It’s the first time the Justice Department has explicitly claimed that a Russian spy working to influence the 2016 campaign had deliberate assistance with her efforts from a U.S. citizen. On Monday, the DOJ arrested and charged a Russian national who courted the NRA and the Republican Party with secretly working as a foreign agent.
The criminal complaint already has geopolitical implications, with the Russian Embassy calling for access to the alleged spy. And its implications for domestic politics also could be tectonic: The case is as close as it gets to collusion. According to the Justice Department, at least one American helped her with her influence operation.
In a sworn affidavit, FBI agent Kevin Helson said Maria Butina worked to set up “back channel” communications between Americans and the Kremlin. Her effort was underway by March 2015—months before Donald Trump entered the presidential campaign, according to the affidavit. And it kicked into high gear during the election season.
“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,” Agent Helson wrote.
Helson said he believed Butina moved to infiltrate an American gun rights organization as part of her pro-Kremlin operations. The affidavit does not name the gun rights organization but says it is a major donor to congressional campaigns. Butina has spent years aggressively courting the leadership of the NRA, which matches the description in the affidavit.
Butina’s apparent supervisor, former Russian senator Alexander Torshin, also spent years building relationships in the NRA. In 2015, he was pictured at a meeting in Moscow with a high-level delegation from the NRA and sanctioned Putin deputy Dmitry Rogozin. Rogozin, an ultra-nationalist hardliner, believes Russia should retake Alaska. Torshin faces money-laundering allegations from Spanish authorities.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-nra-arrest-this-is-as-close-as-it-gets-to-collusion?ref=home
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