As Twitchy reported Monday, Russian national Maria Butina was arrested over the weekend on charges of conspiracy and accused of “infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.”
On Thursday, the official Twitter account of Russia’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs changed its profile picture to a photo and the hashtag, #FreeMariaButina.
OMG pic.twitter.com/lnFGQj7edM
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) July 19, 2018
It turns out that plenty of patriotic American citizens did their best to send #FreeMariaButina trending, riffing on the fact that a few Twitter blue-checks on Monday began passing around a photo of Butina — a Russian spy — in the Oval Office with Donald Trump! The only problem being, of course, that the woman pictured wasn’t Butina but an NSC staffer. Oops.
"Senior Political Reporter" pic.twitter.com/nZZJjfEh6s
— Currently between fraudulent suspensions (@jtLOL) July 17, 2018
OK all, this may be Cari Lutkins from the NSC. I may delete this tweet… https://t.co/DI0zpju68I
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) July 17, 2018
Singer may never live down that mistake, because people are still “mistaking” every redhead they see for Butina. OK, which of you pro journalists can pick out the real Maria Butina?
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/tjm1QqJ4E9
— JimmyO (@jimmyotx) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/gUGxjuVSIe
— Dred (@Dred_44) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/NAtd4qxgH9
— America First ?? (@dont_be_dumb_) July 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/PDPESQ/status/1020097773532672000
https://twitter.com/brettfox80/status/1020081747860639746
https://twitter.com/wac1228/status/1020093996733992960
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/sIKp6mAkD7
— JimmyO (@jimmyotx) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/iriaz0geJY
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/FoJtzthqRl
— JimmyO (@jimmyotx) July 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/kebejay/status/1020080194265071616
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/6nnwKfpo9o
— Gin (@jennabean) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/pDU7bmEYLp
— John Q. Boston (@BostonJohnny617) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/saDXsPeEbI
— G (@stevensongs) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/8GC0ekHV2j
— Brett McManus (@brett_mcmanus) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/AXy44XwkVs
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) July 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/allcattlenohat/status/1020084638046334977
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/JwJySPv20r
— (((Giokas))) ? (@nickgiokas) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/UzN3ZuHzWy
— Fred, Metastable Genius (@LesserFrederick) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/y5pBZk5crt
— Hannah (@ruthyoest) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/DT5QF02YZJ
— lolalayla (@lelalaylalola) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/tSl1wRvw5B
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/bFAPqKSuWk
— America First ?? (@dont_be_dumb_) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/HEWuh6rGuL
— Nels (@debitking) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/DYm9WVCuFf
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/PvBTJ727iH
— Orange Muppet Energy (@sunnyright) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/9enMKImarI
— JimmyO (@jimmyotx) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/1jKUizZHeO
— Christian (@chrisfndavid) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/EKI4g4SG1W
— JimmyO (@jimmyotx) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/3fNqcbOmvv
— Hikikomori Quisqueyano (@xchixm) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/91Gyf5Hq9y
— JimmyO (@jimmyotx) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/nD2GkYBcxH
— Avraham Adler (@AvrahamAdler) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/Pyy4oGvyCk
— Fred, Metastable Genius (@LesserFrederick) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/cEqDMrpA1M
— Fred, Metastable Genius (@LesserFrederick) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/KMMz4YG4rd
— Fred, Metastable Genius (@LesserFrederick) July 19, 2018
#FreeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/4WZaOYStUw
— Fred, Metastable Genius (@LesserFrederick) July 19, 2018
#freeMariaButina pic.twitter.com/on8C6M1BrW
— Fred, Metastable Genius (@LesserFrederick) July 19, 2018
Nice work.
Related:
MEDIA FAIL IN PROGRESS: Blue checks confuse NSC staffer for Russian Maria Butina https://t.co/QcJCjH4Wtp
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 17, 2018
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