The New York Times is reporting on Saturday that prosecutors in the Maria Butina case have walked back their previous accusation that the alleged Russian spy had offered sex for political access. Apparently the DOJ now realizes the texts that were central to proving this allegation were just actually “playful banter”:
BAD LOOK FOR @THEJUSTICEDEPT'S RUSSIA INVESTIGATORS: Prosecutors admit they mischaracterized playful banter between MARIA BUTINA & a colleague as an effort to use sex as a spy tool as part of a Russian effort to infiltrate GOP politics. https://t.co/rj9G9Bootg
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) September 9, 2018
But trust the DOJ, they said:
Prosecutors can plant wrong, inflammatory, and damaging stories about defendants with no real consequence, part 24,873 https://t.co/borWy2qfw6
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) September 9, 2018
According to the reporting, prosecutors somehow mistook the flirty text over renewing car insurance as the James Bond-esque spycraft:
To quote @Bratcherfirm, "That is a hell of a misinterpretation of a conversation about renewing car insurance." https://t.co/E7ljq2xvin
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) September 9, 2018
Meme-makers, get cracking!
We need a meme / hashtag about how creative federal prosecutors might accidentally misinterpret our conversations about car insurance. Between the gekko, "Flo" from Progressive, and Good Hands I see plenty of promising material. https://t.co/E7ljq2xvin
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) September 9, 2018
Prosecutors will still try to keep Butina in custody, however:
But they said that the mistake did not mean that the woman, Maria Butina, should be released from pretrial custody in her espionage case https://t.co/CatoQ1O1Gs
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) September 9, 2018
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Related:
Reuters: Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina met with government officials during Obama administration https://t.co/QxzF6eNRox
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 22, 2018
ICYMI==> 'I thought this was a photoshop' search finds alleged Russian spy Maria Butina was EVERYWHERE https://t.co/YHy9P6nMth
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 17, 2018
MEDIA FAIL IN PROGRESS: Blue checks confuse NSC staffer for Russian Maria Butina https://t.co/QcJCjH4Wtp
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 17, 2018
