Case and Treatment of Marina Butina

[RomaVicta 29794]

Debate has sprung up on the Indictments thread about alleged mistreatment of Russian operative Martina Butina at the hands of the Feds. 

Also, as she has decided to cooperate and will have something to say about the NRA and her actions here, her case likely merits its own thread.

She and the NRA, in my humble opinion, are the keys to discovering how deeply involved with the GOP the Russians were.

[SaucyJack 3487]

[elfenix 34171]

^^ but did you hear what he said about aggy?

[Bama Chick 28596]

Here’s my nuanced opinion on this issue -

Fuck her, fuck the NRA, and fuck anyone who worked or is working on Russia’s behalf to undermine America.

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Don't start no shit, won't be no shit

[atomheartbevo 89449]

During the Cold War, when we busted foreign agents, did we let them into the general prison populations?

[Post Oak 20187]

2 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

Here’s my nuanced opinion on this issue -

Fuck her, fuck the NRA, and fuck anyone who worked or is working on Russia’s behalf to undermine America.

Eloquent and correct.

 

[JohnnyRage 1617]

It might be nothing, but there was that time that Butina directly asked the POTUS in a press conference about US Russian relations and for once in his life he sounded like he had his own prepared answer.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

Butina is a Russian patriot and being treated like a political prisoner/POW.

As she should be.

[Thetexashammer 1062]

I'd put it in her Butina. 

[Fozzz 152]

Yawn. 

[HenryJames 65890]

Savage.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

I’m interested to see which official/unofficial NRA leaders sold out our country for money or sex or both.  Sheriff Clarke can be checked in the money column.  

[Goredho 17349]

Her lawyers, who filed the motion to get her out of solitary, also counseled her to take the plea deal admitting to being a spy.  If she were not a spy, they would have continued to fight her case to exonerate her as a spy with her living a peacefully un-tortured life outside of solitary confinement.  But they did not.

The whole discussion about her torture is just bullshit meant to distract from the examination of a potential connection between the main body of the Republican Party and Russian active measure campaigns.  Exactly zero conservatives gave a shit about the torture of solitary confinement until it came up within the context of that examination of ties between Russia and the Republican Party.

We can choose to let such tactics disrupt that examination, or we can choose to continue to look into whether such a connection exists.  I'm choosing the latter, and thankfully so will the feds, no matter what chaff any suddenly-ACLU-champions might want to throw in front of this story.

I will say it again: The collective Republican response to the scrutiny of Russian political influence only makes sense if such scrutiny is an existential threat to the party itself.  All of the cockroaches scurrying as the light is turned on should tell you something.   Trump is the least of the GOP's Russian problems.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Goredho

[Jack Straw 2953]

20 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I’m interested to see which official/unofficial NRA leaders sold out our country for money or sex or both.  

I’m going to say ... every single one of them that was offered the opportunity to do so. 

[bad_teammate 13132]

28 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Her lawyers, who filed the motion to get her out of solitary, also counseled her to take the plea deal admitting to being a spy.  If she were not a spy, they would have continued to fight her case to exonerate her as a spy with her living a peacefully un-tortured life outside of solitary confinement.  But they did not.

um wut? lol

1) Being imprisoned without bond is not a peaceful and un-tortured life.

2) She had zero reason to believe she would remain in the general population given the nature of her imprisonment to that point. You're talking about her living a peaceful life in prison as if it is a given certainty even though every single piece of available evidence says otherwise.

She was locked in solitary confinement for 67 days, under social and sensory isolation 22-hours a day. She was tortured for two months before agreeing to a plea deal. Those are simple facts of the matter.

Quote

The whole discussion about her torture is just bullshit meant to distract from the examination of a potential connection between the main body of the Republican Party and Russian active measure campaigns. 

Not everything exists in a narrow world of Democrats vs. Republicans. Very little resides in that space, really.

Most people make most of their moral and ethical decisions outside of that context.

Some people are always, in all situations, against torture.

Quote

I'm choosing the latter, and thankfully so will the feds, no matter what chaff any suddenly-ACLU-champions might want to throw in front of this story.

