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US Charges Russian Woman With Conspiracy to Infiltrate American Organizations

by Masood Farivar

   An aide to a top Russian government official under U.S. sanctions was
   charged on Monday with conspiracy to infiltrate American organizations
   as part of Moscow's influence operations in the United States.

   Maria Butina, 29, was arrested on Sunday on charges of conspiring to
   act as an agent of the Russian government in the United States without
   notifying the attorney general. Butina appeared before a federal
   magistrate in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on
   Monday and was ordered held, pending a bond hearing on Wednesday.

   According to an FBI affidavit, between 2015 and 2017, Butina worked as
   an assistant to a top official of the Russian Central Bank who
   previously served in the country's legislature. The affidavit doesn't
   name the official but says he was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury
   Department in April.

   In April the Treasury Department announced sanctions against 17 senior
   Russian government officials, including Alexander Torshin, the deputy
   governor of the country's central bank.

   While posing as a student in the United States, Butina is accused of
   working at the direction of Torshin to advance Russian interests in the
   United States. As part of her efforts, she interacted with two
   unidentified American citizens to arrange meetings and dinners with
   influential Americans.

   Butina met the first American in Moscow in 2013. The American worked
   with Butina "to jointly arrange introductions to U.S. persons having
   influence in Americans politics, including an organization promoting
   gun rights '¦ for the purpose of advancing the agenda of the Russian
   Federation," according to the affidavit.

   The second unidentified American citizen was included in a series of
   email communications in 2016 and 2017 that show Butina's efforts "to
   arrange a series of dinners in the District of Columbia and New York
   City involving Russian nationals and U.S. persons having influence in
   American politics," the affidavit alleges.

   The affidavit describes Russia as "some of the leading state
   intelligence threats to U.S. interests, based on its capabilities,
   intent and broad operational scope."

   On Friday, a grand jury in Washington indicted 12 Russian military
   intelligence officers with hacking Democratic computer networks during
   the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goal of disrupting the
   vote.

   U.S. President Donald Trump told a joint press conference with the
   Russian President Vladimir Putin that while he had confidence in U.S.
   intelligence agencies, he believed Putin's denial that Russia
   interfered in the U.S. election.