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6 comments

[–] Hitchens 3 points (+3|-0)

The N.R.A.’s Pete Brownell, left, with Ms. Butina and Donald Trump Jr. at a 2016 dinner hosted by the gun-rights group.

Maria Butina, who was charged last month with being a covert Russian agent, passionately promoted gun rights and better relations with Russia.

  • She had Thanksgiving dinner last year at the country home of Representative Mark Sanford, Republican of South Carolina

  • She befriended Grover Norquist, the anti-tax crusader, winning an invitation to his weekly gathering of influential conservatives in Washington

  • In an April 2016 email, she discussed connecting a Russian nuclear scientist with Representative Dana Rohrabacher

  • In four years roughly $89,000 moved between the American bank accounts of Mr. Erickson, a Republican consultant and Ms. Butina’s Russian bank account, according to records from the United States Treasury.

  • A $45,000 payment to an undisclosed law firm. A cash withdrawal for $14,000. Almost $90,000 sent to or from a Russian bank. These and other bank transactions totaling nearly $300,000, none of which have been made public

  • Bank documents indicate Wells Fargo’s anti–money laundering team began checking Butina’s and Erickson’s bank activity in early 2017.

  • Wells Fargo officials expressed suspicion about the “significant control” Erickson had over Butina’s account. He had access, Wells Fargo found, to her personal checking account, which she opened in 2014. He frequently made payments on her behalf; the recipients have not been identified.

  • Through March 2017, Butina and Erickson had withdrawn about $107,000 from ATMs, bank branches, and checks made out to cash.

[–] chmod 4 points (+4|-0)

She's a Russian lobbyist that didn't register as a foreign agent. I'm not sure that makes her a spy. Believe me, D.C. is crawling with foreign lobbyists.

[–] Hitchens 3 points (+3|-0)

Her activities with money are shady as fuck and yes, she’s just one of many.