Russian gun-activist pleaded guilty in plan to gain access to the NRA, U.S. conservative circles
By Spencer S. Hsu Spencer S. Hsu Investigative reporter Email Bio Follow April 19 at 10:02 PM U.S. prosecutors requested an 18-month prison sentence for Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina for conspiring with a senior Russian official to infiltrate the National Rifle Association and conservative U.S. political circles for the Kremlin from 2015 until her arrest in July.
Butina faces sentencing in Washington set for April 26 before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the District. Butina admitted to working under the direction of Alexander Torshin, a Russian former government official, and with an American political operative on a multiyear scheme to establish unofficial lines of communications with Americans who could influence U.S. politics.
Although Butina she spoke with Mueller investigators in post-plea debriefings, her case was unrelated to the probe and was prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office of the District.Her plan, which she called “Diplomacy Project,” targeted the conservative movement and gun rights groups in particular as a way to reach the Republican winner of the 2016 election, whom she correctly predicted would be Donald Trump.
Capitalizing on the novelty of the Siberian-born gun activist in restrictive Russia, Butina and Torshin invited NRA leaders to Moscow in December 2015, including Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and David Keene, a former NRA president and past head of the powerful American Conservative Union.Butina stressed to Torshin the importance of setting up meetings with top Russian politicians, including a successful gathering with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
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