Free Republic

Prosecutors say they were "mistaken" about the meaning of text messages sent by Maria Butina, a Russian woman accused of acting as an unregistered agent of the Russian government and a Republican operative, that purported to show Butina offering sex in exchange for political access. The acknowledgement by U.S. prosecutors came in court filings late Friday, CNN reported. The government, in July, claimed in a court filing that Butina offered "sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization." Prosecutors, however, conceded on Friday that they misunderstood text messages sent by Butina, which were a significant part of...

The Russian woman who was indicted on charges of acting as an unregistered agent of Moscow reportedly socialized with an associate of then-candidate Donald Trump's during the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign. Citing documents and testimony that was provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee and later described to the newspaper, The Washington Post reported Friday that Maria Butina had many interactions with former Trump campaign aide, J.D. Gordon, over email. Gordon served as the Trump campaign's director of national security for six months until departing in August 2016 for a role on Trump's transition team. The Post reported...

Desperate Trump-haters, searching for something – anything! – to show that the Trump administration is in bed with Vladimir Putin seized on the news a week ago that a young Russian named Maria Butina had been indicted for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), or, in the words of the DOJ, for "conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General." Here at last was a face – and a red-headed female one, to boot – to attach to the charges of treason being thrown around by the likes...

Mic reporter Emily Singer has deleted a tweet and apologized after stating that an alleged Russian spy who was recently arrested was photographed in the Oval Office in 2017. "I thought this was a photoshop, but its not. This is Maria Butina --- arrested for being a spy --- in the Oval Office with Trump," Singer originally wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning. The woman in the photo was quickly confirmed by other outlets to actually be National Security Council staffer Cari Lutkins. The photo was retweeted nearly 4,000 times and liked more than 5,800 times before Singer deleted it. "OK...

<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A 29-year-old Russian woman living in Washington has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government while developing ties with U.S. citizens and infiltrating political groups, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.</p>