https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/butina-influence-secretary-state-sentencing-memo-825666/?fbclid=IwAR3qu9dEKqdAgSzvILqbr8OrqSh3gBiPJstGc-rUyjZ__NK8bLNfl6G8lnA
"In the case of Maria Butina — the Russian national who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for attempting to create a backchannel between Moscow and the Trump administration using the NRA as a conduit — the U.S. government is asking for a prison sentence of 18 months, followed by Butina’s immediate deportation. The government’s sentencing memo, filed Friday in federal court, offers striking details to support the claim that Butina was not just a naive and ambitious student looking to build up a professional network in Washington, D.C. It outlines, for example, a May 2015 meeting between Butina and then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in which Butina reported on her progress making inroads with a GOP presidential campaign. (At the time, according to her social media posts, Butina had been interested in the campaign of Scott Walker, then Wisconsin governor.) The government asserts that Butina “acted at the direction and control” of a “Russian Official,” previously identified as Alexander Torshin. Butina, the memo states, was “fully aware that he reported to the rest of the Russian government and her actions were ultimately for the benefit of the foreign government.” According to the memo, Butina even “voiced worry that others in the Russian government would steal the initiative” to establish a backchannel out from under her. Perhaps most disturbing, the memo highlights Butina’s claim that she was using her contacts within Trump World in late 2016 to help vet the new administration’s choice for secretary of state. The memo states that Butina “provided the Russian Official with the name of an individual she claimed was being considered for secretary of state” on November 11th, 2016. “She asked the Russian Official to seek the input of the Russian government on the name she provided and told him, ‘our opinion will be taken into consideration’ in the United States.’” The memo offers no further detail on the substance of this explosive claim."
