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Maria Butina Charged in Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Federation Within the United States

PkunkFury

PkunkFury

Member
This broke about 6 hours ago, surprised there's no thread and not even any discussion in the Trump / Putin Conference thread, beyond the link I posted there

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/russ...agent-russian-federation-within-united-states

We have the sworn affidavit, which reveals a lot more of the investigation than Friday's indictments did:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1080766/download

This video shows Trump calling on Butina back in 2015 from a crowd of people to answer a question about Russian sanctions:
The affidavit implies that Trump new her before this was taped

quick summary of some of the juicy pieces in the affidavit:
  • strongly implies that Butina helped setup a communications channel between POLITICAL PARTY 1 leadership and the Kremlin via GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
  • implies the DOJ has evidence that Russia vetoed the choice of Mitt Romney as Secretary of State
  • hints at involvement of a number of US persons in establishing Russian / POLITICAL PARTY 1 connections
And a key line included in the affidavit:
Because this affidavit is being submitted for the limited purpose of establishing probable cause, it does not include every fact that I have learned during the course of this investigation.

This shows a few more cards in the DOJ's hand, but we're obviously still a ways from the end
 
dolabla

dolabla

Member
Pic:

maria_butina_ruger1022archangel_D6A5649web.jpg






5tLNGp1.jpg
 
D

Deleted member 12837

Unconfirmed Member
So, who do y'all think "POLITICAL PARTY 1" and "GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION" are?
 
A

Atrus

Gold Member
404Ender said:
So, who do y'all think "POLITICAL PARTY 1" and "GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION" are?
Click to expand...

Green Party and The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence with uh... the Candlestick. Jill Stein is a Manchurian candidate.
Like movies, its never the one that's most obvious, that's just to throw you off of the real villain.
 
Spheyr

Spheyr

Banned
It's insane how someone pro-gun could talk to the NRA, just fucking NUTS

Next you'll tell me someone pro-abortion might talk to Planned Parenthood, or someone pro-black would communicate with the NAACP. What a world, what a world....
 
H

Harksteed

Banned
Spheyr said:
It's insane how someone pro-gun could talk to the NRA, just fucking NUTS

Next you'll tell me someone pro-abortion might talk to Planned Parenthood, or someone pro-black would communicate with the NAACP. What a world, what a world....
Click to expand...
This is the hottest of takes lmao
 
cryptoadam

cryptoadam

Banned
So if this women could so easily infilitrate the US election systems, can you imagine how many chinese/British/German/Israeli/French etc spies there are.

I imagine if you created a special counsel and gave them unlimited resources and budget they could turn up plenty of spies of other countries trying to influence American election.
 
N

norm9

Member
This arrest got Dana Loesch to clam up on twitter after yelling about the NRA NOT taking Russian money, so it's definitely big news.
 
T

TheMikado

Banned
Sorry to bring this up again but I want to touch on some relevant facts in this indictment:

It appears that Butina actually requested funding from a what the indictment calls U.S. Person 1. If true this brings up the frightening possibility that Americans are bankrolling Russian projects.
 
Phoenix RISING

Phoenix RISING

Banned
TheMikado said:
Sorry to bring this up again but I want to touch on some relevant facts in this indictment:

It appears that Butina actually requested funding from a what the indictment calls U.S. Person 1. If true this brings up the frightening possibility that Americans are bankrolling Russian projects.
Click to expand...

You say frightening, I say sobering.

But I won't be the least bit surprised....
 
DunDunDunpachi

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
TheMikado said:
Sorry to bring this up again but I want to touch on some relevant facts in this indictment:

It appears that Butina actually requested funding from a what the indictment calls U.S. Person 1. If true this brings up the frightening possibility that Americans are bankrolling Russian projects.
Click to expand...
The Republicans have been rolling with that idea for a while now. Don't tell me you've become a believer in Uranium One?
 
rokkerkory

rokkerkory

Member
NRA admitting taking $ from Russian sources too.

There was a law that allowed orgs like NRA not having to disclose donors that passes around this time.

Amazing coincidence!
 
TheShadowLord

TheShadowLord

Member
TheMikado said:
Sorry to bring this up again but I want to touch on some relevant facts in this indictment:

It appears that Butina actually requested funding from a what the indictment calls U.S. Person 1. If true this brings up the frightening possibility that Americans are bankrolling Russian projects.
Click to expand...

