The Russian grad student accused of acting as a foreign spy in the US — and trying to broker meetings between President Trump and Vladimir Putin — offered sex in exchange for a position in a “special interest organization,” according to new court papers filed Wednesday.
Maria Butina, 29, who was charged Monday with acting as an unregistered agent of the Russian Federation, had a relationship with an unnamed 56-year-old American who granted her access to influential American political figures and a gun rights group, federal prosecutors allege.
But the feds say Butina was just using the guy — identified in court papers as “U.S. Person 1” — and tried to bed at least one other person for favors.
“On at least one occasion, Butina offered an individual other than U.S. Person 1 sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization,” the court papers read.
“Further, in papers seized by the FBI, Butina complained about living with U.S. Person 1 and expressed disdain for continuing to cohabitate with U.S. Person 1.”
The feds made the allegations in an application to keep Butina locked up ahead of her trial.
They argue that she has every reason to flee the country and no meaningful ties to the US — because even the 56-year-old boyfriend appears to be “simply a necessary aspect of her activities.”
The man isn’t named in the papers, but the Washington Post notes that he matches the description of Paul Erickson, a South Dakota Republican operative whom Butina previously told the Senate Intelligence Committee she’d had a relationship with.
Butina presented herself as a gun rights activist and began attending National Rifle Association meetings in 2014 — gaining access to the group’s elite gatherings through former Russian senator and lifetime NRA member Alexander Torshin, the paper reports.
Through her connections, she twice tried to arrange meetings between Trump and Putin on behalf of Torshin during the 2016 US presidential election, according to a New York Times report.
Butina denies being a Russian agent.