The gun enthusiast who turned out to be a Russian agent
WASHINGTON: Maria Butina pleaded guilty to acting as an undeclared Russian agent in the US and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
The 30-year-old gun enthusiast operated as a Kremlin agent as she befriended National Rifle Association leaders and influential conservatives, she admitted on Thursday in a federal court in Washington.
“Butina sought to establish unofficial lines of communi- cation with Americans having power and influence over US politics,” prosecutor Erik Kenerson said at the hearing, reading from the government’s statement of facts. “Butina sought to use those unofficial lines of communication for the benefit of the Russian Federation.”
Asked by US district judge Tanya Chutkan if she agreed with the government’s characterisation of the conspiracy, Butina said “yes”.
Butina, who remains jailed, faces a maximum of five years in prison, but she won’t be sentenced immediately. Her cooperation could lead to a reduced punishment. The judge scheduled a status hearing for February 12. The NRA and the Kremlin didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Russian foreign ministry said earlier on Thursday that any decision Butina took to help free her from detention in the US would be supported by Russia.
Butina was arrested in July.
While in the US starting in 2015, she was working to advance Russia’s interests, reporting regularly to a senior Russian official, according to her guilty plea.
The charges were filed by the justice department’s national security unit and US prosecutors in Washington, rather than by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential election.
Butina’s admission added to the drumbeat of developments in investigations related to the 2016 presidential election.