The lawyer representing alleged Russian agent Maria Butina slammed prosecutors’ claim that the 29-year-old used sex to infiltrate the conservative movement as a “sexist smear” against his client.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that Butina, who was arrested in July and charged with working to infiltrate the conservative political groups and the National Rifle Association as an unregistered Russian agent, at least once offered sex to someone “in exchange for a position within a special interest organization.” They described her romantic relationship with American political operative Paul Erickson as “duplicitous.”
[Also read: Lawyers for alleged Russian agent Maria Butina accused of violating court rules]
Butina’s attorney, Robert Driscoll, pushed back on those assertions, saying the only evidence the government has that she tried to use sex in exchange for a job is a three-year-old text message with a longtime male friend in Russia, who had taken Butina’s car for an annual inspection and insurance renewal.
In a court filing Friday, Butina’s lawyer detailed the text exchange.
“I don’t know what you owe me for this insurance they put me through the wringer,” the man texted Butina.
“Sex. Thank you so much. I have nothing else at all. Not a nickel to my name,” Butina wrote back.
Driscoll said the text exchange was merely a joke between two friends and there was no evidence that the two ever had sex.
“The impact of this inflammatory allegation, which painted Ms. Butina as some type of Kremlin-trained seductress, or spy-novel honeypot character, trading sex for access and power, cannot be overstated,” he wrote in the court filing.
“The government’s proffer is a sexist smear, using a three-year-old offhand joking reference to suggest that Ms. Butina is some kind of James Bond spy character, promiscuously using sex to advance her career,” he continued.
Butina’s lawyer also shot back at prosecutors’ claims that she had expressed disdain about having to live with Erickson. Driscoll said the allegation is based solely a text exchange from 2015 between Butina and a female friend.
According to Driscoll, Butina’s friend had first complained about her own boyfriend not calling her in three weeks. Butina responded that Erickson had been “bugging the shit out of me with his mom,” causing her to feel like she was “residing in a nursing home.”
