Prosecutors: Butina gained access to U.S. officials through Erickson's 'extensive network'

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A woman who has been charged as a Russian agent predicted more than a year and a half before the 2016 election that political control of the U.S. government would change.

Maria Butina, 29, hatched a plan with the help of a South Dakota man who has been identified as Paul Erickson to influence a major political party and gun rights organization and to create a back channel between U.S. officials and the Kremlin, according to court documents.

An arrest affidavit prepared by the FBI identifies the political party as "Political Party 1" and the gun organization as "Gun Rights Organization" and does not specifically identify them. However, the two groups are closely linked, according to the affidavit, and the gun rights organization is a sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual political event for conservative Republicans.

Erickson, 56, is a longtime Republican operative, and both he and Butina were linked to the National Rifle Association in speeches and social media posts.

The arrest affidavit shows that the person listed as "U.S. Person 1," who has been identified by multiple media outlets as Erickson, opened a door for Butina to have access to political and business leaders ahead of the 2016 election and knew about Butina's ties to Russian officials from the start.

The court documents foreshadow and hint at efforts by Russian officials to influence the 2016 election, an effort that sparked federal investigations and denunciations by U.S. politicians about Russian meddling.

'Person 1' had 'best' list of political contacts

The affidavit includes emails between Butina and "U.S. Person 1" that establish his role in helping her make her way into U.S. political circles.

In an email from March 2015, Maria Butina explained her plan to make inroads in U.S. politics ahead of the 2016 election, when a political party with close ties to a major gun rights organization would take over the government, she said.

According to the federal application for criminal complaint filed Saturday, Butina on March 24, 2015, emailed "U.S. Person 1" a project proposal with the subject line “The Second Pozner.”

In a reply email later that month, "Person 1" indicated that he could help her have off-the-record meetings with members of the media and with political and business leaders.

“[T] here is NO limit as to how many American companies that you can meet — at the highest levels — if you are able to represent that you are a potential line of communication into future Russian Federation governments,” U.S. Person 1 wrote.

The email went on to list potential media, business and political contacts, according to court documents.

In another email that month, U.S. Person 1 touted the contact list he sent Butina.

“If you were to sit down with your special friends and make a list of ALL the most important contacts you could find in America for a time when the political situation between the U.S. and Russia will change, you could NOT do better than the list that I just emailed you," Person 1 wrote. "NO one  — certainly not the 'official' Russian Federation public relations representative in New York — could build you a better list. And for a variety of current political reasons, the current Russian ambassadors to the United States and United Nations do not even try."

All she needed to make the connections with the people listed was more money from her “friends,” Person 1 wrote.

“I and your friends in America can’t make it any easier for you than that,” Person 1 wrote.

How the National Prayer Breakfast facilitated a line to the Kremlin

In 2015, a person listed as "Russian Official" in the affidavit asked Butina to write up a summary of the political events she'd attended and people she'd met in the United States.

Butina, in her summary, said she'd spoken with a political candidate on the night of a political announcement and met with that candidate at the 2015 NRA member meeting. She also helped the official plan to attend the National Prayer Breakfast and offered the person biographies of U.S. politicians and NRA executives set to attend the event.

In the months that followed, Butina and the Russian official attended the 2016 National Prayer Breakfast. And in emails with an associate organizer of the 2017 breakfast, Butina thanked the person for taking meetings with her and the Russian official in Moscow.

She also said in the email that she'd suggested to President Vladimir Putin that he attend the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast and "Pres. Putin did not say 'no'!"

In communications with Person 1 and another unnamed individual, Butina organized Russian-American "friendship and dialogue dinners" in D.C. ahead of the election, the affidavit says.

On October 4, 2016, 'Person 1' emailed an acquaintance about a back channel to Russia he was working to establish.

"Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, I've been involved in setting up a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key 'Political Party 1' leaders through, of all conduits, the [GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION]."

The next day, Butina exchanged direct messages on Twitter with the Russian official.

"Time will tell. We made our bet," Butina wrote. "I am following our game."

She went on to tell the Russian official that she could not manage without the official's help.

"No! This is a mistake," the Russian official replied. "Your political star has risen in the sky. Now it is important to rise to the zenith and not burn out (fall) prematurely."

The official later said, "This is hard to teach. Patience and cold blood + faith in yourself. And everything else will definitely turn out."

'Back channel of communication' continued after 2016 election

Following the 2016 election, Butina kept in contact with Person 1 and let him know about Russian delegates set to attend the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast.

“They are coming to establish a back channel of communication,” she wrote in a November 30, 2016 email.

Ahead of the prayer breakfast, Person 1 helped set up hotel rooms in Washington, D.C. for the Russian delegates, according to per emails.

By then, Butina had established herself in the United States using a student visa. Court documents say she had a close relationship with a businessman in the Russian oligarchy "with deep ties to the Russian Presidential Administration." The businessman, worth more than $1.2 billion, was funding Butina's activities, including her first trip to the United States in 2014.

While attending classes at American University in Washington, Person 1 routinely helped her with assignments by editing papers and answering exam questions. Still, she complained about living with the 56-year-old in papers obtained by the FBI.

In a motion for pretrial detention filed Wednesday, federal prosecutors said Butina’s closest connection was to Person 1, but “she appears to treat that relationship as simply a necessary aspect of her activities.”

While prosecutors said Butina lived with Person 1, she seemed not to enjoy it and offered to have sex with another person in exchange for a position in a special interest group.

Butina's relationship with 'Person 1' made her a flight risk

Days before she was arrested, Butina and U.S Person 1 inquired about a U-Haul truck in Washington and bought moving boxes. They then sent an international wire transfer of $3,500 to a Russian account.

U.S. Person 1 “ was instrumental in aiding her covert influence operation, despite knowing its connections to the Russian Official,” prosecutors wrote.

Federal officials asked that she be detained rather than released before trial because of her ties to the wealthy Russian businessman and because her relationship with Person 1 was "duplicitous," making her a flight risk.

"The defendant is a foreign agent who loyally acted on behalf of the Russian government," prosecutors argued. "Based on the nature of the charges and the weight of the proffered evidence against the defendant, no condition or combination will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant at trial."

Meanwhile, court documents also indicate an active investigation by the U.S. attorney's office in South Dakota. Ace Crawford, a spokeswoman, deferred questions to a Washington office.

Erickson did not answer the intercom at his Sioux Falls apartment Wednesday. A message on his cell phone was not returned.

WJAX