Posted on 10/26/2019 6:15:20 PM PDT by terart
MOSCOW (Reuters) - "Russian national Maria Butina, who was jailed in the United States in April after admitting to working as a Russian agent, arrived in Moscow on Saturday, greeted by her father and Russian journalists who handed her flowers.
"Russians never surrender," an emotional Butina told reporters at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, flanked by her father and the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman.
Clutching a bouquet of white roses, the 30-year-old graduate student thanked her supporters and added she was happy to be back.
Butina pleaded guilty in December last year to one count of conspiring to act as a foreign agent for Russia by infiltrating a gun rights group and influencing U.S. conservative activists and Republicans.
Her case further strained U.S.-Russian relations, prompting Moscow to accuse Washington of forcing Butina to confess to what it described as ridiculous charges.
Earlier this year Russian President Vladimir Putin called the United States' treatment of Butina a travesty of justice and said her sentence looked like an attempt by U.S. law enforcement and judicial officials to save face.
Despite his criticism of the way Butina was treated, Putin has no plans to meet with her, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this week.
In the past Putin has warmly welcomed home Russian agents arrested abroad.
The Russian leader said in 2010 that he had sung patriotic songs with Anna Chapman, one of 10 Russian agents deported from the United States as part of the countries' biggest spy swap since the Cold War."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
“Despite his criticism of the way Butina was treated, Putin has no plans to meet with her, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this week.”
From what I’ve read elsewhere, Russia has said she was NOT working for them. So, if Putin meets with her, it will be in secret, Comrade! ;)
“”Despite his criticism of the way Butina was treated, Putin has no plans to meet with her, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this week.
In the past Putin has warmly welcomed home Russian agents arrested abroad.” “
That generally explains that many Freepers already knew.
She is not even a little bit connected to the Russian government.
Her first TV interview after returning to Moscow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYAdeXJhZlE&feature=youtu.be
Many were hoping she might help Byrne expand Overstock.com to include firearms sales.
She has a long trigger finger.
What, a decadent Western 1911 instead of a Tokarev ???
The crime is that she is a foreigner and had agenda. That’s all. Mostly a thought crime.
Few realize that the same might be applied for example to any Midwestern missionary abroad.
That is something that places like North Korea do.
In fact Butina case is invaluable for anti-American propaganda if handled properly.
Yeah, I was afraid of that.
Very spooky. I'm surprised that the various news networks (at least the honest ones, like OANN) didn't emphasize that point. They reported it (I saw the report yesterday) fairly, but I would have liked it if they had emphasized the absurdity of her being put in prison.
She wasn’t even charged with being an “agent”. Fake news as usual from Rooters.
Nope. She was merely a firearms-rights enthusiast who wanted something like the NRA for Russia and had the misfortune to find herself swept up in all the "Russian collusion" nonsense. Really, an embarrassing spectacle on behalf of the Justice Dept.
“She was merely a firearms-rights enthusiast”
shoulda kept her
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