WASHINGTON – A 29-year-old Russian woman has been arrested for conspiringto influence US politics by cultivating ties with political groupsincluding the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun rights lobby.
Mariia Butina, whose name is sometimes spelled Maria, was arrested inWashington on Sunday and appeared in court on Monday, the JusticeDepartment said.
Butina was charged with conspiring to act as an agent of Russia “bydeveloping relationships with US persons and infiltrating organizationshaving influence in American politics,” it said in a statement.
Her arrest was announced as President Donald Trump flew back from Helsinkito Washington, following an inaugural summit with Vladimir Putin at whichhe was accused of failing to stand up to the Russian leader over electoralmeddling.
The Justice Department said Butina had broken US law by not disclosing toUS authorities that she was acting on behalf of the Russian government.
Butina had close ties to a “Russian official” who was not identified in thecharging documents but who has been widely reported to be a Russianpolitician named Alexander Torshin, it said.
An ally of Russian leader Putin, Torshin is currently a senior officialwith Russia s central bank and a former top Russian lawmaker.
He is one of a number of senior Russian officials subject to US sanctions.
The Justice Department said Butina carried out her activities in the UnitedStates at the direction of the “Russian official.”
It said Butina and the official sought to develop relationships with USpoliticians to create “back channel” lines of communications that could be”used by the Russian Federation to penetrate the US nationaldecision-making apparatus.”
Among the relationships forged by Butina were ties with a “gun rightsorganization,” which again was not identified but which is widely reportedto be the NRA, a strong ally of the Republican Party.
Butina was a gun rights activist with a Russian group called the Right toBear Arms and Torshin has long touted his connections with the NRAaccording to US media.
The announcement of Butina s arrest comes three days after 12 Russianintelligence operatives were indicted by a US grand jury for hackingHillary Clinton s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic Party.
The charges were drawn up by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the former FBIdirector who is looking into Russian interference in the November 2016 voteand whether any members of Trump s campaign team colluded with Moscow.
Trump on Monday again denied any collusion between his campaign and theKremlin and appeared to accept Russian denials of any meddling in USelections following his summit with Putin.
Putin also rejected claims by US intelligence agencies that Russia hadinterfered in the 2016 US presidential vote.
The New York Times reported that during the 2016 election campaign Butinahad twice tried to broker secret meetings between Trump and Putin.
The charges against Butina were brought by the US Attorney s Office for theDistrict of Columbia and not by the Special Counsel.
Trump, who is not named in any of the documents charging Butina, alsorepeated on Monday that he considers the Mueller probe a “witch hunt.”
Besides the 12 Russian intelligence agents, Mueller s team has indicted 13Russians and three companies for allegedly interfering in the presidentialvote.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been charged with moneylaundering and other crimes, while former national security adviser MichaelFlynn has admitted lying to the FBI. – APP/AFP