*fades out after 3 seconds, requests payment to keep reading*

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4029313&forum_id=2#36452552)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4029313&forum_id=2#36452927)

Sheeeiiiittt, I really don't need to be put in charge of any state secrets, because this is the kind of stuff that would work on me every time.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4029313&forum_id=2#36452587)

Prosecutors included that information in court documents as part of their request that Maria Butina be detained ahead of her trial because they say she is a "serious" flight risk.

The government's attorneys cited "the nature of the charges, her history of deceptive conduct, the potential sentence she faces, the strong evidence of guilt, extensive foreign connections and her lack of any meaningful ties to the United States."

They also wrote that Butina, who was indicted on Tuesday by a grand jury in Washington, D.C., has "access to funds and an intention to move money outside the United States."

Moreover, they wrote, her lease is up at the end of July and she had boxes packed, apparently with the intention to move.

"Because Butina has been exposed as an illegal agent of Russia, there is the grave risk that she will appeal to those within that government with whom she conspired to aid her escape from the United States," the government's attorneys wrote.

Contact with the FSB

One apparent reason for the government's concern was the discovery that Butina has been in contact with Russia's FSB intelligence agency "throughout her entire time" in the United States, according to court papers.

FBI surveillance also spotted her with a Russian diplomat whom American officials believe was an intelligence officer. Intelligence officers often use an "official cover" as employees of their home country's foreign ministry.

FBI agents discovered March 2017 messages between Butina and Alexander Torshin, the Russian government official whom they've described as her main point of contact in Russia, in which he allegedly wrote: "You have upstaged Anna Chapman. She poses with toy pistols while you are being published with real ones."

Chapman belonged to the network of so-called illegal intelligence operatives rolled up by the FBI in 2010 and went on to enjoy a high media profile for some time afterward.

On Jan. 20, 2017, in response to a photo that Butina sent to Torshin near the Capitol on Inauguration Day, Torshin allegedly responded: "You're a daredevil girl! What can I say!"

Torshin was placed under sanction by the Treasury Department earlier this year and is barred from traveling to the United States. Authorities added that Butina has ties to wealthy businessmen in the Russian oligarchy.

Personal relationships

The FBI said it has determined that even though Butina had a personal relationship with someone described in court papers as Person 1 — identified by NPR as political fundraiser Paul Erickson — she "offered an individual other than Person 1 sex in exchange for a position with a special interest organization. Further, in papers seized by the FBI, Butina complained about living with Person 1."

The organization is not identified in the court documents. Butina and Torshin sought to build bridges with American political leaders via the National Rifle Association, but it isn't clear whether that is the entity to which the government alluded in its court filing.

Erickson cited the "sometimes international reach" of the NRA as part of a pitch he made in 2016 to members of Donald Trump's campaign. He and the Russians sought to use the imprimatur of the NRA in order to meet U.S. political leaders and Trump, citing a "back channel" he had forged with the Kremlin.

The Trump campaign did not agree to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2016 as Erickson proposed, but Donald Trump Jr. did meet Torshin briefly that year at the NRA's convention in Louisville.

The NRA has so far made no comment this week about the Butina charges or the Torshin connection.

The FBI said it saw Butina and Person 1 at a U-Haul truck facility on July 14, a day before she was arrested. Butina had boxes in her apartment the following day when the FBI arrived.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4029313&forum_id=2#36452614)

"The FBI said it saw Butina and Person 1 at a U-Haul truck facility on July 14, a day before she was arrested."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4029313&forum_id=2#36452664)