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Matea Gold @mateagold
, 4 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Photo of Maria Butina having lunch in March with a Russian diplomat suspected of being intelligence officer. (A menu board in the photo matches one featured in a photo of La Piquette, a French restaurant in Cleveland Park.)

washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…
Here's the memo seized from Erickson's home referring to FSB job offer:
And here's the selfie Butina took of herself at Trump's inauguration and sent to her contact in the Russian government:
For more on the Russian presence at the inauguration, read our January piece: washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-…
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More from @mateagold see all

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I’m going to highlight some of the revelatory details unearthed by @thamburger @bethreinhard @justinwmmoyer in their deep exploration of the Saudi influence machine:
wapo.st/2R5KYrA?tid=ss…
Saudi spending on U.S. lobbying and consulting, which had dropped from $14.3 million in 2015 to $7.7 million in 2016, surged to $27.3 million last year, according to public records.
Read 17 tweets
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All of Ivanka's products are made in foreign factories in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China, where low-wage laborers have limited ability to advocate for themselves, as @drewharwell and I reported last year:

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/…
@drewharwell At the time, Abigail Klem told us she was planning her first trip to tour some of the facilities that make Ivanka Trump products and that the company would increase oversight of the treatment of its largely female workforce. They have provided no details since then.
@drewharwell As Ivanka's image grew more polarized, so did her customer base. Fans embraced her clothes to make a political statement, while other women eschewed the label for the same reason.

washingtonpost.com/politics/buyin…
Read 3 tweets
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Some back story about our piece on the politically connected Russians who were in Washington during Trump’s inauguration, helmed by @craigtimberg @PostRoz @arothwp @CarolLeonnig

wapo.st/2mXKKW6?tid=ss…
It started with a tip about Alexey Repik, a wealthy Russian pharmaceutical executive, who attended the inauguration with his wife Polina.
wapo.st/2mVns33
A venture fund backed by Repik’s company and the Russian government invested in late 2016 in Bonti, a U.S. pharmaceutical company. Another Bonti investor was a company founded by Darren Blanton, a Texas venture capitalist who advised the Trump transition.
Read 18 tweets

Related threads

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There's always more >> Accused spy Maria #Butina turned on her Russian charm to secure Russian jet fuel deal with David Keene, NRA president & prominent leader of the conservative movement, his lobbyist wife, & her boyfriend Erickson — The New York Times nytimes.com/2018/09/02/us/…
THREAD on sloppy NYT piece on #Butina. See @john_sipher who says she's not a professional spy but an 'access agent teeing up fools for Russia to compromise.' She develops access & provides targeting information to the professionals, so they know who's vulnerable, who to go after.
@john_sipher There are spies and there are spies. Russia has a dizzying array of intelligence agents, special services & proxies, formal professionals & informal agents like Maria #Butina. @KirkseniyaSF reviews some of the nuances in @KyivPost kyivpost.com/article/opinio… cc @SethAbramson @nytimes
Read 4 tweets
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Butina was recently moved from federal facility in D.C. to jail in Alexandria where Paul Manafort is currently being held.
Life comes at you fast!
Butina also worked with the @OUTDChannel to develop a television show highlighting Putin’s “love of the outdoors” that would feature Putin himself. The Outdoor Channel and the @NRA call themselves “strategic partners”:
Read 23 tweets
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Maria Butina was coached through online messages w Russian handlers.

"Right now everything has to be quiet and careful" Butina Twitter DM, a mth before the election

Election night: "I'm going to sleep. It's 3 a.m. here. I am ready for further orders."

bbc.com/news/world-us-…
During the inauguration of Trump, Maria Butina shared a photo of herself attending the event at the US Capitol.

"You're a daredevil girl!" her Russian handler messaged Butina.

"What can I say!" Butina replied. "Good teachers."

#TrumpTreason
Alexander Torshin was the main handler for Butina.

He is a Russian banker, former senator, accused crime lord in Spain & reputed Russian mob boss who is cozy with the NRA & closely tethered to Maria Butina

The public Twitter feed of Torshin is bad enough, his DMs? #SpyGate
Read 3 tweets
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Maria Butina was likely in contact with Russian Intelligence Services [FSB] throughout her stay in the US. FBI surveillance observed her in the company of a diplomat suspected of being a Russian intelligence officer for several weeks in Mar 2018.
#Maddow assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4609…
Prosecutors: Russian agent Maria Butina tried to trade sex for influence, "offering an individual other than US Person 1 [@GOP operative Paul Erickson] sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization." #HONEYPOT
by @Tom_Winter #Maddow nbcnews.to/2Lqlu9f
In addition to her ties to the Russian govt & intelligence services, Maria Butina's financier is a Russian oligarch [other than Torshin] with deep ties to Putin, whom Butina refers to as her "funder" – so Butina is linked to @GOP, Trump campaign AND Putin.
@DavidCornDC #Maddow
Read 4 tweets
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Maria Butina, the gun-loving Russian woman charged with being an unregistered foreign agent, cozying up to politicians to infiltrate U.S. political system tried to swap sex for influence, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

*I'm shocked, I tells ya, shook*

🙄
nbcnews.com/news/crime-cou…
In arguing Butina is a flight risk, prosecutors said her only tie to U.S. is a personal relationship with an unidentified man, which is branded "duplicitous," suggesting she's using him for her own means.

The man’s description matches that of Republican operative Paul Erickson.
"Butina treats it as necessary aspect of her activities.
Butina offered individual other than US Person 1 sex in exchange for position within special interest org.
Papers seized by FBI, Butina complains living with US Person 1, disdain for continuing to live with U.S. Person 1."
Read 8 tweets
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A criminal complaint was *unsealed today* in the District of Columbia charging a Russian national with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General. justice.gov/opa/pr/russian…
Maria Butina, 29, a Russian citizen residing in DC, was arrested on July 15, 2018, in Washington, D.C., and made her initial appearance this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
She was ordered held pending a hearing set for July 18, 2018.
Read 37 tweets

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