And Now for Something Completely Different: Maria Butina [View all]

[MineralMan]

The sudden move of the "Russian Redhead" from a DC jail to the same Virginia hoosegow that is home to Manafort is interesting. I've been thinking about that, in between reveling over Trump's buddies spending years in prison.

Maria Butina knows lots and lots of stuff. She was palling around with the NRA and associating or consorting with all sorts of Republicans. It's reported that she traded certain favors for access to all kinds of people, events and venues. With a coy smile and her Russian accent, I'm sure she charmed lots of GOP gentlemen of note. National Security Advisor Bolton has even been named as someone she knows, in one sense or another.

So, now, she's in the slammer. Who is she talking to? And about what? She's a nobody, really, but she's facing some serious charges, that could lead her to receive a free stay in a federal gated resort. Besides, she might be in some danger from Putin's friends, who don't mind taking folks out of public view on a permanent basis.

So, is she playing the Red Canary role to DOJ investigators there in Virginia? Is she spilling her guts to forestall a long sentence and maybe get into the Witness Protection program? I think that might be the case. Right now, she's not in the news, since she's just a side-player, but she clearly knows stuff. Perhaps she's singing sweetly into an investigator's ear, even as we focus on other scandals.