Activist linked to spy charged with fraud

WASHINGTON: A conservative US political activist romantically linked to Russian agent Maria Butina has been indicted by a federal grand jury on wire fraud and money-laundering charges, says the US Attorney’s Office in South Dakota.

Paul Erickson, 56, faces 11 charges. He pleaded not guilty before US Magistrate Judge Mark Moreno.

Erickson is a well-known figure in Republican and conservative circles and was a senior official in Pat Buchanan’s 1992 Republican presidential campaign.

He was romantically linked to Butina, 30, a native of Siberia, who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Butina admitted working with a top Russian official to infiltrate the National Rifle Association gun rights group and to make inroads with US conservatives and the Republican Party as an agent for Moscow. |