As the denials pile up after the Butina plea deal, remember that there are no political freelancers in Putin's Russia. No one can risk it. They aren't all reporting directly, but they serve one master in the end.
This is also true of the many Russian oligarchs whose fortunes and comfy lives in the West could disappear with one Putin finger snap, like Thanos. They may not serve every hour of every day, but they serve.
Their partners & contacts abroad may claim innocence or ignorance of being caught up in a Kremlin web, but this is inexcusable stupidity at best and criminality or treason at worst. They are Putin's creatures.
