Maria Butina has become something of a cause célèbre for Russians trying to paint the Russian collusion investigation as a “witch hunt.” Butina is the Russian operative who was jailed on charges that she infiltrated the National Rifle Association (and other conservative groups) to gain their support for Donald Trump, the Kremlin’s top choice in the U.S. presidential election.

Butina’s lawyers have argued that her activities were protected under the First Amendment. The Russian government has said that Butina was a mere “student,” and have demanded her release. They might get their wish. Butina could be released from prison soon, after she pleads guilty to one or more charges. From the Washington Post:

Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist, is poised to plead guilty in a case involving accusations that she was working as an agent for the Kremlin in the United States, according to a new court filing. Attorneys for Butina and federal prosecutors jointly requested in court documents Monday that U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set a time for Butina to withdraw her previous plea of not guilty. They said they could be available for her to enter her plea as early as Tuesday. A plea is not final until it is entered in court and accepted by a judge. Monday’s filing did not indicate to what charge she will plead.

I’m going to be very interested in Butina’s allocution. Arguably, Butina will have to explain what she (and the Russian government) wanted the NRA to do on behalf of Trump, and what the NRA was promised in exchange.

At a surface level, we know what the NRA gets from a Trump presidency: a total refusal to impose sensible gun regulations, and a slate of judges and justices who adopt the most expansive and barbaric interpretation of the Second Amendment possible. But, arguably, the NRA would have gotten that from any old Republican president. John Kasich was not going demand a national gun control law. Ted Cruz would have shot Bambi’s mother if he thought it would help him be president. Trump’s stance on guns is just the blood-soaked policies that count as mainstream Republicanism these days.

What, if anything, could Trump… AND RUSSIA, offer the NRA that they weren’t already going to get?

And what, specifically, did Russia want the NRA to do in order to make the Trump presidency happen? Because again, at a surface level, NRA support means the same slate of things for any Republican candidate. I mean, there are people in this country who only get news from NRA newsletters. The NRA endorsement carries weight, maybe not as much as politicians think it does, but still. Is that all Russia wanted the NRA to do? Or did they want more specific actions?

[P]rosecutors said her goal was to advance the foreign policy aims of the Kremlin and that she was acting at the direction of a Russian government official, Alexander Torshin, a former senator who now serves as deputy director of the Russian central bank… How Butina fit into those efforts is not entirely clear. However, experts have said her activities are a reminder of the sophistication of the Russian targeting of the American political system, which successfully pinpointed the NRA and other conservative interest groups as an avenue to mold opinion of Republican elected officials. Butina and Torshin, a lifetime member of the NRA, struck up friendships with several of the organization’s past presidents and were treated as VIPs when they attended the organization’s annual meetings. They twice hosted NRA members in Moscow, including during a December 2015 visit when Torshin arranged for a group of NRA dignitaries to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The NRA, which spent $30 million to help elect Trump, has not responded to questions about the group’s interactions with Butina and Torshin.

It seems clear that the NRA was colonized by Russian interests. But why? And for what? We don’t know if Butina will now cooperate with investigators. But if she pleas out, she can start to tell us how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina poised to plead guilty in case involving suspected Kremlin attempts to influence NRA [Washington Post]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.