Maria Butina, Accused Of Being Russian Agent, Has Long History Of Urging Protest
Butina's friends and contacts describe a driven young woman whose ardent support for gun rights brought her across the world and eventually into the center of the Russia investigation.
Maria Butina, the Russian woman accused of working as an unregistered foreign agent, encouraged pro-gun demonstrations in the U.S. as early as 2014, according to messages provided to NPR.
Butina's work has been linked to Russia's attack on the 2016 election, but people who know her say she began trying to make her mark inside America years before.
NPR examined thousands of people who make up Butina's Facebook network, and reached out to a sample of more than two hundred individuals.
Her connections included National Rifle Association officials, gun lobbyists, a Justice Department staffer, a congressional aide, the top organizer of the National Prayer Breakfast and
