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Alleged Russian Spy Butina in Talks With U.S. to Resolve Charges

Alleged Russian Spy Butina in Talks With U.S. to Resolve Charges

(Bloomberg) -- Lawyers for Maria Butina, a Russian gun-rights activist accused of being an agent of the Kremlin, are talking to prosecutors about a possible resolution of the criminal charges she faces, according to a court filing.

Butina’s lawyers and federal prosecutors in Washington wrote in a joint filing that "they continue to engage...in negotiations regarding a potential resolution to this matter."

Butina, 30, was arrested in July and charged with conspiring to act as a foreign government agent. She visited the U.S. in 2015 and 2016 and met with prominent Republicans, including Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump took a question from her at a conference. She also befriended prominent members of the National Rifle Association.

She has pleaded not guilty and has been portrayed in Russian media as an innocent woman being held as a political prisoner.

The case is U.S. v. Butina, 18-cr-218, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

To contact the reporters on this story: Greg Farrell in New York at gregfarrell@bloomberg.net;Andrew Harris in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider

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