What we know about a Russian NRA supporter’s alleged plot to get in with Trump and the GOP

Maria Butina, a Russian NRA supporter who reportedly bragged of the work she was doing for the Trump campaign, was arrested Sunday in Washington, D.C., and charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government.

Butina, a 29-year-old from Siberia who lived in Washington and took classes at American University, entered the GOP’s political circles by way of her support of the NRA. Butina founded a group called Right to Bear Arms, where she focused on jump-starting the gun rights movement in Russia — and allegedly ingratiating herself with leaders on the right in the process.

According to the Department of Justice, Butina didn’t act alone in her efforts. Here’s what we know so far about Butina, her alleged co-conspirators, and their alleged plot to influence their way to the White House.

U.S. person 1

According to the unsealed complaint, Butina was aided in her efforts to advance Russia’s agenda by an an American political operative and U.S. citizen identified in court documents only as “U.S. Person 1.”.

According to the FBI, Butina emailed U.S. Person 1 in March 2015 proposing she focus on the NRA, which she said would likely determine the 2016 election. She also noted that the NRA was “the largest sponsor of elections to the U.S. congress, as well as a sponsor of the CPAC conference and other events.”

In the emails cited by the FBI, Butina also underscored her own relationship with the NRA, alluding to meetings she took with various GOP leaders as a “representative of informal diplomacy” of the Russian Federation, and requesting a budget of $125,000 to participate in “all upcoming major conferences” of the GOP to bolster her status leading up to the 2016 election.

In response, the American political operative gave Butina a list of potential media, business and political contacts, suggesting she begin making inroads with them.

U.S. person 2

Later, in 2016 and 2017, another U.S. Citizen, “U.S. Person 2,” was looped into a series of emails that show Butina trying to arrange “a series of diners in the District of Columbia and New York City and U.S. persons having influence in American politics.”

Aleksander Torshin

Butina is also accused of conspiring with Aleksander Torshin, a former Russian lawmaker and senior official from the Central Bank of Russia.

Torshin, who still enjoys influence on the right despite credible allegations of Russian mob ties,, is currently the subject of an FBI investigation into whether the Russian government funnelled money into the National Rifle Association to help Trump win the election. Torshin is an NRA life member and an honorary member of the Right to Bear Arms, and was seated next to Donald Trump Jr. at the NRA’s 2015 annual convention

The GOP and the Trump campaign

Whether Butina was instructed by Russia or not, news reports dating back to at least 2013 place her squarely within the GOP, and later, Trump’s orbit.

For example, in 2013 — the same year she first met “Person 1” — former NRA president David Keene accepted an invitation from Butina and Torshin to travel to Moscow for a meeting hosted by Right to Bear Arms, according to Mother Jones. (The scheduled events included a fashion show of apparel specially designed for carrying concealed weapons.)

And in December 2015, The Right to Bear Arms partially funded an NRA delegation trip to Moscow, which included former Milwaukee Sheriff and Trump surrogate David Clarke, Keene, and Paul Erickson, a longtime political operative. They even visited a gun manufacturer together.

Butina and Erickson bragged of their connections to the Trump transition team, the Daily Beast reported. “She said so in my class. And she said so several times in the last semester,” Svetlana Savranskaya, who taught Butina at American University, told the outlet. “She is a former journalist, so she keeps up her connections in Russia. And she also works and [claims to] keep connections with a member of the Russian Duma.”

Butina and Erickson, who have been linked since at least 2013, apparently became so close that they even formed a company, “Bridges LLC,” in 2016 registered in South Dakota. Erickson said the purpose of the firm was to provide Butina with extra funding for her graduate studies, should she need it, according to McClatchy.

Erickson is perhaps best-known for his reported offer to set up a back-channel of communication between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin 2016, according to the New York Times.

Cover: Mariia Butina, leader of a pro-gun organization, speaks on October 8, 2013 during a press conference in Moscow. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)