The Butina case

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FBI Reveals Maria Butina Traded Sex In Exchange For All 62,984,828 Votes Trump Received In 2016 https://trib.al/tNZmIub 

9:19 AM - 20 Jul 2018

FBI Reveals Maria Butina Traded Sex In Exchange For All 62,984,828 Votes Trump Received In 2016

the Onion,

19 July, 2018

WASHINGTON—Saying that their investigation indicated her involvement in election interference went deeper than previously believed, the FBI revealed Thursday that Russian agent Maria Butina traded sex in exchange for all 62,984,828 votes Donald Trump received for president in 2016. “Our inquiry into Ms. Butina recently lead us to documents showing that while acting as a Kremlin asset, she approached every single registered voter in the country and, ultimately, exchanged sexual favors for each of the nearly 63 million votes President Trump received,” said FBI spokesperson Fred Rawlings, adding that the investigation had also concluded that every single dollar Trump received from donors such as Robert Mercer, Sheldon Adelson, and Linda McMahon was given as compensation for sex with Butina. “Beginning in at least 2011, Ms. Butina successfully established back channels with a significant portion of the nation’s 235 million citizens of voting age, ultimately trading enough sex to win Mr. Trump the election. It was clearly a fairly sophisticated operation, as Ms. Butina used intelligence gathered about American voters to target people willing to exchange their vote for sex in specific, crucial swing areas such as the upper Midwest, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina as Election Day approached. Our conclusions are clear: Without Ms. Butina’s sexual favors, Mr. Trump doesn’t win the election.” FBI officials added that the investigation into Butina’s involvement concurred with the intelligence community’s earlier findings that Hillary Clinton’s campaign likely lost the 2016 election because it did not offer enough sex to voters.

'Farce': US Authorities Trying to 'Break' Butina – Russian Ambassador

Sputnik,

20 July, 2018

Maria Butina was arrested on Sunday by US authorities and charged with conspiracy to act as a foreign agent and with impersonating an agent of a foreign government.

Moscow will demand that Washington release Butina and allow her to return to Russia, the Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said.

Anatoly Antonov called the detention of the Russian woman, Maria Butina, a farce and expressed hope that she would not be "broken" in the US.

"This is some farce, some kind of comedy — what is happening today in the United States of America. This is a farce — what they do. These accusations are absolutely illegal," Antonov said, speaking on Friday at the Valdai Discussion Club venue.

He believes that they are trying to "break" her in the United States, citing "attempts to prevent Russian diplomats from meeting with this girl, to break her, as a matter of fact."

"Perhaps she was in our Russian Embassy. You cannot even imagine how many compatriots come to the Russian Embassy for various kinds of cultural events, concerts," Antonov said at the Valdai Discussion Club.

READ MORE: US Justice Dep't Claims Butina Was in Contact With Russian Intel Officers — Docs

The ambassador added that Butina might have possibly approached him during one such event, and "somebody took a picture of it."

"I do not rule out that tomorrow we will see some kind of 'fake photo news' about the fact that she was talking with me and the day after tomorrow they will claim that she received instructions from me," Antonov added.

The 29-year-old Maria Butina was arrested by US authorities and charged with conspiracy to act as a foreign agent and impersonating an agent of a foreign government.

She denied both charges in federal court in Washington on Wednesday but was remanded in custody without bail, as she is considered a flight risk.

READ MORE: Russian Activist Butina Pleads Not Guilty in Washington Courtroom, Bond Denied

Russian Envoy on Butina's Arrest: US Intel 'Hunting' for Russians Abroad

Butina faces up to 15 years in US jail for acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign government and conspiracy.

Russian diplomats were granted access to Butina on Thursday. The Russian Embassy has also asked the United States for a formal explanation with regard to Maria Butina's detention.

The Russian Foreign Ministry in a post on its official Facebook page said that due to the arrest in the United States of Russian citizen Maria Butina, a flash mob was launched to support her: #FreeMariaButina.

Butina is a longtime advocate of gun rights in Russia who developed ties with US citizens who shared an interest in defending those rights, namely the National Rifle Association (NRA)