Woman arrested in Washington, accused of being Russian government agent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A 29-year-old Russian woman living in Washington, DC, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government while developing ties with American citizens and infiltrating political groups, the US Justice Department said on Monday.
Maria Butina, who studied at American University in Washington and is a founder of the pro-gun Russian advocacy group Right to Bear Arms, was arrested on Sunday and accused of operating at the direction of a high-level official who worked for the Russian Central Bank and was recently sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Justice Department said.
The court records did not name the official.
Butina has appeared in numerous photographs on her Facebook page with Alexander Torshin, the deputy head of Russia’s Central Bank who was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in April. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Butina worked for him as an assistant. Other media reported on a business relationship between Butina and Torshin.
Torshin did not reply to a request for comment. The Russian Central Bank declined to comment.
Robert Driscoll, an attorney for Butina, said she was not a Russian agent. He said she was cooperating with US authorities and had previously appeared voluntarily behind closed doors for eight hours before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Her apartment was raided by the FBI in April, he said.
“Ms. Butina intends to defend her rights vigorously and looks forward to clearing her name,” Driscoll said.
The Justice Department complaint was made public on the same day President Donald Trump met Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a summit in Helsinki, at which Trump refused to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
The Justice Department said in its complaint that Butina worked with two unnamed US citizens and the Russian official to try to influence American politics and infiltrate a pro-gun rights organization.
The complaint did not name the group, however photos on her Facebook page showed that she attended events sponsored by the National Rifle Association. An NRA spokesman did not reply to requests for comment.
Butina allegedly arranged dinners in Washington and New York City and tried to develop relationships with American politicians to establish “back channel” lines of communication to “penetrate the US national decision-making apparatus,” the complaint said.
The complaint did not specifically mention Trump’s campaign.