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| ‘Parties resolved the matter’: Court documents in ‘foreign agent’ Butina case suggest deal made | ‘Parties resolved the matter’: Court documents in ‘foreign agent’ Butina case suggest deal made |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Maria Butina, a Russian national detained in the US and accused of failing to register as a foreign lobbyist under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), appears to have reached a deal with prosecutors. | Maria Butina, a Russian national detained in the US and accused of failing to register as a foreign lobbyist under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), appears to have reached a deal with prosecutors. |
| Documents, entered on Monday, request that a federal judge schedule a hearing this week so Butina can change her not guilty plea which she entered in July. There is still no indication what Butina intends to plead guilty to. | Documents, entered on Monday, request that a federal judge schedule a hearing this week so Butina can change her not guilty plea which she entered in July. There is still no indication what Butina intends to plead guilty to. |
| Butina's accusations stem from her rubbing shoulders with Republican operatives and gun-rights advocates in the US. Prosecutors initially attempted to paint Butina as a cold-blooded seductress who traded sex for influence in the corridors of power, but later retracted these more salacious allegations. | Butina's accusations stem from her rubbing shoulders with Republican operatives and gun-rights advocates in the US. Prosecutors initially attempted to paint Butina as a cold-blooded seductress who traded sex for influence in the corridors of power, but later retracted these more salacious allegations. |
| Butina denies the charges, and the Russian government has complained about her detention to the US State Department. As for her motivation for entering a guilty plea after denying the charges for so long, Butina’s father told Russian newspaper Izvestia, last week, that his daughter was running out of money to pay her legal team. | Butina denies the charges, and the Russian government has complained about her detention to the US State Department. As for her motivation for entering a guilty plea after denying the charges for so long, Butina’s father told Russian newspaper Izvestia, last week, that his daughter was running out of money to pay her legal team. |
| Despite apparent financial woes, Valery Butin insisted that his daughter would not “resort to striking any plea agreement which will make her plead guilty for the crimes she had not committed.” | Despite apparent financial woes, Valery Butin insisted that his daughter would not “resort to striking any plea agreement which will make her plead guilty for the crimes she had not committed.” |
| A team from the Russian embassy in Washington DC have been visiting Butina in jail in Virginia, where she is being held in solitary confinement. The team accused her jailers of trying to “break her will” with strip searches, denial of medication, and other forms of “psychological pressure and humiliation.” | |
| Butina will now enter her new plea as early as Tuesday, according to documents filed on Monday. | Butina will now enter her new plea as early as Tuesday, according to documents filed on Monday. |
| Human rights lawyer Dan Kovalik told RT that Butina’s situation is most likely a “political case,” with the 30-year-old Russian used as a “pawn” to sabotage US-Russia relations. | Human rights lawyer Dan Kovalik told RT that Butina’s situation is most likely a “political case,” with the 30-year-old Russian used as a “pawn” to sabotage US-Russia relations. |
| Human rights lawyer Dan Kovalik told RT that Butina’s is most likely a “political case,” with the 30-year-old Russian used as a “pawn” to sabotage US-Russia relations. | |
| “If she had filed the piece of paper with the Attorney General’s office, everything she did was legal,” defense attorney Robert Driscoll told RT. “This is more of a registration type of crime that an espionage crime, and yet the media and the government to some extent are treating it as an espionage crime.” | |
| Before news of Butina’s apparent intention to plead guilty to something, Kovalic foresaw the US dropping her charges after a prolonged detention. Her own defense lawyers and the prosecution team released a statement last month saying they “remain optimistic about a pretrial resolution.” | |
| Like this story? Share it with a friend! | Like this story? Share it with a friend! |