A Russian central bank staffer with close ties to the National Rifle Association has been charged with acting as an agent for Russia, without registering with the U.S. government as required by law, the Justice Department announced Monday.
Maria Butina, 29, the founder of Russian gun rights group the Right to Bear Arms and former assistant to Aleksandr Torshin, a former Russian senator and close friend of President Vladmir Putin, was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the U.S.
Court documents made public Monday say Butina tried to “exploit personal connections with U.S. persons having influence in American politics in an effort to advance the interests of the Russian Federation” and to “infiltrate organizations active in U.S. politics in an effort to advance the interests of the Russian Federation.”
Butina first entered into the U.S. in August 2016 on a student visa, but immediately began serving as a special assistant to an unnamed Russian official.
That Russian official is likely Torshin, who dined with Donald Trump Jr. at the 2016 NRA convention. Butina was also present, though the president’s son said the interaction was not memorable.
Torshin, who is also deputy governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department this year.
McClatchy reported in January that the FBI is investigating whether Torshin illegally funneled money to the NRA to help elect Donald Trump.
Court documents show that Butina and the Russian official, Torshin, took steps to develop relationships with American politicians in order to establish what she called “back channel” lines of communication.
“These lines could be used by the Russian Federation to penetrate the U.S. national decision-making apparatus to advance the agenda of the Russian Federation,” the affidavit, written by FBI Special Agent Kevin Helson, said.
“I believe that Butina and the Russian official took these steps in order to infiltrate those groups and advance the interests of the Russian Federation,” Helson wrote.
Neither the American politicians nor the groups are named, though a “gun rights organization” is likely the NRA.
Butina asked Trump during a July 2015 town hall meeting in Las Vegas: “What will be your foreign politics, especially in the relations with my country.”
“I know Putin and I’ll tell you what, we get along with Putin,” Trump responded.
Butina also joined Republican operative Paul Erickson at Trump’s inauguration.
Butina was taken into custody Sunday and appeared at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday. She will be in court again Wednesday for a detention hearing and preliminary hearing.
In a written statement, Robert Driscoll, an attorney for Butina, said Butina is “not an agent” of Russia, and noted she has cooperated with the Senate Intelligence Committee in its investigation into Russian meddling and has produced “thousands of documents.”
“The substance of the charge in the complaint is overblown,” Driscoll said. “While styled as some sort of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agent Registration Act, in actuality it describes a conspiracy to have a ‘friendship dinner’ at Bistro Bis with a group of Americans and Russians to discuss foreign relations between the two countries.”
He added: “There is simply no indication of Butina seeking to influence or undermine any specific policy or law in the United States.”
Driscoll said Butina is willing to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller, but his office “has no expressed interest.”
The charges against Butina come just days after the Mueller unveiled an indictment against 12 Russian intelligence officers for allegations of hacking Democrats in 2016, and just hours after Trump met with Putin in Helsinki and cast doubt on the Kremlin’s election interference.
Mueller has been investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible connections to the Trump campaign since his appointment in May 2017.
[Also read: Robert Mueller indicts 12 Russian officers for election meddling, hacking into Clinton’s emails]
