Russian pro-gun activist Maria Butina, 29, was publicly charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States in Washington Monday.
Charges against Butina were first filed under seal Saturday according to the New York Times , only a day after 12 Russian officials were indicted by the Justice Department for DNC hacks during the 2016 presidential election.
The announcement was made by John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for national security; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu; and Assistant Director Nancy McNamara, who runs the FBI Field Office in Washington.
The DoJ’s press release claims that Butina “worked at the direction of a high-level official in the Russian government who was previously a member of the legislature of the Russian Federation and later became a top official at the Russian Central Bank.”
The Guardian reports that Butina was taking cues from former Russian state banker Alexander Torshin, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in April. Torshin also met Donald Trump Jr. for dinner at the NRA convention in 2016. Butina allegedly acted as an undocumented agent in Washington from 2015 to February of this year.
“Court documents detail Butina’s alleged crimes, which claim that Butina established contact with an American political operative in Moscow, who then collaborated with Butina to ‘jointly arrange introductions to U.S. persons having influence in American politics for the purpose of advancing the agenda of the Russian Federation.’”
Butina is also charged with establishing unofficial lines of communication between U.S. politicians and political organizations, using email and Twitter direct message to deliver sensitive reports and receive orders for the alleged conspiracy.
She is accused of entering U.S. on an F-1 Student Visa to attend university in the District of Columbia, when her actual intended purpose was to act as an agent for the Russian Federation.
The filings claim that Butina emailed an as-yet unnamed U.S. citizen “to organize an event for the purpose of influencing the views of U.S. officials, as those views relate to the Russian federation.”
The FBI’s Washington Field Office is conducting the investigation. If Butina is convicted, her suspected crime carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. She is currently being held without bond and was arrested on Sunday.
Heavy reports that her attorney, Robert Neil Driscoll, said that Butina’s residence had been searched in April and that she had already testified in a private hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“We have been offering to cooperate with the government the entire time,” Driscoll said to the judge.