What about those of us who have had that card in our wallet for decades?

[ADHD 28]

I want to ask a question of Donald Trump at a press briefing and meet virtually every single VIP in the GOP there is ...

And I'm an American citizen and not at all a spy by any measure. How do I get this done, it should be easy to accomplish ...

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Kind of weird that the only group screaming she was tortured has been the Russians. And here we have a couple posters echoing that line. No statement from the ACLU or UN, that I can find. This is a non issue until more details come out. 

Where was this outrage for Manafort?

[Goredho 17349]

1 hour ago, bad_teammate said:

um wut? lol

1) Being imprisoned without bond is not a peaceful and un-tortured life.

 2) She had zero reason to believe she would remain in the general population given the nature of her imprisonment to that point. You're talking about her living a peaceful life in prison as if it is a given certainty even though every single piece of available evidence says otherwise.

 She was locked in solitary confinement for 67 days, under social and sensory isolation 22-hours a day. She was tortured for two months before agreeing to a plea deal. Those are simple facts of the matter.

Not everything exists in a narrow world of Democrats vs. Republicans. Very little resides in that space, really.

Most people make most of their moral and ethical decisions outside of that context.

Some people are always, in all situations, against torture.

What about those of us who have had that card in our wallet for decades?

1) So now mingling with the general population is torture?  I think you generally have an issue with criminal justice.

2) She has the advise of counsel who, if she were not guilty of conspiring to and acting as as an agent of a foreign government, would not advise her to plead guilty to such.  They had already gotten her put back in general population, so her "tortuous" isolation was no longer a motivation in what best course of action they would advise for her.  Ergo, this plea was not tortured out of her.

3) .The court, not the federal prosecution, examined her to determine if she were capable of entering such a plea, and they found no reason to believe she was not.  They, too, disagree with your opinion that this plea was tortured out of her.

4) One of those things that should not exist in the narrow world of Democrats vs Republicans, or even a Liberal vs Conservative world view, is that its acceptable for agents of a foreign government to actively attempt to subvert our democratic processes.

5) I have no doubt that you have been a card carrying member of the ACLU for decades and that you truly believe that much about our criminal justice system is wrong.  My post specifically called out hard-on-crime conservatives that suddenly seem so concerned about the welfare of the accused.

[bad_teammate 13132]

1 hour ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

Kind of weird that the only group screaming she was tortured has been the Russians. And here we have a couple posters echoing that line. No statement from the ACLU or UN, that I can find. This is a non issue until more details come out. 

Where was this outrage for Manafort?

Was Manafort held in solitary for months? If so, that's fucked up and wrong.

Holding people in solitary confinement is fucked up and wrong. To do so, it should be for a very short time and extremely good and clear (legal and cool) reasons.

Principles aren't worth shit if they are only held when they serve partisan agendas.

14 minutes ago, Goredho said:

1) So now mingling with the general population is torture?  I think you generally have an issue with criminal justice.

No sane person calls prison "peaceful and un-tortured" unless they have an agenda.

Prison is hell. That's the whole point.

Quote

2) She has the advise of counsel who, if she were not guilty of conspiring to and acting as as an agent of a foreign government, would not advise her to plead guilty to such.  They had already gotten her put back in general population, so her "tortuous" isolation was no longer a motivation in what best course of action they would advise for her.  Ergo, this plea was not tortured out of her.

Yes, because the authorities who had already tortured her would NEVER do it again!

Quote

3) .The court, not the federal prosecution, examined her to determine if she were capable of entering such a plea, and they found no reason to believe she was not.  They, too, disagree with your opinion that this plea was tortured out of her.

I am 100% OK with being in disagreement with the criminal justice system in the US, which is historically a racist, cruel pile of garbage.

Quote

4) One of those things that should not exist in the narrow world of Democrats vs Republicans, or even a Liberal vs Conservative world view, is that its acceptable for agents of a foreign government to actively attempt to subvert our democratic processes.

