Friday, April 26, 2019

Butina: "I wanted a future career in international policy. At the same time, I wished to mend relations while improving my own resume, so I sought to build bridges between my motherland and the country I grew to love. ... Never did I wish to hurt anyone."

  1.  36 minutes ago
    The probation office recommended a sentnece of 12 months and one day (prosecutors asked for 18 months, Butina asked for time-served)
    7 replies46 retweets101 likes
     
     
     
  2.  33 minutes ago
    The judge is hearing from AUSA Erik Kenerson — Kenerson is arguing the defense isn't disputing that Butina was sending notes and communicating with a Russian official about her work in the US, and trying to establish a backchannel between US individuals and Russia re: US policy
    2 replies45 retweets116 likes
     
     
     
  3.  31 minutes ago
    Kenerson: “This is not a registration offense. This is a case where the defendant acted in the United States as the agent of a foreign government…. She did so for the benefit of Russia.”
    4 replies75 retweets189 likes
     
     
     
  4.  27 minutes ago
    Kenerson argues the fact that Butina was attending American Univ. as a grad student at the time isn't relevant — she was actively trying to establish a US-Russia backchannel and feeding information back to the Russian government while she was in school
    2 replies68 retweets157 likes
     
     
     
  5.  25 minutes ago
    Butina's lawyer Alfred Carry is up now. The judge asked if Butina's lawyers wanted to question the former FBI official who filed the declaration re: Butina being part of a Russian intelligence operation, they said no
    5 replies37 retweets106 likes
     
     
     
  6.  22 minutes ago
    Carry: "Maria is not a spy. She’s not intelligence. She’s never been employed by the Russian government. She knows of no secret codes, safe houses ... She has never engaged in covert activity and she has never lied to our government."
    26 replies34 retweets67 likes
     
     
     
  7.  18 minutes ago
    Carry said Butina's relationship with Aleksandr Torshin (Russian Central Bank official that she was in regular comms with) was a mix of personal (i.e. buying his grandchildren clothes, it was not romantic) and relaying her experiences interacting with influential Americans
    15 replies29 retweets55 likes
     
     
     
  8.  17 minutes ago
    Carry said that Butina experienced discrimination on campus at American University because of some of the media coverage about her, and had a hard time making friends
    47 replies17 retweets59 likes
     
     
     
  9.  14 minutes ago
    Carry says that Butina organized friendship dinners (events that the govt says were part of an effort to set up a backchannel) because she hoped for better relations between the US and Russia
    21 replies27 retweets51 likes
     
     
     
  10.  12 minutes ago
    Carry appeals to something he and Chutkan have in common, that they both worked as public defenders — he says he learned that people are more than the worst thing they've done. "I have met no one ... more emblematic of that belief than Maria. She has learned a valuable lesson."
    24 replies16 retweets34 likes
     
     
     
  11.  7 minutes ago
    Maria Butina is addressing the judge: "Now I beg for mercy, for the chance to go home and rebuild my life."
    14 replies30 retweets45 likes
     
     
     
  12.  6 minutes ago
    Butina: "I wanted a future career in international policy. At the same time, I wished to mend relations while improving my own resume, so I sought to build bridges between my motherland and the country I grew to love. ... Never did I wish to hurt anyone."
    23 replies26 retweets42 likes
     
     
     
  13.  4 minutes ago
    Butina: "If I had known to register as a foreign agent, I would have done so without delay. ... Ignorance of law, however, is not an excuse, in the US or in Russia." She expressed regret that her actions harmed US-Russia relations, which she says is what she wanted to help mend
    19 replies25 retweets46 likes
     
     
     
  14.  2 minutes ago
    Chutkan is up (we may go right to sentencing without a break). She says she agrees with the govt that Butina wasn't just a student and this wasn't just a registration offense — Butina was sending info to Russia at a time when Russia was trying to interfere with the US election
    12 replies49 retweets100 likes
     
     
     
Chutkan notes Butina was acting under direction from a Russian official, for the benefit of the Russian govt, and cites the former FBI official in saying her offense was serious and jeopardized natl sec: "This was not a simple misunderstanding by an overeager foreign student."
11:02 AM - 26 Apr 2019