Kremlin discussed support for Maria Butina as she visited NRA headquarters in 2014

Exclusively obtained photos show Sheriff Clarke and NRA leaders drinking with Russian politicians and Putin confidants in 2015

Leaked 2014 text messages from Kremlin officials have shown that the Russian government was discussing support for the woman whose outreach to NRA members has drawn scrutiny from Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Maria Butina, a Russian national and deputy to the scandal-plagued Alexander Torshin, has garnered attention from US investigators as they probe whether any Russian money flowed to the NRA in support of then-candidate Trump. The duo’s outreach to gun-rights activists in the United States dates back to 2011 when Torshin attended his first NRA convention.

Butina has insisted that her pro-gun group The Right to Bear Arms is entirely independent from any Kremlin backing.

“Hey. Help please,” reads a May, 2014 text message from Marika Korotaeva, a Kremlin official to her boss Timur Prokopenko. “Butina (for legalization of weapons)…now posts pictures with the President of the US gunsmiths now at the main office in Virginia. Against the background of statements about the supply of arms to Ukraine. I ask your help.”

Butina with former NRA President David Keene in 2014. This tweet caught the attention of the Kremlin as it debated whether to support Butina’s efforts.

Prokopenko serves as the head of the Internal Politics department in President Putin’s administration. A Russian group known as “Humpty Dumpty” released Prokopenko’s text messages to various journalists in Europe and elsewhere. These messages were then exclusively shared and verified via open-source information.

It is unclear what action, if any, the Russian government took to support Butina. She could not be reached for comment.

Among the various activities undertaken by Butina that have caught the eye of investigators is the incorporation of a South Dakota company called “Bridges, LLC” in February, 2016. Records show that the company was established by Butina and conservative activist Paul Erickson. In a phone interview last year with McClatchy, Erickson claimed that the firm was established in case Butina needed any monetary assistance for her graduate studies.

Documents filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State indicate that Butina and Erickson paid an extra fee to have the company’s incorporation expedited. It remains unknown why the two found it necessary to hasten the process.