Maria Butina, the 30-year-old Russian woman arrested and charged earlier this year with acting as an unregistered agent of the Russian government in the U.S., pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court after previously entering a plea of not guilty.
Butina admitted in the District Court for the District of Columbia that she and an American, known in court documents as “U.S. Person 1,” conspired with and acted under the direction of a Russian government official to establish unofficial lines of communications with people able to influence U.S. politics leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson said Butina sought to use those unofficial lines of communication for the benefit of the Russian Federation.
Butina’s attorneys have previously identified U.S. Person 1 as Paul Erickson, a GOP political operative with whom Butina had a romantic relationship.
The government’s description of the Russian official matched the credentials of Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank and former Russian senator who reportedly has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and alleged ties to the Russian mob, according to Bloomberg.- READ MORE