Butina Met with Ex-Trump Campaign Aide in Weeks Ahead of Polls – Reports

Maria Butina, a Russian accused by US prosecutors of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, met with a former campaign aide for Donald Trump just weeks before the 2016 election, media said.

Testimony, provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee and described to the Washington Post, identified the man as J.D. Gordon, a former Pentagon spokesman who was Trump campaign's national security director until August and expected to join the president’s transition team.

The documents reportedly suggested that the two exchanged emails in September and October 2016. The 50-year-old former naval officer also invited Butina to a concert in Washington and to his birthday party in October.

US prosecutors seek to prove the 29-year-old tried to build ties with Republicans and National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbyists on behalf of prominent Russian banker and politician Alexander Torshin over the past few years.

Butina was arrested in July and is being held in a DC jail. She was denied bail and faces up to 15 years in prison.