Maria Valeryevna Butina, popularly known as Maria Butina is a Russian gun-rights activist. She is the founder of a Russian group, Right to Bear Arms”. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested her in July 2018 and charged her with acting as an agent of the Russian Federation “without prior notification to the Attorney General”. She pleaded guilty in December 2018 to felony charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent of the Russian state under 18 U.S.C 951. The Federal judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison on 26 April 2019.
What Is Maria Butina’s Notoriety?
– A Russian gun rights activist who pleaded guilty in December 2018 to criminal conspiracy to serve as an unregistered foreign agent of the Russian state in violation of 18 U.S.C. 951.
– On 26 April 2019, a Federal Judge sentenced him to 18 months in jail.
Maria Butina was born in where?
Maria Butina was born on 10 November 1988 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Maria Valeryevna Butina is her given name. She is of White ancestry. Her birthplace is Barnaul, Altai Krai, Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. She is of Russian descent. Scorpio is her zodiac sign. At the moment, details about her parents is inaccessible. She grew up in the taiga of Siberia. Her father taught her how to hunt and use weapons.
She studied political science at Altai State University in Barnaul. Additionally, she won a teaching certificate. In 2018, she obtained a master’s degree in international relations from the American University in Washington, D.C.
Career in Business
In Altai Krai, she established a furniture retail company. She was 21 years old at the time.
In 2011, she relocated to Moscow. She divested herself of seven furniture stores in order to create an advertising agency.
In 2011, she competed in the Young Guard of United Russia’s Youth Primaries.
In 2011, she created Right to Bear Arms, a Russian gun rights group. The party called for a relaxation of Russia’s stringent gun control rules. She then began frequent trips to the United States. Aleksandr Torshin, a Senator in the Russian Federation Council and an influential member of United Russia, appointed Butina as his “private assistant.”
In 2012, they lobbied the council to extend gun rights. In late 2014, she resigned as president of the Right to Bear Arms.
In 2013, she met Republican political consultant Paul Erickson in Russia.
Torshin was appointed deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank in January 2015. Butina served as his special assistant from May 2017 to May 2018. According to her statement to The Washington Post, she has never worked for the Russian government.
She arrived in the United States on a student visa in August 2016. She enrolled at American University in Washington, D.C., as a graduate student in International Relations.
According to a CNN source, Butina brags about her connections in the Russian government to her fellow students on at least two different occasions while inebriated.
Butina and Erickson founded Bridges LLC in February 2016. Erickson claimed that the company was established to financially support Butina’s education if necessary. In 2018, she received a master’s degree in international relations.
Rifle Association of the United States
Torshin and Butina forged an alliance between the NRA and Right to Bear Arms.
Butina and Torshin were invited as special guests of former NRA President David Keene to the 2014 NRA annual meeting.
She was a guest of former NRA president Sandy Froman at the 2014 meeting’s Women’s Leadership Luncheon.
However, Butina and Torshin attended the 2015 National Rifle Association’s annual convention.
She has also attended several NRA conferences.
Democrat Faction
She has attempted to develop ties to conservative American politics.
FBI stated that she had successfully sought ties to the Republican Party. It is referred to as “POLITICAL PARTY 1” in a supporting affidavit to the government’s support for pre-trial detention following her indictment in the United States of America v. Maria Butina.
She took pictures with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and former US Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Rick Santorum at the 2014 NRA annual meeting.
She met Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker at the 2015 NRA annual meeting.
She was also present at the launch of Walker’s 2016 presidential campaign in July 2015.
Obama Administration officials
Torshin and Butina met the Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, Nathan Sheets, in 2015 to discuss US-Russian economic relations.
They also met with a Federal Reserve vice chairman, Stanley Fischer, and with a State Department official.
Donald Trump Campaign
In a June 2015 article published in The National Interest, a conservative American international affairs magazine, just before Trump announced his candidacy for president, she urged better relations between the United States and Russia. She said, “It may take the election of a Republican to the White House in 2016 to improve relations between the Russian Federation and the United States.”
However, her biography in the article did not mention that she worked for the Russian government. Butina attended FreedomFest the next month, where Trump gave a speech. Butina asked Trump from the audience about ending U.S. sanctions against Russia. Trump replied, “I don’t think you’d need the sanctions.”
Butina hosted a birthday party attended by Erickson and Trump campaign aides shortly after the 2016 election
The United States v. Maria Butina
FBI arrested Butina on 15 July 2018 in Washington. She was charged with acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government, specifically the Russian Federation, without prior notification to the Attorney General, a conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, to wit, 18 USC 951 (Foreign Relations, Agents of foreign governments), in violation of 18 USC 371 (Conspiracy). She pleaded not guilty on 18 July. She was held in solidarity confinement in Alexandria Detention Center.
Butina, Torshin, Erickson have been subjects of an investigation by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. The FIB began to monitor Butina in August 2016 when she moved to the United States on an F-1 student visa.
Her attorneys and federal prosecutors declared in November 2018 that they had entered into plea negotiations. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal foreign agent in December 2018. The original charge of failing to register as a foreign agent was dropped. President Putin had denied any knowledge of Butina. However, several Russian government officials opposed Butina’s arrest.
The Federal Judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison on 26 April 2019.
Who is Maria Butina dating?
She met Republican political operative Paul Erickson in Russia in 2013. They started dating and eventually moved together. There is no other information about her affair at present.
What are Maria Butina Body Measurements?
Information about her height, weight, and body measurements are currently unavailable. It will be updated soon. She has a slim body build. She has gray eyes and her hair color is brown.
What is Maria Butina Net Worth?
Maria Butina is a political activist and businessperson. Her net worth is under evaluation.
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