This dude maybe?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erickson_(activist)

Erickson has strong ties to both the National Rifle Association and the Russian gun rights community.[2] He has publicly supported Maria Butina, now in jail, a former assistant to Aleksandr Torshin and the founder of a Russian gun rights group called “The Right to Bear Arms.” In 2016, Erickson and Butina set up a South Dakota business named "Bridges, LLC", which Erickson later said was created to provide financial assistance for Butina's graduate studies.[12]

During Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, Erickson attempted to develop a back-channel between the NRA and the Russian government.[2] In May 2016, Erickson sent an e-mail with the subject line "Kremlin Connection" to Trump campaign adviser Rick Dearborn asking Dearborn and then-Senator Jeff Sessions for advice on setting up a meeting between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin at an annual NRA convention.[2][13][14] After Trump won the general election in November 2016, Erickson said he was advising his transition team.[6]

Erickson, Butina, and Torshin have been part of an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[15][12] Torshin has also been the subject of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigations into whether the Russian government attempted to illegally funnel money to the NRA in order to help Trump win the presidency.[16] In July 2018 Butina was arrested by the FBI and charged with conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian Federation. Authorities said an unnamed American political operative, later identified as Erickson, worked with Butina to arrange introductions to influential people inside the U.S. and to advance Russian interests.[17]
 
Dev1lXYZ

Dev1lXYZ

Member
After reading up on Butina, it looks to me like she was being used to funnel money through the NRA to gain access to Republicans. She was arrested for being an unregistered foreign agent. I don't think that it's a big deal because this kind of thing is common as dirt within politics. Lobbyists that represent foreign interests are very abundant in DC. Butina broke the law, but I doubt that there is any political fallout. What is kind of funny is that she had a very pro-gun stance and Putin is very anti gun. Was she funded by pro gun opponents of the Kremlin? From the intercepted tweets they certainly had a 'victory' agenda. Perhaps convincing the Russian people they needed gun rights?
 
shira

shira

Member
PkunkFury said:
This broke about 6 hours ago, surprised there's no thread and not even any discussion in the Trump / Putin Conference thread, beyond the link I posted there
Click to expand...
tbh there is just so much information one can process in a day.
It's just bombshell after bombshell
 
H

Harksteed

Banned
norm9 said:
I was paraphrasing the ridiculouslness of one or two people in this thread.

Between this thread and the press conference thread, the running theme is "no big deal."
Click to expand...
You're ridiculing people saying it's not a big deal then, right?
Sorry, I honestly can't tell anymore on this site.
 
T

TheMikado

Banned
It’s funny, I was planning a thread showing all the crazy links which have been confirmed. The more I read the more I realized there are ALOT of compromised people. If you read her indictment it talks about a literal list of people for Butina to meet which her acting as a conduit for Russia. Meaning at the very list she/ the FBI has this list of individuals who she planned to meet and were aware of her operations, with Person 1 even confirming in an email exchange she has already met many influential people.

When this cracks open there could be a potential TON of people in crap.
 
N

norm9

Member
Dev1lXYZ said:


Styx comments about Butina in this video. Totally agree with everything he states.
Click to expand...

So Trump didn't misspeak is the title; Is he talking about Tuesday, Wednesday, or today's backtrack?

ETA- And if he didn't misspeak initially, why's he keep changing his mind over and over? Is flip flop trump afraid?
 
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Dev1lXYZ

Dev1lXYZ

Member
norm9 said:
So Trump didn't misspeak is the title; Is he talking about Tuesday, Wednesday, or today's backtrack?

ETA- And if he didn't misspeak initially, why's he keep changing his mind over and over? Is flip flop trump afraid?
Click to expand...

Watch the video, don’t just read the title and go shooting you mouth off.

Trump making peace with Russia scares the crap out of a lot of people. Our Space Force needs Russia to be a part of it, as they have some amazing rocket engine technology. Hell, include them in it. Maybe the Chinese will come to the table as well. The big three make peace and humanity leaps into space with both feet finally.
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a multinational space exploration organization? It could be like what happened in Star Trek minus WWIII. US-UK-GER-RUS-CHI
 
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rokkerkory

rokkerkory

Member
Interesting how laws were passed so that NRA didn't have to disclose donors right after millions were funneled from russians
 
D

DasPenguin

Member
Dev1lXYZ said:
Watch the video, don’t just read the title and go shooting you mouth off.

Trump making peace with Russia scares the crap out of a lot of people. Our Space Force needs Russia to be a part of it, as they have some amazing rocket engine technology. Hell, include them in it. Maybe the Chinese will come to the table as well. The big three make peace and humanity leaps into space with both feet finally.
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a multinational space exploration organization? It could be like what happened in Star Trek minus WWIII. US-UK-GER-RUS-CHI
Click to expand...

So the last president(s) have been at war with Russia? Is that your argument?

Dev1lXYZ said:
Trump is never going to go to prison. He’ll probably pass more tax cuts and create more jobs and win a second term.
Click to expand...

The last part is true. President will never end up in prison. The worst case scenario is Nixon 2.0. But can we cut the "Trump turned around the economy" crap like right about now? That would be great. Also those tax cuts that mostly help rich people and that will "trickle down" to the working man and poor people... That has always worked so well in the long run. Oh wait, it hasn't. Good luck with that though.
 
Dev1lXYZ

Dev1lXYZ

Member
DasPenguin said:
So the last president(s) have been at war with Russia? Is that your argument?



The last part is true. President will never end up in prison. The worst case scenario is Nixon 2.0. But can we cut the "Trump turned around the economy" crap like right about now? That would be great. Also those tax cuts that mostly help rich people and that will "trickle down" to the working man and poor people... That has always worked so well in the long run. Oh wait, it hasn't. Good luck with that though.
Click to expand...

No President has been truly at war with Russia. I would a good many have seen Russia as a serious adversary, especially during the Cold War. My statement mentioned exactly what it read like: peace with Russia scares the crap out of a lot of people.

