WASHINGTON _ A prominent gun rights advocate and Russian national was arrested in Washington Sunday and accused of conspiring to act as an agent of Russia without registering in the U.S.
Mariia Butina served as a special assistant to the deputy governor of Russia's central bank, Alexander Torshin, a former Russian senator belonging to Vladimir Putin's political party with alleged ties to the Russian mob world. Both Butina and Torshin are lifetime members of the National Rifle Association.
Earlier this year, Torshin was placed under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury.