"If you don't like torturing terrorists, you must love terrorists!" - Galaxy Brain in 2003

"If you don't like torturing spies,  you must love spies!" - Galaxy Brain 2018

Idiot centrists never change.

[Dahobbs 17447]

17 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Was Manafort held in solitary for months? If so, that's fucked up and wrong.

Holding people in solitary confinement is fucked up and wrong. To do so, it should be for a very short time and extremely good and clear (legal and cool) reasons.

Principles aren't worth shit if they are only held when they serve partisan agendas.

No sane person calls prison "peaceful and un-tortured" unless they have an agenda.

Prison is hell. That's the whole point.

Yes, because the authorities who had already tortured her would NEVER do it again!

I am 100% OK with being in disagreement with the criminal justice system in the US, which is historically a racist, cruel pile of garbage.

"If you don't like torturing terrorists, you must love terrorists!" - Galaxy Brain in 2003

"If you don't like torturing spies,  you must love spies!" - Galaxy Brain 2018

Idiot centrists never change.

For badteammate, seeing something as anything other than 100% good or 100% evil is itself centrist, and thus 100% evil. 

At any rate, I hope her treatment is investigated to determine if anything improper was done to her. Solitary for 2 straight months does seem cruel and hard to justify prior to any conviction. But, I also think that solid justifications exist for some level of restriction from the general population. 

[bad_teammate 13132]

43 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

For badteammate, seeing something as anything other than 100% good or 100% evil is itself centrist, and thus 100% evil. 

There are many moral and ethical issues about which there can be healthy disagreement. Torture isn't really one of them, especially in the context of a young(ish) woman whose crimes involved sleeping with some gross conservatives and trying to get them to influence US policy to be more favorable to Russia. This isn't Sergei the Mad Bomber who has the location of and disarming codes to a warhead in Times Square (torture is wrong even in that case, of course).

The issue of centrism is not mental flexibility or critical thought, it's the opposite. Centrism is entirely determined by what it perceives as its extremes; centrism has no values or morals or ideals other than "find the extremes and don't be there". That's how you get, "This extreme says torture is always wrong, that extreme says torture is awesome. Therefore, torture must be OK sometimes," not based on any critical thought about torture, but simply as a way to get away from the discomfort of having to make moral judgments.

[Goredho 17349]

ROFL, if ever there was a doubt about the US political spectrum being a horseshoe, this puts it to rest.  BT, you and Fozzz can keep railing against the hideous torture of this poor exchange student.  I will have to remain less concerned about her having too much me time than I am about the fact that she is:

1. an admitted Russian spy
2. working on US soil
3. who says she conspired with one or more US citizens
4. to infiltrate and influence a US political party
5. to promote Russian interests

The deplorable centrist in me realizes that Russia's human rights record is slightly worse than ours, so I will be able to sleep okay knowing that whatever happens with poor miss misunderstood Butina, more human's rights are protected by thwarting Russia in its bid to hold sway over our elected politicians.

[bad_teammate 13132]

Quote

 BT, you and Fozzz can keep railing against the hideous torture of this poor exchange student.  I will have to remain less concerned about her having too much me time than I am about the fact that she is:

1. an admitted Russian spy
2. working on US soil
3. who says she conspired with one or more US citizens
4. to infiltrate and influence a US political party
5. to promote Russian interests

Being subject to a government that will torture people is a greater threat to you and the people you love than anything Butina is accused of doing.

Quote

The deplorable centrist in me realizes that Russia's human rights record is slightly worse than ours, so I will be able to sleep okay knowing that whatever happens with poor miss misunderstood Butina, more human's rights are protected by thwarting Russia in its bid to hold sway over our elected politicians.

The issue of centrism is not mental flexibility or critical thought, it's the opposite. Centrism is entirely determined by what it perceives as its extremes; centrism has no values or morals or ideals other than "find the extremes and don't be there". That's how you get, "This extreme says torture is always wrong, that extreme says torture is awesome. Therefore, torture must be OK sometimes," not based on any critical thought about torture, but simply as a way to get away from the discomfort of having to make moral judgments.

