@Lookout
"The right to bear arms" into Russia - to change the politics of Russia - NOT to "meddle" in American politics. She has been completely transparent about this since she first came to the US.

http://www.mid.ru/en/press_service/spokesman/briefings/-/asset_publisher...

We are dismayed by the reported arrest of Russian citizen Maria Butina in the US on July 15. According to a statement on the website of the US Justice Department, she is charged with conspiracy to act as a foreign agent without registration.

These unsubstantiated claims against our fellow national seem odd, to say the least. As we know, Maria Butina has been in the United States for a long time as a student at a university in Washington and she has not been hiding from anybody.

It appears that instead of dealing with its core responsibilities in fighting crime, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is carrying out a blatant political order. As we understand it, the order came from those who continue to stir up Russophobic hysteria, for which purpose they regularly plant more fictional sensations about Russia’s alleged interference in the internal affairs of the United States.

On July 13, twelve Russians, who are currently outside the United States, were charged, as we have already mentioned. Now these ridiculous claims are made against Maria Butina – and she has even been arrested.

We could go on and on analysing this situation. We have the impression that the arrest, as a restrictive measure, was selected specifically to show the seriousness of the issue to the US public and to allies outside the country. The media immediately started referring to Butina as a spy and looked for connections with the security services, to build up tension without any substantial facts.

All this is happened right before the bilateral summit in Helsinki, with the obvious purpose of minimising the positive effect of the meeting and doing this as soon as possible. It appears that somebody took a watch, a calculator and timed when the decision on Maria Butina’s arrest should be taken in order to do as much as possible to sabotage the results of the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. This is how good the timing was.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/nra-maria-butina-spying-cha...

Beginning back in 2013, Butina developed a relationship with an unnamed “American political operative” described in the court documents, who has been identified in media reports as GOP activist and NRA member Paul Erickson. In her private communications with Erickson, Butina spoke of the key influence of the NRA on the Republican Party, noting that the gun group is “the largest sponsor of the elections to the US congress.” Through Erickson and her connections with the NRA, Butina sought to establish “‘back channel’ lines of communication” to influential political figures. In photos that she posted to her Facebook page, she posed with Republican politicians, including former presidential candidates Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, and former US Sen. Rick Santorum.

Very interesting...

@CB

...in part to justify to Americans an expensive new cold war with Russia. But the Neocon Deep State that occupies the Intelligence Agencies looks unusually clumsy and obvious as they rush this hoax. The indictment filed against her is hasty and incomplete, with many contradictions. It also smacks of revenge for the mocking of the useless Mueller Indictments that highlight his impotence in making a case over something that was never there: The collusion of Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin.

Thanks for those summary videos, CD. They hint at the damage that the US is doing to itself in the world.

The actual physical evidence, in this case, shows that Maria Butina was actively engaged in trying to influence Russia, by creating a large organization inside Russia, dedicated to changing specific Russian laws to make them more like US laws. As always, the Deep State has no evidence to present, so it relies on sexual innuendo and guilt by association — the same kind that it is using in the $100 million dollar RussiaGate investigation. Both cases are evidence-free and both are obviously papered with Deep State smears, sabotage, and revenge.

Like everything the dying Empire does during its steep decline, it will turn into a liquid shit puddle at their feet filled with unintended consequences. The Maria Butina case, in particular, does not resemble what the Deep State is trying to prove. They have either gone delusional, or they really believe they can pave over the gaping holes with propaganda. This will work with the Democrats who can be easily manipulated because the NRA is involved, but the Republicans being smeared as collateral damage, not so much....

for conflating Russian national with spying, sex, honey pots, guns, NRA, prayer breakfasts and other things that Democrats are currently obsessing upon.

If you are curious where Butina is coming from and why she has been making all those contacts with Americans:

This program is an interview with Maria Butina, a founder and head of “The Right to Bear Arms”, a Russian version of the National Rifle Association (NRA). What does it mean to own arms in Russia? Is it different from America? What kind of risks does it have? Host – Alexander Domrin.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8HLpT8Y-K8]

The best detailed rebuttal to this stinking pile of bullshit: (don't shoot the messenger before you listen to him)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aekqTKDZGKA]