More ties have emerged between accused Russian spy Maria Butina and the National Rifle Association — and now a Russian billionaire, according to a new report.
Leaders with the powerful gun rights lobby met with Svetlana Nikolaeva, the wife of a Russian billionaire who allegedly funded Butina’s gun rights group, the Guardian reported.
In December 2015, the NRA delegation — including then-first vice president Pete Brownell and former president David Keene — were in Moscow for an expedition party funded by Butina’s organization, Right to Bear Arms.
During the trip, they met with Nikolaeva at the headquarters of Orsis, the parent company of her Promtechnologies — which provides sniper rifles to the Russian military and intelligence services.
Also in attendance was David Clarke, the former Milwaukee county sheriff and staunch Donald Trump supporter.
The Americans enjoyed meals and meetings with influential Russians like Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, whose son was an executive at Orsis.
Last week, it was revealed that Butina’s Right to Bear Arms funded $6,000 of Clarke’s meal, hotel and transportation expenses, according to his financial disclosure form, Fox 6 reported.
Butina was charged in the US last week with infiltrating political circles to send information back to the Kremlin.
At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in April, Butina said Nikolaeva’s husband, Konstantin Nikolaev, provided funding for her pro-gun group, the Washington Post reported.
To do so, the feds said the 29-year-old dated a 56-year-old American man and used him for his connections to the Republican Party and NRA.
His identity has not been made public, but he is believed to be South Dakota GOP strategist Paul Erickson.
Butina also allegedly offered sex in exchange for a job within a “special interest organization,” the feds said.
Prosecutors said she acted at the behest of a “Russian official” believed to be lifetime NRA member and former Russian politician Alexander Torshin.
Butina, who had been living in Washington, DC, has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