Trump did turn the economy around. I actually am an American, work and earn an income. I can definitely see a substantial difference in my income and I am not rich by any means. No crap to cut, sorry. Unemployment is the lowest since the last century, lowest Black unemployment as well as Hispanic unemployment- ever.

Thanks to TRUMP
 
D

Deleted member 12837

Unconfirmed Member
Dev1lXYZ said:
Trump did turn the economy around. I actually am an American, work and earn an income. I can definitely see a substantial difference in my income and I am not rich by any means. No crap to cut, sorry. Unemployment is the lowest since the last century, lowest Black unemployment as well as Hispanic unemployment- ever.

Thanks to TRUMP
Click to expand...

Turned it around from what? When was it plummeting?

Your income !== the economy. I'm happy for you and all of the people who got bonuses or raises over the past couple of years that can be traced back to Trump policies. And I'm glad that it hasn't plateaued with Trump as president. But the economy has been trending up continuously since the financial crisis ended (stock market up, unemployment going down, etc), so it's disingenuous to say otherwise and act like we were in some dire spot and needed saving before he was elected.
 
Dev1lXYZ

Dev1lXYZ

Member
404Ender said:
Turned it around from what? When was it plummeting?

Your income !== the economy. I'm happy for you and all of the people who got bonuses or raises over the past couple of years that can be traced back to Trump policies. And I'm glad that it hasn't plateaued with Trump as president. But the economy has been trending up continuously since the financial crisis ended (stock market up, unemployment going down, etc), so it's disingenuous to say otherwise and act like we were in some dire spot and needed saving before he was elected.
Click to expand...

Direct your attention to the center ring. I present to you:

It's the Trump economy, stupid

a Dev1lXYZ/The Hill joint
A NoLibtard Production

May 7, 2018

Two stories appeared on the front page and above the fold in the New York Times over the ‎weekend. The first was about the seemingly never-ending Russia probe. The second was about the Labor Department reporting the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 20 years. Which of these two stories do you think American voters care more about?
It's not just the 3.9 percent unemployment rate that is worth celebrating. The growth rate of the economy over the last four quarters was just under 3 percent, a level that almost all liberal economists said was impossible to achieve and yet with Donald Trump after one year in office, here we are. In just more than one year in the White House, he has achieved a growth rate that is higher than Obama was able to achieve in eight years.
Oh, and by the way, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimated last week that growth in April hit 4 percent. Meanwhile, a survey of manufacturers finds that more than 90 percent are bullish about the future. There are now an estimated 6 million more jobs than available workers with the skills to fill them.
The New York Times wondered last week whether we are going to see inflation rising from 2 percent as a result of the surging demand for workers. The Washington Post reported that some blue collar workers are now getting signing bonuses of up to $25,000. Who do these workers think they are? Derek Jeter?

On Friday, Obama's White House chief of staff, Valerie Jarrett (yes, she's back) ‎said on CNN that Obama deserves most of the credit for the boon and this is the left's new riff. What else could she say? The previous administration's staffers are genetically incapable of admitting that Trump deserves credit for anything.
This storyline that Obama is responsible for the bullish job market might have a sliver of credibility if it weren't for several inconvenient facts. First, almost every liberal analyst who now says that Obama deserves the credit was one who told us that Trump would surely crash the economy and the stock market if he won the election.
So let's get this straight: Trump's policies are to blame if the economy tanks, but he gets no credit if it soars? That's heads I win, tails you lose logic. Second, the economy was slowing down at the end of Obama presidency. The last year Obama was in office, the economy grew by 1.6 percent, which is barely staying out of inflation.

Bada Bing Bada Boom

THE END

(Roll Credits)

https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/opinion/finance/386482-its-the-trump-economy-stupid?amp
 
Arkage

Arkage

Banned
Lol not surprising this is derailing into an economics argument. It's a good distraction to sucker people into.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Ms. Butina started working for the Russian government as early as 2015, when she and an unnamed Russian official conspired to develop relationships with Americans to establish a “back channel” for communications in the hopes of penetrating “the U.S. national decision-making apparatus to advance the agenda of” Russia.

The Russian official, not named in court documents, is identifiable as Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of the country’s central bank who was sanctioned by the U.S. in April.

Ms. Butina followed Mr. Torshin’s direction as she sought access to influential people tied to the NRA and the GOP, as well as events such as the National Prayer Breakfast, the FBI said.

In a message the morning after Donald Trump won the presidency, she told Mr. Torshin she was “ready for further orders.”

The FBI affidavit alleges that Ms. Butina received help from two unnamed U.S. citizens, including “an American political operative” who arranged introductions to influential figures.

...she attended FreedomFest, a libertarian gathering in Las Vegas, where Mr. Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), then a presidential candidate, were speaking. She rose to ask Mr. Trump a question about how he would get along with Russia if elected.

“I know Putin, and I’ll tell you what, we get along with Putin,” he replied, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Click to expand...

Between this and the Russian indictments, we're starting to see some real red meat from the Mueller investigation. But you can bet he will save his best for last.
 
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