One month after the arrest of accused Russian agent Maria Butina, the American lawyer who first connected Russian officials to National Rifle Association (NRA) leaders has broken his silence.
In an interview with ThinkProgress, Kline Preston, the Nashville-based lawyer who introduced Alexander Torshin — a Russian official who is now sanctioned by the U.S. — to NRA higher-ups seven years ago, said he hasn’t been contacted by federal authorities.
Preston decried Butina’s arrest, saying her prosecution “is not what it seems.” He also added that Torshin and Butina, who met with a number of Republican leaders, never asked Preston to introduce them to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the current Senate hopeful whose former campaigns Preston helped run.
Preston also confirmed suspicions about his own interactions with Butina, telling ThinkProgress that he met Butina for the first time in, of all places, the Russian Duma. He added that he will be traveling to Russia again next month, saying, “I’ve got business over there, and plus I’m having a tough time without have any access to some really good borscht.”
Preston’s new interview with ThinkProgress provides the latest window into Butina’s and Torshin’s operations — as well as what Preston views as the biggest question moving forward.
It’s been a month since Maria Butina was arrested, and since the accusations of her efforts to infiltrate the NRA were made public. She’s still in detention — how did you react to her arrest? What do you make of the accusations that she’s a Russian agent?
Who knows how long she’ll be in [detention]. My view is, her prosecution is not what it seems. It’s got to be for some other purpose, which I’m not privy to. This girl is living totally in the wide open — she’s not doing anything. She’s not like a Chinese spy, taking stuff from GM or GE or some tech company and taking it back to China. I mean, she’s just openly trying to get involved, or at least be a visible face with people in politics.
I’ll tell you something that nobody’s ever asked me, but I’ll tell you — I have access to Marsha Blackburn. Neither [Butina] nor Torshin ever asked me to meet her, or anything. And she’s an NRA person. So if that were really the plan, to infiltrate the party or whatever, why not add another Republican congressman to your group of people, right?… But no one ever asked me, and I think that’s kind of significant. Because if they were really up to something sinister, Marsha’s pretty high. I mean, why not? That’s one [where they wouldn’t] need anything, they [could] just call me and say, “Hey I want to meet her.”
What do you make of Butina? What do you make of the things she’s accused of being?
Here’s the bottom line, the reality about Maria — and I know her. She’s just really an ambitious go-go getter. That’s the truth. She was that way in Russia, with that Right to Bear Arms organization. There are lot of journalists and people who have a theory that that was a front, and all this. I saw [Washington Examiner journalist] Byron York on Fox News a couple weeks ago saying, “Well, Vladimir Putin would never let them have such an organization.” Man I’ve been there! I’ve seen it. It’s real, and it was real well before this campaign.
So you’ve met Butina? How did you first meet?
I met Maria in the Russian Senate, when I was speaking there one day… She was there not to meet me, but she was there because she was lobbying for this law that was being discussed [on gun rights]. And I just met her in passing. Like, you know, “Hey, this is Maria Butina, she’s with such and such,” “Oh, hey,” whatever. That was it. And then I circled back around and saw her with Torshin later.
But it’s a real thing — the gun movement in Russia is real. It’s not really active right now, because Torshin’s not in the senate, he’s in the Central Bank, but it was real, man.
Torshin obviously seemed very close to Butina. How has he reacted to arrest?
He’s fine. I mean, obviously, he’s upset that Maria’s been, in his view, prosecuted unfairly, you know. I mean, that’s not a surprise. The big question is: Where is Paul Erickson? [Erickson, a Republican operative, was identified by federal authorities as Butina’s boyfriend. He is not currently charged with any crimes, but allegedly helped Butina’s operations.] That’s the big question… Nobody can find him, far as I understand.
You haven’t commented much on Butina recently — how have you handled turning down media requests?
A guy named Boris is outside the door with an AK. That’s usually persuasive [laughs].
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.