Cooperate with investigators

Accused Russian secret agent pleads guilty

As part of her deal, Maria Butina agreed to cooperate with investigators, although her case is not being handled by special counsel Robert Mueller.

By KYLE CHENEY

Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights proponent who cultivated close ties to the National Rifle Association and conservative political figures, pleaded guilty Thursday to acting as an agent of the Russian government.

The plea makes Butina, a former graduate student at American University, the first Russian national convicted of trying to covertly influence U.S. policy during the the 2016 election, although her case was not handled by special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the Kremlin’s election meddling efforts.

As part of her deal, Butina agreed to cooperate with investigators. Her cooperation could shed light on Russian efforts to gain a foothold in conservative politics and the Kremlin’s willingness to interfere, not just with propaganda and cyber operations, but also by collecting human intelligence.

Appearing in Washington, D.C.’s federal courthouse Thursday morning, Butina, hair in a long braid and wearing a green prison uniform, admitted to participating in an information gathering operation that put her in close contact with powerful operatives tied to the Republican Party and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

Butina, 30, then relayed to the Russian government that she had “laid the groundwork for an unofficial channel of communication” with the next U.S. administration, according to court documents.

While the lawyers and judge spoke at Thursday’s hearing, Butina remained quiet and stone-faced, responding only “yes” and “no” to a series of questions.

Butina’s work to ingratiate herself with Republicans started in 2015, long before it was clear that Trump would become the GOP front-runner, much less the president. Instead, Butina worked to develop ties that would make her close to any Republican presidential nominee.

In late 2015, Butina helped organize a trip to Moscow for NRA leaders, later telling a prominent Russian banking official: “We should let them express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later,” according to the court filing.

During this time, Butina also passed information to the Kremlin on the GOP operatives she was cultivating, prosecutors said.

One operative Butina became close to was Paul Erickson, a 56-year-old GOP operative. Prosecutors originally said Butina developed a romantic relationship with Erickson as cover for making connections with other Republicans, while privately expressing “disdain” for him.

Thursday’s filing, however, backed away from such claims. In fact, Butina’s relationship with Erickson was barely mentioned. But Erickson might have been Butina’s closest link to the Trump campaign.

The New York Times reported last year that Erickson sent an email to the Trump campaign in May 2016 offering to set up a surreptitious meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump,” Erickson wrote, according to the Times. “He wants to extend an invitation to Mr. Trump to visit him in the Kremlin before the election.”

Erickson is reportedly a target in prosecutors’ ongoing investigation.

Butina did eventually come into tangential contact with the Trump campaign. At a 2015 campaign stop, Butina directly asked Trump a question about his thoughts on U.S. sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Crimea.

“I believe I would get along very nicely with Putin,” Trump replied. He added, “I don’t think you’d need the sanctions. I think we would get along very, very well.”

Notably, Butina’s plea deal also omitted the salacious accusation that Butina once offered sex in exchange for a prominent position, which was included in early court documents.

Butina’s lawyers long portrayed her as an ambitious, young college student eager to advance gun rights policy and cultivate ties between like-minded activists in Russia and the United States. She has been held in jail since her arrest, and her plight had become a diplomatic cause for the Kremlin, which regularly promoted her case. The Russian Foreign Ministry made Butina’s face its Twitter avatar for months.

Putin even swiftly weighed in on the deal.

"She's facing 15 years in prison. For what?" he said. "When I heard that something was happening to her ... I started by asking all our secret service chiefs: Who is she? Nobody knew anything about her!"