Federal prosecutors admit they screwed up and Maria Butina offered to screw no one as part of her alleged Russian spying. On Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan said the feds have damaged Butina’s reputation with their msireading of an obvious joke:
…Chutkan scolded prosecutors for making “rather salacious” allegations about the defendant offering to trade sex for an employment position. The government largely walked back those allegations in a new filing Friday. Chutkan said it took her a few minutes to look at Butina’s text messages about sex and tell they were a joke. “I am concerned” that someone at the Justice Department would look at those messages and make that allegation, Chutkan said in court.
“Mr. Driscoll is right” Chutkan said, that the “notorious” allegations “damaged [Butina’s] reputation” [Tierney Sneed, “Judge Refuses to Release Butina and Scolds Both Sides,” Talking Points Memo, 2018.09.10].
Nonetheless, Judge Chutkan is keeping the Red Fox in the can without bond and has slapped a gag order on both sides, which should spare us any further horrors like defense attorney Robert Driscoll’s release of the Butina–Paul Erickson “Beauty and the Beast” duet video, which is all the deeper the SDGOP spin machine has dared blog about this South Dakota spying affair.
In a sign that duet won’t get an encore, the feds say Butina has offered to turn on South Dakota’s international man of mystery, “U.S. Person No. 1,” who appears to have been a willing co-conspirator in the Russian effort to install a friendly U.S. President:
The defendant’s relationship with U.S. Person 1 is an insufficiently strong tie to prevent her from fleeing the jurisdiction if released. As noted at the detention hearing before the magistrate judge, there is an ongoing fraud investigation examining the activities of U.S. Person 1…. Moreover, the defendant has offered to provide information to the government, in connection with that case, about “the illegal acts of others,” i.e., U.S. Person 1…. In addition, as the government set forth in the affidavit in support of its complaint, as well as its proffer above, U.S. Person 1 for multiple years played an integral role in the defendant’s efforts to establish an informal line of communication between the Kremlin and the incoming Presidential Administration, knowing that she was acting at the direction of the Russian Official. Indeed, the government has also recovered a handwritten document from his residence, entitled “Maria’s Patriots in Waiting Organization,” that included the question, “Respond to FSB offer of employment?” Under these circumstances, U.S. Person 1 is not a tie to the United States on which the Court should rely to ensure the defendant’s return to court or compliance with conditions of release [Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Bond Review, U.S. v. Butina, 2018.09.07].
FSB offer of employment—either Paul Erickson or Maria Butina was considering a job at First State Bank in Warner (we’ll get that Butina-Brown County connection yet!) or someone in the Butina-Erickson love nest had an offer to go to work for the successor agency to Vladimir Putin’s KGB. Yeah, maybe we’d better keep Maria in the can until we get the facts on that deal.
Well well, it seems that the sex kitten was angling the South Dakota dudes for a meeting with Comrade trump a year before previous notes. Thanks Dusty
“”Previously, prosecutors and congressional investigators had only publicly revealed that Butina made overtures to Trump’s camp in May 2016, as opposed to July of the previous year.
“It’s obvious that the Russians’ ultimate target wasn’t the NRA or the Republican Party,” said one person who was interviewed about Butina by both Justice Department and congressional investigators.
“The ultimate target was the Trump campaign,” the person added. “It just hasn’t been spelled out” publicly.” https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/13/mariaa-butina-alleged-russian-spy-trump-823396?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=0000014e-f0fa-dd93-ad7f-f8ffe0400000&nlid=630318
Funny how all of these Russian accomplices, including South Dakota’s own Russian republican party bosses, are up to their dirty eyebrows with this corrupted collusion with a foreign enemy. How does the SDGOP rest knowing that we all know their treachery? Had Enough Yet? Vote Democatic!
“I plead guilty” says Manafort. The Russians are going down along with their republican accomplices.
“”President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty Friday to two criminal charges under terms of a plea deal that includes his cooperation as a potential witness for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
The decision by Manafort to provide evidence in hopes of leniency on sentencing is a stunning development in the long-running probe into whether any Trump associates may have conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election.
“I plead guilty,” Manafort told U.S. District Court judge Amy Berman Jackson, who accepted his plea.” Breaking news from Washington Post 09/14/2018
Had Enough Yet? Vote Democratic and you won’t see this kind of disgrace.
Interesting, Jerry, that Butina was looking into Scott Walker in July 2015, the same month she made her splash at Dusty’s Teenage Republicans camp.
Indeed, it seems more than likely that the whole barrel of apples was rotten to the core, including our own snowflake, Dusty. What a legacy that shows what my mother used to say about laying with dogs and that flea thingy. Dusty is contaminated with the nuance of Russian stank.
What is disgusting is that these teens were contaminated as well. Maybe their parents could give a damn, but still, these are teens in their formidable years that now should know a thing or two about treason and betrayal.
This could get interesting- https://www.apnews.com/0000e2ae7bf4445a8bba6c64e1991bc9
Wingnut Sinate candidate in Montana may have coordinated with Russia/NRA and possibly Chamber of Commerce in his campaign against Jon Tester, which is illegal.
I can wonder if any Russia pesos were laundered through here, as well.
