President Trump says Russia didn’t meddle in elections, calls America “foolish” before Russian operative charged with “infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Monday, President Donald J. Trump called America “foolish” for its past behavior with Russia and said the rogue nation never meddled in the 2016 election, all before a Russian woman living in Washington was charged with “infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics”.

The firestorm began in Helsinki as President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump called the United States “foolish” for its past dealings with Russia. He said he believed Putin when the former KGB agent said Russia did not meddle in the 2016 elections.  He then blasted Hillary Clinton for lost emails and even said she secured hundreds of millions of dollars funneled through Russia for her campaign.

Later, the President tweeted, “As I said today and many times before, “I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.” However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!

Later Monday, a criminal complaint was unsealed in the District of Columbia charging a Russian national with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General.

The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Mariia Butina, 29, a Russian citizen residing in Washington D.C., was arrested on July 15, 2018, in Washington, D.C., and made her initial appearance this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was ordered held pending a hearing set for July 18, 2018.

According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, from as early as 2015 and continuing through at least February 2017, Butina worked at the direction of a high-level official in the Russian government who was previously a member of the legislature of the Russian Federation and later became a top official at the Russian Central Bank. This Russian official was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control in April 2018.

The court filings detail the Russian official’s and Butina’s efforts for Butina to act as an agent of Russia inside the United States by developing relationships with U.S. persons and infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation. The filings also describe certain actions taken by Butina to further this effort during multiple visits from Russia and, later, when she entered and resided in the United States on a student visa. The filings allege that she undertook her activities without officially disclosing the fact that she was acting as an agent of Russian government, as required by law.

The charges in criminal complaints are merely allegations and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, a defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The investigation into this matter was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

A productive dialogue is not only good for the United States and good for Russia, but it is good for the world. #HELSINKI2018 pic.twitter.com/Q2Y1PhM9au

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2018