Russian agent says work 'valuable' to Kremlin

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Russian agent says work 'valuable' to Kremlin


story.lead_photo.caption This Aug. 17, 2018, file photo provided by the Alexandria (Va.) Detention Center shows Maria Butina. Butina, who admitted being a secret agent for the Kremlin believed Russian officials would consider her notes and analysis to be “valuable” as she tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups.

WASHINGTON -- A Russian gun rights activist who admitted she was a secret agent for the Kremlin and tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups while Donald Trump rose to power says she believed her notes and analysis would be "valuable" for Russian officials.

Maria Butina, who admitted covertly gathering intelligence on the National Rifle Association and other groups at the direction of a former Russian lawmaker, spoke to National Public Radio in an interview that aired Friday.

Butina pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent and was sentenced in April to serve 18 months behind bars. The 30-year-old has been jailed since her arrest in July.

Read more at: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/may/11/russian-agent-says-work-valuable-to-kre/

Maria Butina Says She Was 'Building Peace.' That's Not How The Feds See It

Maria Butina says this is all a big misunderstanding.

Was she part of the vast Russian government effort to influence politics within the United States?

“Absolutely not,” she said.

The Russian woman who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to serve as a foreign agent inside the United States says she simply didn’t know she was supposed to register.

Read more at: https://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-maria-butina-says-she-was-building-peace-thats-not-how-the-feds-see-it/

It's really hard for me to find her sinister.

Exclusive NPR Interview:   https://www.npr.org/about-npr/722070907/npr-news-exclusive-interview-with-maria-butina