Russian national arrested on charges of conspiring against US

Washington, July 17

The United States has arrested a Russian woman and charged her with conspiring to act as a Kremlin agent while residing in America without registering as a foreign agent.

Maria Butina, 29, a Russian citizen residing in Washington DC, was arrested on July 15. She made her initial court appearance on Monday afternoon and was ordered held pending a hearing set for Wednesday.

According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, from as early as 2015 and continuing through at least February 2017, Butina worked at the direction of a high-level Kremlin official, who was previously a member of the legislature of the Russian Federation and later became a top official at the Russian Central Bank.

This Russian official was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control in April this year, the Justice Department said.

The court filings detail the efforts of the Russian official and Butina for her to act as an agent of Russia inside the US by developing relationships with local people and infiltrating organisations having influence in American politics for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.

Federal prosecutors in their court filings describe certain actions taken by Butina to further this effort during multiple visits from Russia and later when she entered and resided in the US on a student visa.

The filings allege that she undertook her activities without officially disclosing the fact that she was acting as an agent of Russian government, as required by law. She faces a maximum penalty of five years.

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein in a statement also alleged that Butina used a pro-gun group to connect with American politicians and sought ‘back channel’ communications that could be used by Russia to influence US policy.

“Today’s complaint is another development in the ongoing investigation into Russia’s efforts to attack our democracy. As more pieces of Russia’s vast effort to undermine US democracy are revealed, President (Donald) Trump’s failure to stand up to President (Vladimir) Putin and protect our national security looks even worse,” Feinstein said.

She said that this complaint should serve as a stark reminder that Russia is not an ally of the US and that America must get to the bottom of exactly what happened during the 2016 election and who was involved. PTI