Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello on this gray morning from the federal courthouse, where Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent for Russia, will be sentenced. She's asking for time-served and immediate deportation back to Russia. Prosecutors are asking for 18 months

Update: We're watching the "Me!" music video in the media room while we wait for Butina's sentencing to start at 10am

I'll be in the media room for Maria Butina's sentencing - there's live audio, but sadly we've learned this courtroom isn't equipped with video yet, so no video stream. I'll be sharing live updates as the hearing unfolds, but I won't be able to tell you what people look like

And we're off. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan is on the bench for Maria Butina's sentencing hearing.

For a refresher on Butina's case and what she pleaded guilty to: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Chutkan notes that there were some sealed materials filed, and she says that if the lawyers want to talk about those, she'll have them come to the bench (rather than clear the courtroom)

A major point of contention will be how the judge looks at a declaration from a former FBI official (filed by the govt) opining that Butina was part of a broad Russian intelligence operation: assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5978… Butina's lawyers argue the filing is speculative/unsupported

Butina's lawyers are also arguing that Butina isn't charged with any espionage offenses, so the former FBI official's declaration isn't relevant

Chutkan asks Butina if she's satisfied with her lawyers and if she had enough time to talk to them about the presentence report and the government's filing. Butina says yes.

The judge is now on the issue of whether there is a sentencing guidelines range, which she notes is complicated — the parties agree the sentencing guidelines don't specify a range for the specific offense that Butina pleaded guilty to. Her lawyers argue it should be 0-6 months

Why does this matter? Normally the sentencing guidelines ranges (which are advisory and not mandatory) serve as a benchmark for judges as they craft a sentence

The judge says she isn't convinced the defense is right in trying to compare Butina's case to other cases that would support a range of 0-6 months. She agrees with the govt that the gravamen of the offense is about acting as an agent for a foreign govt without notifying the US

The judge did grant the government request for a downward departure at sentencing because of Butina's cooperation with the government

The probation office recommended a sentnece of 12 months and one day (prosecutors asked for 18 months, Butina asked for time-served)

The judge is hearing from AUSA Erik Kenerson — Kenerson is arguing the defense isn't disputing that Butina was sending notes and communicating with a Russian official about her work in the US, and trying to establish a backchannel between US individuals and Russia re: US policy

Kenerson: “This is not a registration offense. This is a case where the defendant acted in the United States as the agent of a foreign government…. She did so for the benefit of Russia.”

Kenerson argues the fact that Butina was attending American Univ. as a grad student at the time isn't relevant — she was actively trying to establish a US-Russia backchannel and feeding information back to the Russian government while she was in school

Butina's lawyer Alfred Carry is up now. The judge asked if Butina's lawyers wanted to question the former FBI official who filed the declaration re: Butina being part of a Russian intelligence operation, they said no

Carry: "Maria is not a spy. She’s not intelligence. She’s never been employed by the Russian government. She knows of no secret codes, safe houses ... She has never engaged in covert activity and she has never lied to our government."

Carry said Butina's relationship with Aleksandr Torshin (Russian Central Bank official that she was in regular comms with) was a mix of personal (i.e. buying his grandchildren clothes, it was not romantic) and relaying her experiences interacting with influential Americans

Carry said that Butina experienced discrimination on campus at American University because of some of the media coverage about her, and had a hard time making friends

Carry says that Butina organized friendship dinners (events that the govt says were part of an effort to set up a backchannel) because she hoped for better relations between the US and Russia

Carry appeals to something he and Chutkan have in common, that they both worked as public defenders — he says he learned that people are more than the worst thing they've done. "I have met no one ... more emblematic of that belief than Maria. She has learned a valuable lesson."

Maria Butina is addressing the judge: "Now I beg for mercy, for the chance to go home and rebuild my life."

Butina: "I wanted a future career in international policy. At the same time, I wished to mend relations while improving my own resume, so I sought to build bridges between my motherland and the country I grew to love. ... Never did I wish to hurt anyone."

Butina: "If I had known to register as a foreign agent, I would have done so without delay. ... Ignorance of law, however, is not an excuse, in the US or in Russia." She expressed regret that her actions harmed US-Russia relations, which she says is what she wanted to help mend

Chutkan is up (we may go right to sentencing without a break). She says she agrees with the govt that Butina wasn't just a student and this wasn't just a registration offense — Butina was sending info to Russia at a time when Russia was trying to interfere with the US election

Chutkan notes Butina was acting under direction from a Russian official, for the benefit of the Russian govt, and cites the former FBI official in saying her offense was serious and jeopardized natl sec: "This was not a simple misunderstanding by an overeager foreign student."

NOW: Maria Butina has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiring to act as an agent for the Russian government in the United States (she will get credit for the 9 months she's already served)

STORY: Maria Butina has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiring to act as an agent for the Russian government (she'll get credit for 9 mos. she's already served). Judge: "This was not a simple misunderstanding by an overeager foreign student." buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Outside court, Butina's lawyer Robert Driscoll pushed back on the judge bringing up Russian interference in the election. He said Mueller's team interviewed Butina, and if she'd been involved, Mueller "would have mentioned it somewhere in his 400 pages" buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

"This was not a simple misunderstanding by an overeager foreign student."

A federal judge today sentenced Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent for Russia, to 18 months in prison (w/ credit for the 9 months she's served so far)
buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…