Maria Butina: NRA member, lobbyist, and Kremlin spy?

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Amid the furor of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s meeting in Helsinki, questions remain over the Russian arrested Monday in Washington. Who is she? None other than the assistant to a Russian central bank executive.

JUST IN: Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, not known to utter anything unambiguous: “I never saw or imagined so uneven a handover of American security interests and principles with nothing in return…It was like watching the destruction of a cathedral.”

via aleksey godin

JUST IN: Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, not known to utter anything unambiguous: “I never saw or imagined so uneven a handover of American security interests and principles with nothing in return…It was like watching the destruction of a cathedral.”

Trump says he accepts Russia meddled in election in latest reversal | US news | The Guardian

Source: Trump says he accepts Russia meddled in election in latest reversal | US news | The Guardian

“Let me be totally clear in saying that … I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” Trump said, reading from a prepared script. He then added: “It could be other people also. There’s a lot of people out there.”

How Maria Butina, accused Russian spy, worked her way into top US circles

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Criminal charges open new front in bid to counter Russian disruption and suggest American associates of Butina, 29, may be under threat

The Las Vegas hotel ballroom was crowded, but the Russian redhead caught Donald Trump’s eye. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, inviting a question.

Related: Russian woman charged with spying for Moscow by ‘infiltrating’ NRA

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All Mother Teresa homes inspected amid baby-selling scandal

“Hindu” uber-nationalists after any religious organization not Hindu”

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India orders examination of all institutions run by her charity after claims against two staff

India has ordered the immediate inspection of all childcare homes run by the Missionaries of Charity, the Catholic congregation established by Mother Teresa, after employees at one shelter were accused of selling babies for adoption.

The inspections were announced by the ministry for women and childhood development after a Missionaries of Charity home in Jharkhand state was shut this month following the arrest of a nun and a social worker employed there.

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Tuesday Open Thread | DOJ charges Russian national with espionage

Washington (CNN) The Justice Department charged a Russian national who, along with her mentor, aimed to set up backchannel communications during the presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with conspiring against the US as a foreign agent.

Mariia Butina, also known as Maria, was arrested on Sunday and appeared in court in Washington, DC, on Monday, according to the Justice Department. She’ll be detained for three days until her next court appearance.

She and her mentor, Kremlin-linked banker Alexander Torshin, spent three years trying to make inroads with US political organizations and operatives to develop a more conciliatory approach to Russia among American politicians, according to court filings and CNN reporting. Torshin and Butina feared the end of the Obama administration in 2016, and targeted Republicans, according to court filings.

Their primary avenue of influence appeared to be the National Rifle Association, according to CNN reporting and court filings, though the organization is not explicitly referred to by name in the legal documents.

Torshin bragged both publicly and privately that he and Butina were the only Russians who were also lifetime members of the NRA, and they leveraged their relationship with the NRA’s leadership to foster relationships with Republican Party leaders, American politicians and business leaders. They even used their connection to try to establish a covert communications channel between then-candidate Trump and Putin.

The NRA did not respond to a request for comment.

Retired general unleashes on Trump as ‘unfit to command our troops’ in wake of Putin presser

Retired general unleashes on Trump as ‘unfit to command our troops’ in wake of Putin presser:

kyhaven:

“The only explanation for today’s appalling performance by @realDonaldTrump is the Russians have high value compromising intel on POTUS,” he tweeted Monday evening. “Something that would have been discovered during any serviceman’s background investigation.”

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