(Also, of course you reference horseshoe theory. Of course you do.)

[Thetexashammer 1062]

15 minutes ago, Goredho said:

ROFL, if ever there was a doubt about the US political spectrum being a horseshoe, this puts it to rest.  BT, you and Fozzz can keep railing against the hideous torture of this poor exchange student.  I will have to remain less concerned about her having too much me time than I am about the fact that she is:

1. an admitted Russian spy
2. working on US soil
3. who says she conspired with one or more US citizens
4. to infiltrate and influence a US political party
5. to promote Russian interests

The deplorable centrist in me realizes that Russia's human rights record is slightly worse than ours, so I will be able to sleep okay knowing that whatever happens with poor miss misunderstood Butina, more human's rights are protected by thwarting Russia in its bid to hold sway over our elected politicians.

It all makes sense if you just realize the fascists and socialists are both leftists. If fascism is on the right, and socialism on the left, the middle would be 1/2 fascist 1/2 socialist. Both those forms of government enslave their people, so interpolating the two styles of governing implies you would still be enslaved. The whole "left/right" thing is nonsense.

[Ted Lange 16052]

I don’t think she was a spy in the traditional sense. She clearly ended up being a Russian Asset though, not sure how that is even debatable now.

Russia had this lady, who was pretending to be a Russian GUN RIGHTS advocate, that was able to get access to a bunch of high ranking GOP/NRA folks. 

I don’t think she will be connected to trump, but her connection to the gop and the nra is going to be interesting. Especially if we find out she and Russia were illegally  funneling money to those groups.

 

 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

9 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Being subject to a government that will torture people is a greater threat to you and the people you love than anything Butina is accused of doing.

The issue of centrism is not mental flexibility or critical thought, it's the opposite. Centrism is entirely determined by what it perceives as its extremes; centrism has no values or morals or ideals other than "find the extremes and don't be there". That's how you get, "This extreme says torture is always wrong, that extreme says torture is awesome. Therefore, torture must be OK sometimes," not based on any critical thought about torture, but simply as a way to get away from the discomfort of having to make moral judgments.

(Also, of course you reference horseshoe theory. Of course you do.)

As an introvert working an extroverted job, I dream of being in isolation for two months. 

[bad_teammate 13132]

I would like to thank texashammer for illustrating for any centrists here exactly why espousing bullshit like "horseshoe theory" is nothing more than fascist propaganda.

Fascist: "Yeah, man, the whole right/left thing is total nonsense... leftists are the problem."

Centrist: "MAKES SENSE TO ME!"

7 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

I don’t think she was a spy in the traditional sense. She clearly ended up being a Russian Asset though, not sure how that is even debatable now.

I think her confession is unreliable and unusable due to the torture, but the facts seem to show pretty clearly that she's an "asset" of some debatable value and purpose, sure.

[ChiTownDoc 21102]

3 hours ago, bad_teammate said:

There are many moral and ethical issues about which there can be healthy disagreement. Torture isn't really one of them, especially in the context of a young(ish) woman whose crimes involved sleeping with some gross conservatives and trying to get them to influence US policy to be more favorable to Russia. This isn't Sergei the Mad Bomber who has the location of and disarming codes to a warhead in Times Square (torture is wrong even in that case, of course).

The issue of centrism is not mental flexibility or critical thought, it's the opposite. Centrism is entirely determined by what it perceives as its extremes; centrism has no values or morals or ideals other than "find the extremes and don't be there". That's how you get, "This extreme says torture is always wrong, that extreme says torture is awesome. Therefore, torture must be OK sometimes," not based on any critical thought about torture, but simply as a way to get away from the discomfort of having to make moral judgments.

What the fuck does her being young and a woman have to do with anything?  Treat her the same way you treat the big bad black man.  GTFO

[RomaVicta 29794]

7 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Savage.

I've got to say that a Prison Bitches movie featuring Martina, Ivanka, Dana, Holly, and Kellyanne would be must see for me. 

