Gulf Today

STEEPED IN INTRIGUE

A linchpin of the case against Maria Butina is a document her American boyfriend, Paul Erickson, helped her draft for her Russian handler titled “Descriptio­n of Diplomacy Project”

- BY EVAN HALPER AND CHRIS MEGERIAN

Even after she pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to help the Russian government exert Inluence over AMERICAN politician­s and operatives, the question remains open whether the case against Maria Butina is the stuff of a James Bond script or just the story of a naive Russian grad student.

Either way, the 30-year-old gun rights enthusiast sitting in a federal cell in Virginia has become an intriguing character in the investigat­ion into Russian efforts to sway American politics. She is the irst Russian national to BE CONVICTED for conspiracy around the 2016 election, and her willingnes­s to cooperate with prosecutor­s has touched off all manner of speculatio­n about where it will lead.

Butina’s is a curious case. The entreprene­urial Russian agent, who was pursuing a graduate degree at American University in Washington, ran a side business that prosecutor­s have characteri­sed as espionage.

INFLUENCE PEDDLING

She enlisted her American boyfriend, IDENTIIED In Court papers As “US Person 1” — but known to be Paul Erickson, 56, a longtime Republican operative — in her scheme to help russia curry favour with the US government by building back-channel relationsh­ips. She took her instructio­ns From A HIGH-LEVEL Russian OFICIAL AND drew up an extensive plan for helping Russia Iniltrate THE AMERICAN political system, in part by working through the National RILE Associatio­n.

“It shows another dimension in the overall Russian Effort to Iniltrate THE AMERICAN political system AND Inluence it,” said David Kris, a former assistant attorney general for national security and a cofounder of the Culper Partners consulting company. “It’s a demonstrat­ion of the diversity of their efforts.”

But the master plan some interpret as sensationa­l has caused others to shrug their shoulders. The rules are blurry in the world of Inluence PEDDLING, AND routine lobbying and networking can quickly cross the line into a place where prosecutor­s have a criminal case, particular­ly when the players involved are Russian.

By the time Butina pleaded guilty, prosecutor­s had backed off some of the most sensationa­l charges they had previously leveled against her. They had recanted their claim that she offered to TRADE sex For Help Iniltratin­g THE AMERICAN political system, acknowledg­ing that they misinterpr­eted some text messages in which Butina joked with a friend. They abandoned claims that Butina was in contact with Russian intelligen­ce agencies and that the relationsh­ip with Erickson was one of convenienc­e as part of her plot to BUILD HER network of Influentia­l American politicos.

Butina ultimately pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to act as a foreign agent. After already serving ive months In JAIL, SHE Could BE RELEASED as soon as her sentencing hearing in February. She is likely to be deported upon release, according to her plea deal.

FODDER FOR PROBE

The Butina prosecutio­n, which is being handled by the US attorney’s OFICE In Washington, Is separate From the Russia investigat­ion led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Mueller is focused on ties between President Donald Trump’s team and Russians who interfered in the presidenti­al election. The special counsel has charged more than two dozen Russians with hacking Democratic Party emails and spreading misinforma­tion on social media as part of a covert, Kremlin-backed campaign.

Butina has no known connection­s to Trump, other than a photograph with his son, Donald Trump Jr., which she got at an NRA convention, and a question she once asked the future president at a public forum.

But the young Russian aggressive­ly sought connection­s with other prominent Republican­s — efforts that brought her under the FBI’S scrutiny as soon as the 2016 presidenti­al campaign got underway. Amassing evidence was not Dificult. Butina posted It on social MEDIA herself. There she was in a photo with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who she told her Russian handler would probably be the next president of the United States. There she was again in the photo with Trump’s son.

Butina predicted Republican­s would retake the White House, and she saw the NRA as the place to build inroads with the GOP. She wasn’t wrong about that — the gun lobby spent tens of millions on behalf of Republican candidates. Butina AND HER Russian HANDLER, A igure prosecutor­s label in court papers as “Russian OFICIAL” But who HAS BEEN IDENTIIED As ALEXANDER Torshin, An OFICIAL In Russia’s central bank, persuaded members of the gun rights group to visit Moscow in 2015. During that visit, according to court documents, the Americans met with HIGH-LEVEL oficials In Moscow.

Despite the lack of connection­s between Butina and the president, the details in her indictment and plea are obvious fodder for investigat­ors as Democrats prepare to take over the House, with their inquiry into possible collusion between Republican­s and Russia being a top priority.

“The guilty plea of Russian operative Maria Butina today raises the questions of what DID @NRA oficials know AND when did they know it?” Rep. Ted Lieu, wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “The plea also raises the issue of what GOP party members or electeds may have known. Oh, and in January, House Democrats control subpoena power.”

ENSNARED?

Butina appears to have been ensnared in a bigger investigat­ion focused on Torshin, who has been attending NRA convention­s since 2011. Prosecutor­s have signaled one of their next targets is Erickson, who court papers suggest was deeply involved in trying to help Torshin win Favour with Influentia­l REPUBLICAN­S.

Democrats already had Erickson in their sights, after an email surfaced last year in which he had tried to broker a pre-2016 election meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. That meeting never happened.

A linchpin of the case against Butina, meanwhile, is a document Erickson helped her draft for her Russian handler titled “Descriptio­n of Diplomacy Project.” In it, Butina downplayed the possibilit­y of Influencin­g US FOREIGN policy toward Russia through OFICIAL Channels, criticisin­g “government unwillingn­ess to compromise,” prosecutor­s wrote in their Court iling. “As An Alternativ­e, Butina SUGGESTED that Russia Could use unoficial channels to the same end.”

She boasted that she had already “laid THE Groundwork For An unoficial Channel of communicat­ion with the next US administra­tion.” Erickson, according to the court papers, provided Butina “with informatio­n about prominent US political igures,” AND AFTER SHE PERSUADED some “powerful members” of the NRA to come to Moscow, Erickson provided Butina “his assessment on their degree of political Inluence In THE UNITED States.”

After the visit, Butina sent a note to Torshin about the NRA delegation, advising: “We should let them express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later.” Prosecutor­s did not provide any evidence of follow-through on the cryptic advice, or identify who exactly the Russians had intended to put pressure on and how.

FRIENDSHIP DINNERS

Butina also leaned on Erickson for help targeting guests to invite to “friendship dinners” thrown “to cultivate lines of communicat­ion with individual­s she believed would have the ear of the next Us presidenti­al administra­tion ,” according to prosecutor­s. And prosecutor­s accuse Erickson of helping Butina and Torshin scheme to send a Russian delegation to the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington for the purpose of building back channels for Russian communicat­ion with AMERICANS who CAN Inluence US policy.

THE Court iling quotes An EMAIL From Erickson to an unnamed person promising that reaction to the delegation in America would be communicat­ed directly to Putin.

Erickson’s lawyer has already received a “target letter” from prosecutor­s, warning him that they are mulling charges that he secretly acted as an agent for a foreign government, according to a report in The Daily Beast. Erickson’s lawyer told the outlet that his client “has never done anything to hurt our country and never would.”

Time will tell if the US attorney’s OFICE HAS A CASE AGAINST Erickson. IF It does, Butina could take on yet another identity — star witness for the prosecutio­n.

 ?? Associated Press ?? This courtroom sketch shows Maria Butina, (centre), next to her attorney Robert Driscoll, before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, during a court hearing at the US District Court in Washington on Thursday.
Associated Press This courtroom sketch shows Maria Butina, (centre), next to her attorney Robert Driscoll, before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, during a court hearing at the US District Court in Washington on Thursday.

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