Page:Butina mariia - affidavit - july 2018 0 0.pdf/14

 37. On November 11, 2016, BUTINA sent the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL a direct message via Twitter, in which she predicted who might be named Secretary of State and asked the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL to find out how "our people" felt about that potential nomination.

38. Also on November 11, 2016, BUTINA sent the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL a direct message via Twitter which included a screen shot of two "reports" in Russian. One report proposed ways to establish dialogue with U.S. politicians through a conference. The proposal stated that "[t]he conference must be presented as a private initiative, not a government undertaking." The proposal also suggested that BUTINA and a number of political officials and U.S. Congressmen should participate. In this report, BUTINA noted to the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL, under the heading "advantages," that "[t]he event will get wide coverage in the press; it will be the first positive event regarding Russia in Washington (currently, all of them are anti-Russian and anti-Putin). The event does not pose any risks because no government officials from either country will attend; yet it creates a foundation for further talks on the level of government officials."

39. In a November 12, 2016 Twitter direct message, the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL acknowledged reading the proposal referenced above and informed BUTINA that "they" won't go for it. He told BUTINA that he could not reach an MFA contact and noted "[p]eop1e are waiting for the formed decisions. I will try to clarify this subject on Monday one more time." Based on my training, experience, and familiarity with this investigation, I believe these messages are the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL relaying the Russian Federation's instructions to its agent, BUTINA.

40. On November 30, 2016, BUTINA emailed U.S. Person 1 regarding the Russian delegation to the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast. BUTINA stated that the "[p]eople in the list are handpicked by [the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL] and me and are VERY influential in Russia. They are coming to establish a back channel of communication... Let's think if our [U.S. Person 2's first name] would like to meet with them..." (ellipses in original)