Accused Russian agent switches jails

A Russian woman accused of attempting to infiltrate the National Rifle Association and other American political groups as a covert agent for the Russian Federation has been moved from the Washington jail to the Alexandria, Va., jail, her attorney and jail officials said Saturday.

Maria Butina, 29, was indicted July 17 by a grand jury working with special counsel Robert Mueller on charges of conspiracy to act and failing to register as an agent of a foreign government. She pleaded innocent. Her attorney said Butina was merely networking to develop relationships with Americans.

An Alexandria jail spokesman declined to say why Butina was moved, and a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said, “As a matter of policy, we do not disclose information related to individual prisoners to protect their privacy, safety and security.”

The Russian Embassy in Washington has called Butina’s arrest politically motivated and complained about jail conditions, saying in a post on its website Thursday that embassy diplomats had visited Butina in jail and would be lodging a complaint with the U.S. State Department “demanding to stop psychologically pressuring and humiliating our fellow citizen.”

Butina’s attorney, Robert Driscoll, said Butina was not given a reason for the move between 5 and 6 p.m. Friday and that he did not know if it was related to the complaints. He said prosecutors told him they were unaware of the move.