Attorneys for accused Russian agent Maria Butina, said in a court filing Monday federal prosecutors are withholding evidence that could undermine the case against their client.
Ms. Butina was indicted in July on charges of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent. Prosecutors have alleged that she has ties to Russian intelligence agencies and came to the United States to influence politics.
Her attorneys said she is a student who had an interest in politics and the evidence they claim the government has withheld will prove that.
The evidence “would undermine the allegations in the indictment, attack the credibility of the government’s case, impeach government witnesses and demonstrate that Maria Butina was, in fact, nothing more than a student with lofty aspirations who was acting on her own and not as a foreign agent,” her attorneys wrote in a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson.
Ms. Butina’s attorneys have asked Mr. Kenerson to provide them with an indexed and detailed list of evidence produced in discovery, according to the letter filed in a Washington, D.C. federal court.
Defense attorneys Robert Driscoll and Alfred Carry say the government is violating the Brady rule, which requires prosecutors to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense.
The defense attorneys said they have asked the government five times for the information in August and October, but have yet to receive a response.
“Instead the government has refused to produce the information sought, stating it ’cannot confirm or deny’ its existence,” they said. “This position is untenable and tantamount to prosecutorial misconduct.”
Ms. Butina has been in jail since her arrest in July.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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