[bad_teammate 13132]

8 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

What the fuck does her being young and a woman have to do with anything?  Treat her the same way you treat the big bad black man.  GTFO

It speaks to the level of physical threat she might be inside of a prison and how that threat might necessitate varying levels of treatment and security. It is explained by the sentence that follows by comparing her to a theoretical violent terrorist.

It's not complicated.

I do appreciate you throwing race in there. Good trolling.

[Goredho 17349]

Okay, I'm ready to admit I'm wrong if Texashammer agrees with me.

[bad_teammate 13132]

1 minute ago, Goredho said:

Okay, I'm ready to admit I'm wrong if Texashammer agrees with me.

Goredho, welcome to ANTIFA. Your balaclava and guide to destroying Christmas are in the mail.

[Goredho 17349]

Not really, I'm still a centrist, and you're still somewhere at the gap-assed end of the horseshoe, two hemorrhoids over from Texashammer  

[RomaVicta 29794]

7 hours ago, Goredho said:

Her lawyers, who filed the motion to get her out of solitary, also counseled her to take the plea deal admitting to being a spy.  If she were not a spy, they would have continued to fight her case to exonerate her as a spy with her living a peacefully un-tortured life outside of solitary confinement.  But they did not.

The whole discussion about her torture is just bullshit meant to distract from the examination of a potential connection between the main body of the Republican Party and Russian active measure campaigns.  Exactly zero conservatives gave a shit about the torture of solitary confinement until it came up within the context of that examination of ties between Russia and the Republican Party.

We can choose to let such tactics disrupt that examination, or we can choose to continue to look into whether such a connection exists.  I'm choosing the latter, and thankfully so will the feds, no matter what chaff any suddenly-ACLU-champions might want to throw in front of this story.

I will say it again: The collective Republican response to the scrutiny of Russian political influence only makes sense if such scrutiny is an existential threat to the party itself.  All of the cockroaches scurrying as the light is turned on should tell you something.   Trump is the least of the GOP's Russian problems.

I agree. And the Active Measure campaign wins no matter which ways this goes in terms of exposing their actions. If she takes down the GOP while showing the Russian involvement they prove their power over our wheezing democratic process. If they just create doubt and disruption without getting caught, that's fine, too.

The GOP and right scrambling to defend a Russian operative are as telling as you say about their likely complicity.

[Goredho 17349]

2 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

I agree. And the Active Measure campaign wins no matter which ways this goes in terms of exposing their actions. If she takes down the GOP while showing the Russian involvement they prove their power over our wheezing democratic process. If they just create doubt and disruption without getting caught, that's fine, too.

 The GOP and right scrambling to defend a Russian operative are as telling as you say about their likely complicity.

Yeah, I would like to admit that solitary confinement is wrong, and just get on with the exploration of whether and to what degree she managed to achieve the aims of the FSB.  Especially as more details come out over time.  Does this extend to Erickson?  Or Erickson and some NRA execs?  Or maybe all the way to elected officials within the GOP?  However deep it goes,  it is in our national interests to know exactly what she and Alexander Torshin were able to achieve in their attempt to infiltrate and influence an American political party.

The actions on the right in response to this, especially in light of how they've reacted to the Special Counsel's investigation of Trump, sets off some alarm bells to be sure.

[triplehorn 2664]

Bloomberg: U.S. Fears for Safety of Russian Cooperator Butina, Filing Says

 

Quote

 

In the filing, stamped with the words “Under Seal,” prosecutors asked a judge for a court order that would ensure Butina’s safety as she’s transported from an Alexandria, Virginia, jail to the venues where she’ll be debriefed as part of her cooperation agreement. The filing said the defense didn’t object to that request.

“Although the fact of defendant Butina’s cooperation is now public, the details of her transportation to and from the jail are not,” Justice Department lawyers told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in the filing. “Once disclosed, such information could be used by individuals or entities who might seek to harm or intimidate the defendant to prevent her from continuing to cooperate with law enforcement.”

Butina may attend interviews at U.S. attorneys’ offices in Alexandria and Washington as well as before a federal grand jury in the capital, the filing said." 

