Thread by @cjcmichel

Maria Butina, one of the Russian nationals linking the NRA to Russian officials, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy.

DOJ says she "act[ed] as an agent of Russia" by "infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics" justice.gov/opa/pr/russian…

A day after the election, Alexander Torshin said he knew of only two Russian nationals who were lifetime members of the @NRA.

One was sanctioned in April by the U.S., and the other was just arrested for acting at the behest of the Russian government.

https://twitter.com/torshin_ru/status/796465054094868480

Here's a 2015 clip of Maria Butina asking Trump a question about Russia, with Trump hinting he may remove sanctions as president:

The DOJ complaint against Butina echoes a lot of what was previously assumed -- i.e., that Torshin directed Butina's operation(s): justice.gov/opa/press-rele…

Here's a 2014 article from @KatiePavlich that claimed Butina was just a woman "working with the NRA and fighting for gun rights in Russia": townhall.com/columnists/kat…

Still boggles just how successful Torshin and Butina were at infiltrating the @NRA -- here's Butina discussing how she was a special guest of longtime NRA president David Keene:

Here's our dive from last month into the history of the Nashville-based lawyer who first introduced Torshin (and eventually Butina) to the NRA—and how it was part of broader effort to woo the U.S. Religious Right: thinkprogress.org/history-of-chr…

Here's a 2015 article Butina wrote for @TheNatlInterest, which described her only as "the founding chairman, The Right To Bear Arms, a Russian version of the NRA." nationalinterest.org/feature/the-be…

Butina said in an email that Torshin was in direct contact with Putin about their operations viz. building up ties with the U.S. Religious Right:

A month before the election, U.S. PERSON 1 described the @NRA as a "conduit" and "VERY private line of communication" between the Kremlin and Republican leaders. justice.gov/opa/press-rele…

Torshin -- who had worked as an election observer in 2012 -- discussed having Butina work as election observer in 2016, but decided that the risk was too high. justice.gov/opa/press-rele…

A couple key takeaways:

1. Butina and Torshin, based on the DOJ's complaint, are exactly who many suspected over the past year: Russian operatives with no interest in "gun rights" in Russia, but who spied an opening with the @NRA as a conduit to the Republican Party.

2. There's no indication in the DOJ's complaint that Butina or Torshin used the NRA to launder money into Trump's campaign. (But that doesn't mean it didn't happen. More FEC complaints keep piling up on the topic: thinkprogress.org/new-fec-compla…)

3. The DOJ's complaint appears to confirm that Butina's/Torshin's work with the @NRA was part of a broader, years-long attempt at wooing social conservatives, especially members of the U.S. Religious Right. (For a look at how those ties first developed: thinkprogress.org/history-of-chr…)

4. It's a terrible, horrible, no-good day for the @NRA, which has just been described in a DOJ complaint as the "conduit" between Russia and the GOP that was so long suspected, and that so many fantastic reporters (especially @timkmak and @jeisrael) had previously covered.

5. Very possible that, in the long-run, this DOJ complaint linking Russia and the @NRA ends up as bigger news than the Trump-Putin summit today.

A couple of our articles/investigations that help shine light on other contours of the Russia-@NRA links revealed today:

1. On how ties between Russia, the NRA, and U.S. Religious Right first began, years and years ago: thinkprogress.org/history-of-chr…

2. Everything we know about the Tennessee lawyer who first introduced Torshin to @NRA leadership -- and who praises Putin every chance he gets: thinkprogress.org/russia-electio…

3. On the same Tennessee lawyer's ties to @MarshaBlackburn -- whose Congressional campaigns he used to lead: thinkprogress.org/new-documents-…

4. And on the tangled web between Russia, the @NRA, and (of all things) Tennessee politics, a web that still continues to this day: thinkprogress.org/tangled-web-of…

For kicks, here's a 2015 picture of both Torshin and Butina with Wisconsin Gov. @ScottWalker:

When Butina spoke at the University of South Dakota in 2015, she was described simply as (surprise) an arms rights advocate:

Here's Butina with longtime @NRA President David Keene in Moscow in 2014, six days before the Crimean "vote" to join Russia:

Worth noting: Torshin first made contact with NRA leadership in *2011.* The DOJ complaint makes it seem like the relationship was operationalized in 2015 -- but the relationship predates that by years.

In 2013, 'Butina explained in a LiveJournal post that just because a foreign citizen is an NRA member, that does not necessarily mean they are a spy.' thinkprogress.org/nra-and-russia…

And here's Butina's post about asking Trump a question about sanctions in 2015: "So much for Republicans who are supposedly against Russia."

WaPo has some more details on Butina’s arrest: washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…

—Unnamed U.S. PERSON 1, who described the @NRA as a “conduit” to GOP leadership, appears to be conservative activist Paul Erickson:

—Law enforcement officials were worried that Butina was going to be leaving the Washington area (to where?), hence her arrest yesterday:

It remains unclear who unnamed U.S. PERSON 2 is, but descriptions match those of conservative activist George O’Neill Jr.—yet another link in the ties between Russia and the U.S. Religious Right. time.com/4696424/moscow…

One of the main attendees at the Feb. 2017 dinner Butina appears to be referencing? None other than @DanaRohrabacher. mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-wo…

Among the people George O'Neill recommends looking to for Russian policies:

- Stephen Cohen
- Pat Buchanan
- Writers for anti-Semitic sites like Russia Insider and Unz Review

theamericanconservative.com/articles/why-d…

Here's Maria Butina appearing on @ericmetaxas's show in 2015 -- alongside Paul Erickson: soundcloud.com/the-eric-metax…

We already knew that Paul Erickson, now identified as unnamed U.S. PERSON 1, had reached out to the Trump campaign in 2016, describing the NRA as a "back-channel" to the Kremlin: nytimes.com/2017/12/03/us/…

Y'all, Maria Butina did not visit the Oval Office with the Russian delegation. Stop that. gizmodo.com/this-viral-pho…

Shameless plug: Last month, we obtained the notes from the first high-level trip from the U.S. Religious Right to Russia—which took place in 1995. thinkprogress.org/history-of-chr…

Here's our rundown of all of the Republican leaders and conservative activists Maria Butina met—as well as who the unnamed U.S. PERSON 2 likely is. thinkprogress.org/here-are-all-t…

In early Feb. '17, conservative activist George O'Neill hosted a sumptuous, 4-hour dinner including Rohrabacher, Paul Erickson, Torshin, and Butina.

In early Feb. '17, Butina wrote unnamed U.S. PERSON 2 about his "wonderful dinner," and that Putin had received "the message."

One additional note: Paul Erickson, the unnamed U.S. PERSON 1 who helped Butina's and Torshin's infiltration efforts? He was a Trump transition adviser, per @Isikoff: yahoo.com/news/white-hou…

This would have been around the same time Butina first began building up NRA contacts:

https://twitter.com/leonidragozin/status/1019340110960168968?s=21

George O’Neill doesn’t appear to know where Russia’s border is: theamericanconservative.com/articles/for-p…

Lots of new details in tonight’s WaPo piece, including that Butina said she and Erickson — the Trump transition adviser and unnamed U.S. PERSON 1 — were romantically involved. washingtonpost.com/politics/she-w… ht @TCleveland4Real

‘“[Butina] did not behave in what I considered an entirely professional manner,” Versnel said. “She had an extra button or three unbuttoned.”’ theguardian.com/world/2018/jul…