Investigators in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office reportedly questioned Maria Butina earlier this year as part of its probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, CNN reports. Mueller’s team reportedly spoke with Butina for about an hour in January, but she was not considered “central” to their probe. Butina was reportedly asked about her “interactions” with former Trump campaign national security aide J.D. Gordon, and whether she had any information regarding the Republican National Committee platform’s language change when discussing Russian aggression against Ukraine. “Maria’s plea agreement requires cooperation with any relevant entities,” Robert Driscoll, Butina’s attorney, told CNN. “She’s complied with all such requests.” Butina pleaded guilty in December to “conspiring to act as an unregistered Russian agent” and had been in jail since July 2018. She allegedly tried to embed herself in Republican circles and influence relations between the U.S. and Russia before and after the election.
