The following article by Eric Lutz was posted on the Mic.com website July 18, 2018:
Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence are accusing their Republican counterparts of having blocked them from interviewing alleged Russian spy Maria Butina, who was arrested Sunday and charged over apparent attempts to infiltrate American political organizations to advance Moscow’s interests.
“More likely to come on this,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, tweeted Monday. “No wonder GOP members of HPSCI refused our request to bring her and others in.”
Adam Schiff✔@RepAdamSchiff
Mariia Butina, a Russian national, has been charged with acting as a surreptitious Russian agent and establishing a secret back channel with the GOP through the NRA.
More likely to come on this; no wonder GOP members of HPSCI refused our request to bring her and others in.
Natasha Bertrand✔@NatashaBertrand
Wow. Maria Butina, a Russian gun advocate who once bragged about being involved in comms between the Trump campaign and Russia, has been charged with being an unregistered foreign agent and is being held until her hearing on Wednesday. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/russian-national-charged-conspiracy-act-agent-russian-federation-within-united-states …
Republicans on the panel shut down the committee’s Russia probe in March, claiming it found “no evidence of collusion, coordination or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians.” Now, Democrats are saying the charges against Butina show Republicans ended the investigation “prematurely” — and that the strange case of the 29-year-old spy was just one of many loose ends left unresolved when the inquiry ended.