Maria Butina, Suspected Secret Agent, Used Sex in Covert Plan, Prosecutors Say
"There’s actually lots of evidence of Trump-Russia collusion"
Video - 2:35 Shadowy Foreign Agent? Hardly. Inside Maria Butina’s Prolific Social Media Feed. Maria Butina pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a foreign agent by working for an organized Russian effort to influence U.S. politics. But she was hardly a shadowy figure. Here’s what her online profile revealed.CreditCreditAssociated Press
By Sharon LaFraniere and Adam Goldman
July 18, 2018
WASHINGTON — For four years, a Russian accused of being a covert agent pursued a brazen effort to infiltrate conservative circles and influence powerful Republicans while she secretly was in contact with Russian intelligence operatives, a senior Russian official and a billionaire oligarch close to the Kremlin whom she called her “funder,” federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The woman, Maria Butina, carried out her campaign through a series of deceptions that began in 2014, if not earlier, prosecutors said. She lied to obtain a student visa to pursue graduate work at American University in 2016. Apparently hoping for a work visa that would grant her a longer stay, she offered one American sex in exchange for a job. She moved in with a Republican political operative nearly twice her age, describing him as her boyfriend. But she privately expressed “disdain” for him and had him do her homework, prosecutors said.
In a dramatic two-hour hearing in Federal District Court here, prosecutors said that Ms. Butina, who is charged with conspiracy and illegally acting as an agent of the Russian government, was the point person in a calculated, long-term campaign intended to steer high-level politicians toward Moscow’s objectives. Though prosecutors did not name any party or politician, Ms. Butina’s efforts were clearly aimed at Republican leaders, especially those with White House aspirations in 2016, including Donald J. Trump.
[...]
Secretly, she and others laid the groundwork for a $125,000 operation to connect with Republican leaders through a network of contacts with the National Rifle Association and conservative religious groups, including the organizers of the National Prayer Breakfast, prosecutors said. “The defendant’s covert influence campaign involved substantial planning, international coordination and preparation,” they said.
[...]
Her contact list included an email account associated with the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., the Russian intelligence agency that is the main successor to the Soviet K.G.B., and F.B.I. agents who searched her apartment found a handwritten note that read, “How to respond to F.S.B. offer of employment?” She was also photographed with the former ambassador at the Russian Embassy in Washington.
[...]
F.B.I. agents have been surveilling Ms. Butina, who graduated in May with a master’s degree in international relations, for the past year.
In a search of her apartment near American University in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, F.B.I. agents uncovered a trail of messages between Ms. Butina and Mr. Torshin, who, like Ms. Butina, worked to build contact with N.R.A. officials. After she was featured in several news articles, Mr. Torshin likened her to Anna Chapman, a Russian intelligence agent who was arrested in the United States in 2010, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as a Russian agent, and was deported to Russia as part of a swap for American prisoners.
“Are your admirers asking for your autographs yet? You have upstaged Anna Chapman,” Mr. Torshin wrote.
In the weeks before the election, the two agreed she should keep a low profile, with Ms. Butina referring to herself as being “underground.” But after Ms. Butina sent Mr. Torshin a photograph of herself near the United States Capitol on the day Mr. Trump was inaugurated, he exclaimed: “You’re a daredevil girl! What can I say!” She responded, “Good teachers!”
Mr. Kenerson argued, “This is not the language of someone here just to study at American University.”
"There’s actually lots of evidence of Trump-Russia collusion"
IF there is no more Trump is concerned about other than a Trump hotel in Moscow, and others wherever, then Trump is a very, very sick man. If Putin has something more serious hanging over Trump then Trump's behavior could be more understandable. In either case Trump has aided and abetted Russia for his own personal benefit, and to the world's detriment, in more than minor ways.
In May 2017, the FBI formally opened a counterintelligence investigation into the President of the United States to determine whether he had been working on behalf of the Russian government, according to The New York Times. The inquiry into the President was formally folded into the Special Counsel’s investigation, and its current status remains unclear. Whether or not the Kremlin is exercising direct influence over an American president, one thing is clear: the actions of the Trump administration have constantly served to advance the foreign policy agenda of the Kremlin.
The general details of the Russian government’s support for US President Donald Trump in the 2016 election are clear. Russia conducted a massive disinformation campaign targeting American voters; hacked Trump’s opponents’ email and strategically released the information; and used American fronts to funnel money into the American political system to support Trump’s campaign and influence Republican policies.
