One of Maria Butina’s lawyers sent a letter to the US Department of Justice last week, complaining that federal prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence about the Russian national during her trial.
A businessman who kindled a romantic relationship with Butina at the behest of the FBI told the bureau he didn’t think the Russian national was a foreign agent and that she was “more likely an idealist and age-appropriate peace activist,” according to Robert Driscoll, one of Butina’s lawyers.