 

Couple points:  First, I appreciate that this is a "high value" target whose cooperation stands to have deeply damaging consequences for potentially many individuals and multiple groups/organizations in the US and abroad.  It's not difficult for me to understand how being removed from the general jail population would be protective for her, just as secrecy about her transport to and from locations outside of jail is necessary.  Her being dead would not be mourned by certain others, I'm sure.

Second, the fact that she will likely be interviewed by US Attys in Alexandria at EDVA and DC as well as testify before a Grand Jury despite her guilty plea for existing charges implies that her criminal associations go beyond her initial charges and certainly stands to extend into broader conspiracy crimes involving US persons and organizations.

 

Edited December 15, 2018 by triplehorn

[SaucyJack 3487]

Butina and her ilk should take Jason Chaffetz's advice:  

"That should be the message, don't make this journey, it will kill you".

[Ted Lange 16052]

This is super common for a “lobbyist” right?

 

[Goredho 17349]

I dunno, seems paranoid.  I mean, this could never happen on American soil, could it?

Quote

Two Russian nationals, who go by the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, are suspects in the attempted murder.

They are understood to have arrived at Gatwick Airport on Russian passports from Moscow on 2 March, and stayed at the City Stay Hotel in Bow Road, east London.

The following day they visited Salisbury for reconnaissance before contaminating Mr Skripal's front door with Novichok on 4 March, police say.

Officers believe a modified perfume bottle was used to spray the door.

The pair flew from Heathrow to Moscow later that same night.

The men, whose movements were captured on various CCTV cameras, are thought to be aged about 40 and operating under aliases.

The officers are thought to be from Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, and the attack was "almost certainly" approved at a senior level of the Russian state, Theresa May has said.

In an interview with Russia's state-run international broadcaster, RT, the men said they were tourists, in the UK to visit the "wonderful town" of Salisbury and see its famous cathedral.

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43315636

Edited December 16, 2018 by Goredho

[Gil Bang 25898]

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

Hopefully we try to get something out of sending Butina back to Russia.

Edward Snowden will do. 

[Gil Bang 25898]

An attorney for Maria Butina -- the accused Russian agent who was sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this year -- is alleging “possible misconduct on the part of federal agents or assistant attorneys who investigated and prosecuted Maria,” saying the defense was misled about the role of a well-known, wealthy CEO in the case.

In a letter to the Justice Department obtained by Fox News, Butina’s attorney, Robert Driscoll, revealed Butina’s past relationship with Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. Driscoll claims he told the government he believed Byrne -- “who had a sporadic relationship with Maria over a period of years prior to her arrest” -- was a government informant.

 

“My speculation was flatly denied,” he said.

MARIA BUTINA SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS IN PRISON

But Driscoll said he now believes that’s false. “Mr. Byrne has now contacted me and has confirmed that he, indeed, had a 'non-standard arrangement' with the FBI for many years, and that beginning in 2015 through Maria’s arrest, he communicated and assisted government agents with their investigation of Maria.”

 

A new letter reveals the role of Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne in the case against Maria Butina. (Courtesy of Patrick M. Byrne, chairman and chief executive officer of Overstock.com.)

Reached via email by Fox News on Friday afternoon, Byrne confirmed the information about his relationship with Butina in Driscoll’s letter.

Byrne’s involvement with Butina was first reported by journalist Sara Carter. In an interview with Carter, Byrne spoke of his decision to come forward with the information, saying: “It was something I knew I had to do. Those running the operation were not honest and, in the end, I realized I was being used in some sort of soft coup.”

The letter is addressed to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, as well as Inspector General Michael Horowitz and U.S. Attorney John Durham. Horowitz and Durham are leading investigations related to the Russia probe, and Driscoll said “it appears that some of the issues raised by the information I received relate to FBI counterintelligence operations with respect to Russia leading up to the 2016 election.”

The Justice Department could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

The letter said Byrne met Butina for the first time at the FreedomFest convention in Las Vegas in July 2015. Byrne subsequently reported his contact with her to FBI agents, who encouraged him to stay in touch with her, Driscoll wrote.