Considering Russia’s geopolitical position in 2016, this was an incredibly risky campaign to launch. By 2016, the global community had diplomatically sidelined .. https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/24/politics/obama-europe-trip/index.html .. Putin for his actions in Crimea and Donbass; Russia’s economy had stalled .. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/12/world/europe/russian-economy-tumbling.html .. amid declining oil prices; and Putin himself faced pressure from his inner circle, themselves facing pressure from US sanctions. Russia and Putin were both vulnerable to an escalation of outside pressure. Given this position, provoking potential retaliatory measures from America and the international community could have put Putin in an increasingly perilous position. His risk-taking succeeded beyond any expectation.
Since the beginning of Trump’s administration, the White House has demonstrated a clear and consistent pattern .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/opinion/donald-trump-russia-putin.html .. of behavior toward Russia by not only calling for better relations with the Kremlin but also actively advancing Russia’s foreign policy objectives. This does not mean the Kremlin explicitly directed or coordinated with the Trump administration on the decisions and actions below. Instead, it shows that Putin’s gamble that a Trump administration would benefit Russia has paid off. The Kremlin has greatly benefited from the election of Donald Trump, a president whose foreign policy decisions and outlook have turned American foreign policy on its head to the great advantage of Putin’s Russia.
There is no clear geopolitical or policy rationale for Trump’s behavior, which often comes at the cost of longstanding American foreign policy interests. As political scientist Ian Bremmer assessed, “No serious foreign policy analyst I know (nor any ex-Trump-Admin official) has a good explanation for why Trump is so singularly enamored with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
Nor is there a political rationale. Amid Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and near constant revelations about the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia, it would almost certainly benefit Trump to distance himself from Putin and dispel rumors that he is beholden to his Russian counterpart. Instead, at every opportunity .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/opinion/donald-trump-russia-putin.html , Trump has embraced Putin and adopted positions that align perfectly with Russia’s foreign policy goals, often favoring the Kremlin over his own country.
In other words, Putin’s return on investment from Trump’s presidency has been significant.
Here are twelve ways that Putin has received his payout:
1. Putin’s Goal: Weaken and divide the transatlantic alliance.
* Putin’s Payout:Trump undermines US relationships with European allies and calls the US’s commitment to NATO into question.
2. Putin’s Goal: Degrade the European Union and foster pro-Russian political movements.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump attacks the EU and actively supports anti-EU, Kremlin-backed parties.
3. Putin’s Goal: Disrupt American leadership and dominance of the global economic order.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump is eagerly pushing for an all-out trade war with Europe
4. Putin’s Goal: Build global resentment and distrust towards the US and stoke anti-American sentiment.
* Putin’s Payout: America’s closest allies are explicitly suspicious and distrusting of the US because of Trump’s rhetoric and actions.
5. Putin’s Goal: Relieve economic and domestic political pressure from US sanctions on Russia.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump tries to roll back, impede, and blunt the impact of sanctions at every step.
6. Putin’s Goal: Legitimize his regime in the eyes of the world.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump repeatedly praises and defends Putin, lending the credibility of the US presidency to Putin’s standing.
7. Putin’s Goal: Revive Russia’s status as a great power and gain international recognition for its illegal seizure of Crimea.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump publicly says that Crimea is part of Russia and calls for Russia to be welcomed back into the international community with no concessions.
8. Putin’s Goal: Continue to sow discord in Western democracies and avoid repercussions for interfering in American and European elections.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump dismisses Russian interference and has done nothing to prevent future interference, putting him at odds with his own intelligence community.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump is shifting the Republican Party’s generations-long hawkish views on Russia.
10. Putin’s Goal: Destabilize the US from within.
* Putin’s Payout: Trump attacks US institutions while driving divisive politics and eroding democratic norms.
11. Putin’s goal: Advance the Kremlin’s narrative to shape global perceptions.
* Putin’s payout: Trump has repeatedly, and inexplicably, parroted Kremlin talking points across a range of global issues.
12. Putin’s goal: Undermine international norms and democratic values abroad.
* Putin’s payout: Trump has repeatedly failed to respond to human rights violations or support democracy abroad, creating a more permissive environment for autocrats to crack down.
The pattern is clear: Putin has received—and continues to receive—a good payout on his investment in Trump’s campaign.
1) Putin’s Goal: Weaken and divide the transatlantic alliance.
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