The 29-year old Russian woman accused of working as a spy in the US — attempting to sleep her way into powerful political circles and set up a “back channel” to the Kremlin — must stay behind bars until her trial, a judge ordered Wednesday.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and white T-shirt, Maria Butina entered a “not guilty” plea in a DC federal court, but her bid to be released on bail was unsuccessful after prosecutors argued she is a serious flight risk — and flashed photos of the redhead meeting with an alleged Russian intelligence agent at a local restaurant.
Prosecutors also showed a handwritten note found at Butina’s apartment referencing an employment offer from a Russian intelligence agency and a photo of her standing in front of the US Capitol on the day of President Trump’s inauguration.
Butina came into the country on a student visa to study at American University, but prosecutors allege that it was just a cover so she could infiltrate political organizations and set up a “back channel” for communications between the Kremlin and US politicians.
“We do not believe she was here … just to attend American University,” said lead prosecutor Erik Michael Kenerson, adding that Butina was engaged in a “covert influence campaign.”
In court documents filed earlier Wednesday, the feds allege that Butina dated a 56-year-old American man — believed to be South Dakota GOP strategist Paul Erickson — for his connections to the Republican Party and the National Rifle Association and also offered another US citizen sex in exchange for a position in a “special interest organization.”
Prosecutors claim she worked under the direction of a “Russian official” — believed to be former Russian politician and lifetime NRA member Alexander Torshin.
Butina’s lawyer argued that she was neither a Russian agent nor a flight risk, noting that she has had plenty of opportunities to leave the country and that she testified voluntarily earlier this year at a closed-door hearing before the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
Before the court hearing, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed the accusations against the 29-year-old were “Russophobic hysteria” and her arrest Sunday night was deliberately timed to discredit the summit between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to Radio Free Europe.
“You have the impression that someone must have grabbed a watch and a calculator to determine when the decision on Butina’s arrest should made in order to undermine the outcomes of the summit,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow. “It was deliberately timed.”
With Post wires
