Surrounding the 2016 election, the Russian government was quite busy in the U.S. One component of their efforts was an effort to infiltrate the Republican party via the National Rifle Association. Alex Torshin and Maria Butina were point people on that effort. Today, the plea agreement with Butina was released by the Department of Justice. Butina has been in custody since her arrest in July.
My interest in Butina’s arrest was due to a minor aspect of the story. Butina also infiltrated the Fellowship Foundation and the National Prayer Breakfast. You can read my posts on Butina’s involvement in the NPB via the links at the end of the post.
The one mention of the NPB in the plea agreement is below:
The NPB is a perfect place to meet people of political influence. Making friends at the NPB is a first step toward making deals of all sorts. Butina hoped to make many friends for her bosses in Russia.
Although Fellowship leader Doug Burleigh joked about “Russian collusion,” it is now clear that the Russians were using the NPB for their aims. After the Butina plea agreement, there shouldn’t be anymore scoffing about the seriousness of the Russia investigation.
The NRA and Alleged Russian Operative Maria Butina
The Fellowship Foundation’s Doug Burleigh Jokes About Russian Collusion with Jesus
National Prayer Breakfast Organizer Doug Burleigh Predicted Trump and Putin Would Become Friends
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This is how the U.S. White Evangelical self-declared Culture Wars finally come to an end.
Sort of seems to follow along and highlight the strong elements of Trump support among evangelicals. More than a few evangelicals “faith” leaders have extolled the strong christian leadership of Vlad “The Invader” Putin.
A better title would be Christian Chumps for Trump.
I wonder if any one from the NPB did the Christian thing and visited her while she was in jail. I’m certain she had some time on her hands for Bible instruction.
— Cj
White Evangelicals following Trump don’t have time to offer Trump any Bible instruction (ahem, James Dobson), so I imagine they’ll likewise pass on sharing any good news with Butina or Putin.
It is perhaps more accurate to say that White Evangelicals are busy following the false gospel of Trump, Putin, Butina, and their NRA.
Maybe, but it’s all they have.
Maybe, but it’s all they have.