Mariia Valeryevna Butina (Russian: Мария Валерьевна Бутина, sometimes transliterated as Maria Butina or Mariya Butina; born November 10, 1988) is a Russian who was convicted in 2018 of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of Russia within the United States.
Beginning in 2011, she worked as an assistant for Aleksandr Torshin, a former member of the Federation Council, a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, and a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia. In this role, she worked to infiltrate conservative groups in the US, including the National Rifle Association, as part of an effort to promote Russian interests in the 2016 United States presidential election.
The Senate Intelligence Committee later concluded that she attempted to persuade the Trump campaign to establish a secret communications back channel with Russia.
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