In plea deal, Russian woman admits to being a secret agent
WASHINGTON — A Russian gun-rights activist admitted Thursday that she was a secret agent for the Kremlin who tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump rose to power.
Maria Butina, 30, agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.
“Guilty,” Butina said in a slight accent when asked how she wanted to plead. Dressed in a green jail uniform with her red hair pulled into a long ponytail, Butina spoke softly and mostly kept her eyes on the judge.
The Butina case has provided a vivid glimpse into Russia’s influence operations in the United States at a time when the U.S. intelligence community has determined that Russia was trying to help elect Trump by releasing emails stolen from Democrats and conducting a social media campaign in an attempt to sow political discord.
The case also lays bare how Russia tried to exploit one of the most sensitive social issues in the U.S. — gun control — to gain access to the political sphere.
Prosecutors say Butina and her Russian patron, Alexander Torshin, used their contacts in the National Rifle Association to pursue back channels to American conservatives during the 2016 campaign, when Trump, a Republican, defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Court documents detail how Butina saw the Republican Party as prime for Russian influence and courted conservatives through networking and contacts with the NRA. She posed for photos with prominent Republicans and snagged a picture with Donald Trump Jr. at a 2016 NRA dinner.