“As time passed, Byrne became more and more convinced that Maria was what she said she was—an inquisitive student in favor of better U.S.-Russian relations—and not an agent of the Russian government or someone involved in espionage or illegal activities,” the letter states. “He states he conveyed these thoughts and the corroborating facts and observations about Maria to the government.”

Defense attorney for Maria Butina speaks out

Russian foreign ministry calls for release of accused spy Maria Butina; Robert Driscoll, attorney representing Butina, shares insight on 'America's News HQ.'

In April, Butina was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a federal judge in Washington after pleading guilty last year to a conspiracy charge. . She will be removed from the U.S. promptly on completion of her time, the judge added, and returned to Russia.

An emotional and apologetic Butina said in court at her sentencing she was “truly sorry” and regrets not registering as a foreign agent.

“I feel ashamed and embarrassed,” she said, adding that her “reputation is ruined.”

Butina has been jailed since her arrest in July 2018.

Video

Prosecutors had claimed Butina used her contacts with the National Rifle Association and the National Prayer Breakfast to develop relationships with U.S. politicians and gather information for Russia.

In their filings, prosecutors claimed federal agents found Butina had contact information for people suspected of being employed by Russia's Federal Security Services, or FSB, the successor intelligence agency to the KGB. Inside her home, they found notes referring to a potential job offer from the FSB, according to the documents.

Investigators recovered several emails and Twitter direct message conversations in which Butina referred to the need to keep her work secret and, in one instance, said it should be "incognito." Prosecutors said Butina had contact with Russian intelligence officials and that the FBI photographed her dining with a diplomat suspected of being a Russian intelligence agent.

In his letter, Driscoll said Byrne, as a CEO of a public company, “is a credible source of information” and has “little to gain but much to lose by disclosing a sporadic relationship with Maria.”

"He also told me that some of the details he provided the government regarding Maria in response was exculpatory—that is, he reported to the government that Maria’s behavior and interaction with him was inconsistent with her being a foreign agent and more likely an idealist and age-appropriate peace activist,” Driscoll said.

He added: “His claims are worthy of investigation. Indeed, he has much to say about the government’s handling of Maria’s case that go far beyond the…issue I raise in this letter.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[TwiceHorn 31283]

FBI and US Attorneys lying to defense counsel to secure a conviction in a high-profile case?  Nowai.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

Just when you thought this story couldn’t get anymore weird. 

[bad_teammate 13132]

What a joke this whole Russia thing is.

Jesus

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

Would like to know why Byrne had some on going communication with the fbi.  I don’t expect many CEOs report new contacts to the fbi often.

[bad_teammate 13132]

Another fresh red string of yarn for the smoothbrains to tack onto their corkboard

[RomaVicta 29794]

So Byrne tells the FBI that he doesn't think she's a spy. Fair enough. If he believed it to be the truth, he did his job.

The FBI investigates and disagrees with Byrne and conclude Butina is a foreign agent. The FBI decides to prosecute and the evidence (mentioned in Gil's article above) is convincing. (I won't give any weight to Butina's apology in court. The system easily strong arms that kind of stuff out of the accused once they force a deal.)

Butina's attorney brings all of this up. It's his job. All I really see that can have any bearing on this is the claim that Byrne provided exculpatory evidence. If the evidence doesn't refute the evidence listed, it seems futile. Byrne's opinion based on limited knowledge is of little value, it seems to me.

I can't help but stifle a laugh at the notion of Butina being an idealistic "inquisitive student in favor of better U.S.-Russian relations." Aren't we all?

The more interesting aspect in this is what it may reveal about what the administration is willing to do to discredit law enforcement and intelligence in order to dilute the case being made against the administration.

FOX and the (GOP!) White House are ready to publicly throw in with a convicted Russian agent to make the case that the FBI and CIA are working against the US? Wut?

The self-congratulating only remaining super power slides further into delusion and malignancy.

Sing it, David. 

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by RomaVicta

[Bama Chick 28596]

Is this when I start the “Send Her Back!” chant?