The Trump cult now yells at their rallys that they'd rather be red than a Democrat. If that doesn't tell you how brainwashed these traitors are, nothing will.
5
To the Republican party it sure seems that it's all about God, guns, and gays. It's easy to get inside when you know the formula.
28
Up to this point, I have only assumed the NRA was a terrorist organization bent on overthrow of the government. It’s nice to know I was right
331
@AJ...
I do find it a great relief that all of those big Alpha-Males at the NRA are so capable of protecting America from harm.
Oh wait... I guess that it is actually called treason isn't it?
12
As was I though I don't take much credit. It was obvious. Nevertheless I welcome your company.
1
This is not good for the President. The walls are closing in on him.
19
Sorry, I don’t see what the deal is. It looks like lobbying to me
5
@Bobster
Kremlin lobbying.
Wake up.
Smelling salts are available.
Sad.
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@Bobster Unregistered lobbying!
24
@Bobster
It looks like lobbying because it IS lobbying (minus the legal paperwork as a foreign agent). I would hazard a guess this is happening right now in the US with citizens of every nation on earth. The difference is there's no crisis mentality to address the lobbyists of the other 193 countries doing it. Are there US nationals in other countries schmoozing people in power to influence policy (and not registered as foreign agents)? You betcha.
3
Support the National Russian Association (NRA).
NRA-GOP-Trump 2016
The Republican Party abandoned America many decades ago.
You'd have to be a fool or an oligarch to vote Republican anymore.
202
Your headline is misleading. Maria Butina wasn't here to influence Republicans and the NRA, but to liaise with them in conspiracy with a hostile dictatorship. The Republicans and the NRA welcomed her and happily engaged with her. All that remains to be seen is the result of that engagement.
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@Mark Poirier
That can't be right, because the GOP and NRA are only for patriotic Americans. Just ask them.
29
Undoubtedly we will soon notice a change in the presidential tweets. Each will conclude with "NO COLLISION!"
Although... he will still insist there is "no smocking gun" despite Butina's dalliance with the N.R.A.
15
Right, @Tom Q, it was one of those smock-less Russian guns.
3
At least she didn't kill anyone like the Russian agents in Britain. As a gun lover, she would shoot them instead of poisoning them with Novochok or Polonium.
@felixmk How do you know?
If this story is generally right, time served and deportation seem about right.
5
@AT
NO, 'time served' is not appropriate.
She is a SPY and involved in trump's rise to power by Russia.
LOCK HER UP.
17
"To conservative Americans she courted Maria Butina was the right kind of Russian". So the "right kind of Russian" is a Republican. That explains a lot.
93
Forget about the tawdry sex spy angle, the story fails to mention the far more interesting background story on Alexsandr Torshin, Maria's Russian boss.
Torsion has been wire tapped by Spanish investigators, who have depicted him as the money laundering guy for the Tambovskaya organized crime gang. When the lead investigator was asked about US connections discovered in his wiretaps, he said that Trump's son should be concerned.
The FBI has been investigating whether Torshin was funneling laundered cash through the NRA dark money fund into GOP campaigns, including but not limited to Trump's campaign.
The possibility of Russians funding GOP Congressional campaigns might explain their efforts to bury and discredit the Mueller investigation, which reported to be exploring the NRA activities back in January 2018.
So many Russians, so little time! Who can keep it all straight?
But maybe Maria can help in exchange for a S-Visa to allow her to stay in the US rather than be deported to the tender mercies of the Putin regime.
304
@Look Ahead, Torshin was sanctioned by the US
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/alexander-torshin-russian-courted-nra-leaders-sanctioned-us/story?id=54295231
Torshin has been Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia.
14
@gf He just retired from the bank - as of last week.
7
A typical political persecution. If that happened in Russia, there would be non-stop crying about the lack of freedom due to bloody Putin regime.
3
Actuall, it’s more the shooting reporters in the back of the head in broad daylight, twenty steps from the kremlin, and nobody saw a thing. Nerve gassings, too: we’re real funny about that stuff.
43
@yulia
So, you have proof she did NOT commit the crimes she pled guilty to?
No, you're content to be a trump sycophant, willing to believe any lie that comes down the pike.
52
No, but I have the proof that confession is not equal to the guilt, and unless you or prosecutor shows me a proof of her guilt, I have basis to. believe she is innocent
Marina Butina is but the tip of the iceberg of Russian spies who attached themselves to the Republican party like s deadly virus which has transformed the GOP from a conservative American political party that’s effectively become a Russian annex into American politics and daily life. There are undoubtedly scores of Russian moles out there but Butina’s the one who got caught.
172
@silver vibes
Or was used as the 'fall-gal' in the same way as Cohen.
Everyone in this sordid reality show knew exactly what their part was, that includes republican 1.
15
@silver vibes, I believe the moles, as such, may be mostly virtual ones, such as those individuals sitting at their desks in the StP troll farm. Recall the facebook postings that ginned up protesters for rallies here and there, Texas, especially. Insidious GRU insertions into our daily lives.
9
A Styx fan, eh
This Lady played a Grand Illusion on the NRA and the GOP. You are Fooling Yourself if you think this Babe was just looking for a Blue Collar Man at republican social events. She tried to pass herself off as a simple Renegade Russian, but she was a loyal GRU agent all along.
Oh well. My Crystal Ball says she’ll be singing Too Much Time On My Hands in prison. It won’t be The Best of Times for her.
Domo Arigato, Maria Butina. I’m sure prosecutors have learned a lot from you.
53
@RP Smith ::applauds::
2
This is just getting comical at this point.
14
@John, you mean "comical," as in "the spy who couldn't shoot straight"?
2
Let's hope the NRA/Russia money pipeline get a thorough investigation.
68
For a witch hunt it sure is walking and quacking like a duck.
120
"Ms. Butina admitted to being involved in an organized effort, backed by Russian officials, to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and in the Republican Party, and to win them over to the idea of Russia as a friend, not a foe."
Donald loves Vladimir.
The 2016 Republican party platform stance to aid Ukraine was mysteriously changed at the party convention.
D for Democracy; R for Russian-Republican rot, oligarchy and corruption.
Grand Old Putinistas 2018
243
@Socrates
Remember that nations don't have friends, they have interests. So what interests are at stake here? Hopefully Mueller is working to answer that question.
38
Wow, the NRA, a Red Head sexy Russian, Christian Conservatives and the GOP.
What an intoxicating cocktail!
202
@gmj
When is CNN going to make a one-hour special report?
Or is it the Home Shopping Network that I'm thinking of?
3
@gmj An intoxicating cocktail indeed, a cocktail that should be served in the bar of a brothel.
4