Erickson was an early supporter of Walker’s Presidential campaign, and served in Walker’s bloated Iowa campaign, which burned through a lot of money in a short period of time. Walker bet his whole Presidential run on Iowa, and he lost at that crap table.
Walker, and Erickson, thought Walker’s “choirboy” schtick combined with his self-described “bold” approaches to issues would catch on in Iowa as it had in Wisconsin. Walker had initial backing from the Koch’s and several other billionaires, but when his campaign funds from these folks started drying up as a result of his poor preparation and mega-gaffes, he couldn’t support his bloated staff. Bye, bye Erickson.
Whether Walker reached out to whatever Russian money might have been out there, I don’t know. He was desperate as his funds dried up. He started out as a frontrunner, but it became apparent Walker wasn’t ready for prime-time, and had misjudged that the softer Wisconsin approach to politics would appeal to the rabid Iowa Republican base. When Walker left the campaign it was to encourage other candidates to leave to coalesce around an establishment candidate against Trump. That was something the Russian interests would not have wanted to do. So, I assume the lovely couple from South Dakota and Russia decided to migrate over to the Trump insurgency, where the the Ruskies already had their talons on Trump’s throat.
Good find mfi, also, check this frauds website. He used to list himself as a “rancher” then real ranchers called him out so he had to scrub it. Turns out he just sells property and the only ranch he does is on his salad. Doesn’t even eat meat. Not a caveman, but good enough to get Russian support. What a bunch of frauds.
Trump Blows Putin ….. a big wet kiss. Russian news reports say that a member of Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot has been hospitalized in grave condition for possible poisoning.
This is just weird! Here is this Russian girl charged with all kinds of crimes and then the feds have to step back and admit to mistakes that were so clear a 7th grader could see them but they keep her in jail yet if she wasn’t white and had snuck into the United States I bet most of you would be screaming “racism”. Just an observation that is “on topic”.
The feds, unlike yer hero Drumpf admit mistakes, even obvious ones.
Os … Call me racist. I don’t care. I know I’m not. Why does it bother you to be called something you’re not? It bothers you because you know you ARE racist. Being reminded of it embellishes your self deception. *mic drop
A couple points.
Butina likely remains in custody due to her ability to avoid proscution if she is able to reach a Russian embassy. That makes her a flight risk.
Directing a comment to “most of you” on a public blog communicates absolutely nothing since it does not even reference commenters. A non-specific “most of you” could mean just about anything or anyone, including most of the people who read the comments on DFP. The phrase needs a bit more to qualify as an effective insult or trolling effort as its target is simply unclear.
Russian, nothing weird at all. All roads lead to Dusty and South Dakota crooked politics’
“The Oleg Deripaska Connection
At the very beginning of his time working in Ukraine in 2003, Paul Manafort was in the employ of one Russia’s richest men, an aluminum magnate named Oleg Deripaska. We lazily describe many Russian oligarchs as residing in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. But in the case of Deripaska, that closeness is a documented fact.’ Butina and Oleg should be together in the same cell block. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/paul-manafort-cooperating-mueller/570364/
Nuance Dusty and the SDGOP, up to their eyebrows in corruption, imagine that. Sweet girl, that Butina, like a bubba rattlesnake.
Had Enough Yet? Vote Democratic!
It’s like fishing for bluegills. It doesn’t matter the bait. You are all so obsessed with hating you can’t stop yourselves. You all need to step back from the internet and think. Words do not hurt you. Opinions do not hurt you. Others speech does not hurt you. Think.
I had a great evening at Kelly’s. Wings and drinks with a group of teachers. We all had fun and talked about people that are out of control. Yes, you were all discussed. I explained to them that you do not mean to be so out of control but that you were victims of today’s media and have not remembered how to think independently. It is not your fault. You are a result of the media’s conditioning. They all agree. I know that if we met we would get along as you would realize I do not mean you harm. I am just baiting you into acting like fools.
I’m on the deck now with a glass of red while folks wander through the house checking out the renovation. Advice: hire an interior decorator. It pays for itself in the art that is created. Peace
So Buttina caved and is going to testify too? Oh, it just gets better and better.
Remember lil Johnny’s US Independence Day trip to Russia with other Pootiepublicans? How much dirt on him, Marion Rounds, and other SDGOPooties will be in testimony?
We can bet Erickson has no spine, but I bet he’s really got the dirt. Snot Wanker in Wisc will go down, along with other Pootiepublicans in that fair state.
We’d love it in Minnesota if a few Pootiepublicans like our Speaker of the House, Pootie’sboy Daudt, bit the bullet.
🎶 Sing, witnesses! Sing!🎵🎵
The former FBI man, Mueller is not just after crooked republicans, he is after those who have wronged this great country…no matter what party…and no matter what their standings were. Look out South Dakota boys and girls, Bobby Three Sticks might be after you for the hoosegow.
“(CNN)Federal prosecutors in New York are weighing criminal charges against former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig as part of an investigation into whether he failed to register as a foreign agent in a probe that is linked to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to sources familiar with the matter.
