The Kremlin and GOP Have a New Friendand Boy, Does She Love Guns
Source: thedailybeast.com
Just a few years ago, Maria Butina owned a furniture store in Siberia. Now shes wheeling and dealing with D.C. think-tankers, Republican strategists, and a Russian bank chief with alleged mob connections.
Depending on the audience, Butina has presented herself as a Russian central bank staffer, a leading gun rights advocate, a representative of the Russian Federation, a Washington, D.C., graduate student, a journalist, and a connection between Team Trump and Russia. She used each role to help her gain more high-level contacts in the nations capital.
Its another chapter in whats becoming a familiar story in Washington: Kremlin-connected operators building bridges to the GOP. Ever since U.S. intelligence services concluded that Russia was meddling in the American presidential elections, Team Trumps ties to Russia have been highly scrutinized. The presidents national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned because he misled his bosses about his contacts with the Russian government; and his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, also resigned due to questions about his relationship with Russia.
Butinas relationships, formed with Washingtons conservative society through her fierce advocacy for firearmsone conference described her as the public face of gun rights in the Russian Federationprovide a previously unreported link between the Russian government and the Republican Party.
Two of Butinas friendships in particular have raised eyebrows. She started a business with Paul Erickson, a decades-long Republican Party activist. And she served as a special assistant to the deputy governor of Russias central bank, Alexander Torshin, a former Russian senator belonging to Vladimir Putins political party with alleged ties to the Russian mob world.
Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/23/the-kremlin-and-gop-share-a-new-friend-and-boy-does-she-love-guns.html
More Ties to Russia, go figure.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)Why have Republicans turned their backs on the United States of America and embraced the Evil Empire that Ronald Reagan warned about?
neohippie
(1,142 posts)Spain is also wanting to extradite Dmitry Firtash for corruption and money laundering charges, this seems to be related to similar crimes described in the lower half of the story above, and all of these players seemed tied to Trump as well, things are really getting interesting as the pieces are starting to fall into place, it looks like the Russian mafia has been busying hiding their money all over the world and finding people who are willing to play their games
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/dmitry-firtash-spain-seeks-extradition-for-ukrainian-oligarch-linked-to-senior-tories-for-alleged-a7439621.html
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)and Sarah Palin doesn't quite do it for them anymore...