Maria Butina Released

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Maria Butina, convicted of acting as a foreign spy, was released from her 18 month sentence in a federal prison. After failing to register as a Russian agent, Butina tried to connect the Russian Intelligence to conservative U.S. political leaders by means of the NRA (National Rifle Association). Using both past, present, and future events, the author wrote this article well with relative and interesting details.
Meta Data
Definitions (9)
Butina: Maria Butina is a Russian national and a professed firearms enthusiast.
Chutkan: Tanya S. Chutkan is a U.S. District Court Judge.
NPR: NPR stands for National Public Radio.
Putin: Vladimir Putin is the Russian President.
Torshin: Alexander Torshin is a sanctioned Russian businessman.
FSB: The FSB is Russia's domestic intelligence service.
NRA: NRA stands for National Rifle Association.
Mueller: Robert Mueller is Russia's former special counsel.
Erickson: Paul Erickson was a longtime Republican fundraiser.
Review Info (3)
First Published: 10/25/2019 08:46:12 pm
Last Updated: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Original Front Page Link
NPR
Content (18)
"Maria Butina's prison term has ended."
Butina pleaded guilty late 2018 to "conspiring to act as a clandestine foreign agent."
Butina was released Friday.
Butina was released into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Prosecutors accused Butina of connecting Moscow and the Trump administration.
Butina was also accused of connecting Moscow with people of importance in the conservative political community.
The people of importance included officials at the National Rifle Association and the National Prayer Breakfast.
December 2018, Brutina "admitted failing to register as a Russian agent with the Justice Department."
Failing to register is a crime that could end in up to five years in prison.
In April 2019, Chutkan gave Butina 18 months instead of five years, with credit for time already served.
A few weeks after the judge's order, Butina spoke with NPR by phone.
Butina spoke with NPR while still in detention, awaiting transfer to the low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, FL, where she would finish her sentence.
Federal investigators accused Butina of working with Torshin and the FSB to connect with conservative political leaders in the USA.
Mueller left Butina's name out of his investigation's published report.
Butina was not the only one facing legal jeopardy.
Erickson was dating Butina at the time she was accused.
Erickson was accused of defrauding health care investors in South Dakota.
Earlier 2019, Erickson pleaded not guilty to his accusation.
Spin (12)
Butina is expected to be quickly deported back to Russia.
Butina's release closes a negative chapter in her life.
For months, Butina was the spotlight in the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In her conversation with NPR, Butina persisted that "all she had been doing was 'building peace' between the U.S. and Russia."
Butina said it wouldn't be appropriate to say she was part of a "giant plan" and that there was a "giant plan" at all.
"There is no proof of that," Butina said, "And I have no knowledge that there is a certain plan."
Putin has repeatedly "slammed the allegations against Butina as a sham."
Putin tabled Butina's sentence an "outrage."
Naturally, federal investigators had a different view.
Butina and Torshin ended up with "extensive access" to the NRA.
Because of Butina and Torshin's access, a Senate report recently found that "the influential gun rights group had effectively become a 'foreign asset' during the 2016 election cycle."
Butina's efforts seem to be separate from Mueller's Russian election interference campaign.
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 2019-10-25 13:18:00
Date Accessed: 2019-10-25 15:41:00
Article Author: Colin Dwyer
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