In addition, these sources said, prosecutors in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are considering taking action against powerhouse law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where Craig was a partner during the activity under examination. Prosecutors are considering a civil settlement with the firm or a deferred prosecution agreement with Skadden, these sources said.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/14/politics/greg-craig-foreign-agent-registration-investigation/index.html
This firm is a very powerful powerbroker, about time they follow the rule of laws that we all have to do. trump indicates that he and his kind have a different set of rules than the rest of us, FBI man Mueller does not agree. We need to send more law enforcement types to Washington. What could be better than a former judge? Send Tim Bjorkman to help save our republic…That ain’t no joke either. We are now witnessing something much bigger than Watergate.
All the president’s men, have pleaded guilty. Wow, what a record, even beat out tricky dick.
“Judge Jackson to Manafort: Do you understand that “you are agreeing to cooperate, wholly and truthfully, with the inquiry being conducted by the Office Special Counsel?”
Manafort: “I do.”
10:05 AM – Sep 14, 2018
@Jerr … “We have sighted witches. I repeat. We have witches!!”
Mueller “witch hunt” track record: MANAFORT: Pleaded guilty … FLYNN: Pleaded guilty … GATES: Pleaded guilty … PAPADOPOULOS: Pleaded guilty. … PINEDO: Pleaded guilty … VAN DER ZWAAN: Pleaded guilty … KILIMNIK: Charged … 25 RUSSIANS: Charged … 3 COMPANIES: Charged … Played role in pleas of: COHEN, PATTEN.”
Once again, OS can’t refute any of the evidence presented with facts of his own, so he tries to argue an irrelevant hypothetical. Maria Butina is in jail on charges of spying. No comparable person of color is in jail in similar charges in similar circumstances allowing a comparison or offering support to OS’s effort to distract us by calling us all racists, so please ignore that bogus argument.
OS reminds me of a pesky fly at a picnic…
Cory, my point: the same ridiculous retoric used by all those lemmings chasing behind you can be applied to even the right-wing Sutton. I actually thought it was a very good ad and thought I would say so and in reading the nasty unfounded, made-up attacks on Noem I thought a little window into the silliness of the above posts was warranted. By the way, you asking them to ignore my posts only forces them to scroll back to see what so worried you you would address me directly. Now, think about this; if it is so obvious for a simple minded ignorant fool like me but is ignored by these great minds posting their attacks above don’t you think others understand the stupidity of all these deranged folks. It’s like you can smell the sulfur as the post.
Osssss ….. Your opinions have no basis in facts and you have no special skills or insight to legitimize them as valid. In short, you wish it was like you imagine it to be!!
Old Sarg is correct that prosecutors and we (mostly male) posters ran with the age-old stereotype that Butina, The Red Fox, was applying her feminine wiles wantonly to wrest favors and secrets from powerful men while sending information back to the Motherland. We all see too many spy movies. But can you blame us? Hey, looking at ourselves in comparison to Erickson, we all think we could be that plain South Dakota guy who lucks into a hot Russian woman. In OUR fantasy she screams, “Yes, yes, yes, I am a Russian spy” during sex, and after a cigarette we put the cuffs back on her and turn her in to Mueller.
But Old Sarg is trying to equate Butina’s banging Erickson, and all the gossip that ensues, as something a seventh grader does. I was looking for girls like that when I was going to Patrick Henry Junior High. Never found them.
It may be true love or it may be just a way to hook a Republican operative to get her inside the NRA and Republican Party. We may find, but only if these investigations continue.
My take is that the government largely walked back those allegations in a new filing Friday in order to appease Judge Chutkan not because they weren’t true. Butina is a Red Sparrow and Erickson is a dupe. Chutkan doesn’t want a solid reason for appeal once the NRA money laundering plot thickens. NRA has the money to keep this in the courts for decades (which is how Trump avoided jail for his entire career).
Yesterday wingnuts blocked Dems from access to notes from Drumpf/Putin love fest in Hell’s ki….Helsinki. Moar obstruction of justice?
I wonder how many obviously false leads Butina and Erickson have laid on investigators? O know the standard for investigations is quite high and mostly taken seriously, but with a pathological liar in chief throwing one lie after another at investigators, I wouldn’t be surprised, nor would I blame investigators from turning the lies around on Drumpf and falsely charging him with criminal acts.
I know law enforcement is expected to act like adults. I used to think the potus was under the same constraints. No more. We have an orange colored whiny, sappy 2 year old spoiled brat in the Kremlin Annex and he should be removed immediately for the sake and safety of America.
BTW – Ossss … We’re not going to impeach your boy. Why would we make a martyr out of a self-destructive impotent?
Exactly Porter about impeachment, that is the last thing we want. We want to continue to show the degradation of what happens when you put a despot in control so it does not happen again. Sometimes you have to destroy the village to save it.
As Manafort spills his guts, I wonder if his knowledge will reach SD? Thinking it’s unlikely, but Mueller is so good and finding and flipping sources. A pro’s pro.
0h yeah, a bunch of teachers criticizing democrats in rapid city. right
Butina has offered evidence of illegal acts by Erickson. Russian officals continue heavy jail visitation. Frmr US Agent says why. Politico 9.17.18