Russia and the NRA

#501
#501
evillawyer said:
I had seen some mention of Marsha Blackburn and a Nashville attorney in the earlier write-ups. This can't be a good look for her.
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On top of the indefensible massive blunder on being the key player on passing the law that undercut the DEA and fed the opioid crisis.
 
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#506
#506
Russian woman charged with spying for Moscow by 'infiltrating' NRA

A Russian woman has been charged with spying for Moscow in the US by infiltrating the National Rifle Association (NRA) in an attempt to influence the Republican party and American politics.

Maria Butina, who purported to be a pro-gun activist, met American politicians and candidates to establish back channels and secretly reported back to the Kremlin through a high-level Russian official, according to the US justice department.

Prosecutors said in a statement that Butina, 29, had been developing relationships with US persons and infiltrating organisations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian federation.

Butina was charged with conspiracy to act as a Russian agent within the US without notifying the attorney general. She was arrested on Sunday and appeared before a magistrate in Washington on Monday, officials said. In an affidavit, an FBI agent said investigators had searched Butina's laptop computer and mobile phone.
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#514
#514
DancingOutlaw said:
How is she a spy if people knew she was working for Russia? Her “crime” is not registering. In other words if she was registered and doing this there would be no story.
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Yeah, I'm sure the Russians wouldn't ever install a red-haired beauty as a honeypot trap sent here to dupe gullible, family values NRA evangelicals. This is a chapter straight out of a John Le Carre novel. Textbook.
 
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#516
#516
TennTom said:
Yeah, I'm sure the Russians wouldn't ever install a red-haired beauty as a honeypot trap sent here to dupe gullible, family values NRA evangelicals. This is a chapter straight out of a John Le Carre novel. Textbook.
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I thought the point was to funnel Russian cash into the NRA to win the election? Why would there be a need for seducing “family values evangelicals”?
 
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#518
#518
butina_fb.jpg


Trump meeting Russians in the white house after firing Comey.
 
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#520
#520
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#521
#521
#522
#522
"Butina wasn’t particularly good at maintaining her cover as someone unaffiliated with official Russia. When in the U.S. she had the opportunity to be “introduced to POLITICAL PARTY 1 leaders” (that would be some Republicans). The FBI reports she presented herself as a “representative of informal diplomacy” for Russia. Nor did she keep it a secret that she was looking to make nice with the GOP. The year before she came to the U.S. she published an article in the National Interest titled, “It may take the election of a Republican to the White House in 2016 to improve relations between the Russian Federation and the United States.”

Butina’s efforts, according to the FBI, were “diverse and multifaceted.” Not only did she try to organize some “friendship and dialogue” dinners and proposed a conference that never got off the ground, she attended “two National Prayer Breakfasts in the District of Columbia.”

The FBI’s affidavit devotes several pages to the National Prayer Breakfast. Among the surreptitious activities Butina is alleged to have undertaken: She reserved rooms at the Washington Hilton for the Russian delegation to the breakfast. Leading the delegation was Torshin, Butina’s undercover boss. But again, Butina seems to have forgotten that her role was a hush-hush one. The FBI alleges that “On January 26, 2017, BUTINA and the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL communicated via Twitter direct message about the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL delivering a speech the night before the National Prayer Breakfast.” The FBI continues: “BUTINA told the Russian Representative that ‘[t]he only thing I ask is to somehow mention me. They need to see me not as the delegation ‘organization committee’ but as your partner and colleague.’ The Russian Representative agreed as to the ‘need to stress [BUTINA’s] status as a key figure.’”

So, let’s get this straight: Butina is surreptitiously answering to Torshin, and yet she organizes a speech for him to give in Washington, and insists that she be publicly acknowledged as Torshin’s “partner and colleague.” Torshin had his own problems with keeping his operative on the Q.T.: In February 2016 he tweeted (in Russian) “Maria Butina is now in the USA. She writes to me that D. Trump (NRA member) really is for cooperation with Russia.”

Butina and Torshin may or may not have intended to bamboozle American politicos. But one thing is for sure: They have a lot to learn about the covert part of being “covert agents.”

Behind the Indictment of Maria Butina
 
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#524
#524
The honey trap never fails.

Russia’s Plan to Buy Off the GOP Began Before the Rise of Trump

“Here’s more from the affidavit, which can be hard to read because of Butina’s poor written English. In that March 24 email, she proposed to this American contact of hers something she called “Project Diplomacy.” The GOP, she wrote, is “traditionally associated with negative and aggressive foreign policy, particularly with regards to Russia. However, now with the right to negotiate seems best to build konstruktivnyh relations.” The email mentioned her ties to the NRA and the prominent role the NRA plays in Republican politics. It concludes by requesting $125,000 so she could attend “all upcoming major conferences” of the Republican Party.”
 
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