Dual national charged with acting as unregistered Russian agent in U.S. -prosecutors

[L. Coyote]

Source: reuters.com

A dual national of the United States and Russia who ran an "I Love Russia" influence campaign has been charged with acting illegally as an unregistered agent of the Russian government, federal prosecutors in New York said on Tuesday.

Elena Branson, 61, faces six criminal counts over allegations by prosecutors that she failed to register with the U.S. government as a foreign government agent and participated in a visa fraud conspiracy. She left the United States for Russia in 2020 and remains at large, prosecutors said.

The charges coincide with the United States seeking to put Russia under pressure with economic sanctions because of its invasion of Ukraine.

"Particularly given current global events, the need to detect and hinder attempts at foreign influence is of critical importance," Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan said in a statement.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dual-national-charged-with-acting-illegal-russian-agent-us-prosecutors-2022-03-08/

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With Russian spy Maria Butina:

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[mopinko]

1. womp womp

more of this, please.

[Samrob]

2. Deport and revoke. Everyone of them that is found. nt

[paleotn]

3. I love a fascist kleptocracy.

There. Fixed it for her.

Their trying to put lipstick on a pig does nothing but waste the lipstick, while doing nothing for the pig.

[L. Coyote]

4. Russian spy busted in Manhattan! Indictment breakdown to follow!

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........ thread .............

[BlueLucy]

5. Desantis press secretary needs to be investigated.

She's American but went t o school in Russia and has a pro Russia internet forum. Also, this....



https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/condemning-authoritarian-rule-desantis-slams-allies-not-russia-rcna17676

[dalton99a]

6. +1

[stopdiggin]

7. Hmm. OK. Can't drum up a lot of sympathy

for the Putin fan club members these days. But - am I wrong in thinking that the label
'foreign agent' (and 'registering' as one) has become a fairly obscure and outdated concept in the DC of recent years? Go ahead and correct me (I'll welcome it) - but it seems to me the examples are myriad.

[NBachers]

8. I wonder about the baby farms where Russian women can come to the US to have their babies.

[mitch96]

9. Ok so now do we have a bargaining chip for Brittany Grier?

Grier is not putin's kind of woman. A beautiful, strong, tall, tattooed, lesbian, woman of color from the west. Everything he hates and I fear for her...
He has no problem killling people to make a political point.
m

[L. Coyote]

10. Who is Elena Branson? Russian national charged with illegally acting as Russian agent

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