Russian Election Meddling Reaches Into South Dakota Politics and the Heartland

~ scotthhendricks

Faces of Russian Election Interference

Or

Russia Understands U.S. Politics Better

Than The Democrats and Major Media Outlets

 

The following article should concern every voter in the United States of America. When it comes to population, the State of South Dakota has less in habitants than the largest ten cities in the United States; and it ranks forty-sixth against her fifty sister States. When it comes to national election demographics, South Dakota is a small State with little impact on national elections; but a big impact in national politics. Over her history she has had political icons such as, George McGovern, Tom Daschle, Jim Abnor, and John Thune. Her local politics is quite conservative; but she tends to send centrists to represent her nationally.

The largest newspaper in South Dakota is the Sioux Falls Argus Leader; it is a newspaper with a morning delivery. Two of the front page articles in the Thursday, July 19, 2018 Subscriber Edition were about a Russian agent and a disgraced and crooked ex-power broker in South Dakota Republican Politics.

Patrick Anderson, Sioux Falls Argus Leader Published 6:04 p.m. CT July 18, 2018 | Updated 7:12 p.m. CT July 18, 2018 and Dana Ferguson and Jonathan Ellis, Sioux Falls Argus Leader Published 6:40 p.m. CT July 18, 2018 | Updated 7:07 p.m. CT July 18, 2018 penned two excellent articles about this subject. A lot of the points that will be used for this discussion came from these two articles and a couple from the AP. The words will be mine unless I quote them directly, giving them the due credit.

Paul Erickson is a disgraced political operative who claims ties to the Republican Party. He has been persona non grata in South Dakota Republican politics for over ten years and is not welcome in most SD Republican circles. He got his start as an intern in Jim Abnor’s 1980 Senatorial bid. He is known to have homes in South Dakota as well as in the Washington, DC Beltway.

Erickson’s home town is Vermillion, South Dakota. He began college at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion; but transferred to Yale University before graduating, He obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. He was very active in Republican Politics while in college. South Dakota’s major industries are Farming/ranching, pheasant hunting and credit card banking. Hunting is a way of life in South Dakota, unlike many of the other fifty states; so being a member of the NRA is about as common as being a member of the local/neighborhood church. So, it is of no surprise that Erickson is an NRA member.

Paul Erickson was an aggressive force in SD politics and was frowned upon by State Party officials. They viewed him with great suspicion and that the ad campaigns he championed were border-line ethical and might be loaded with partial truths. His ethics they said were questionable at best.

When it comes to politics and the meddling in politics, Russia is the best acting company on the stage and Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is the best actor. They know the pulse of American politics better than her citizens, better than the FBI and better than the national media in the United States. Russia wants to be seen backing the winner of every election; which in 2008 and 2012 was Barack Obama and in 2016 Donald Trump. They don’t care which side of the political spectrum we elect; they are looking at the potential economic return. She sends her best operatives to seek out the weakest links in each campaign; and 2016 that was Paul Erickson who was a fringe player on the Trump campaign.

Along comes Mariya Valeryevna Butina, a Russian operative. Her purpose was to infiltrate the Trump campaign. As typical, Russia uses attractive young ladies as spies. Мари́я Валерьевна Бу́тина was born in Siberia in 1988. She worked for Aleksandr Torshin a former banker; a former member of the Federation Council for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, with alleged ties to the Russian mafia. She was groomed by the best. She is credited with forming the Right to Bear Arms, a Russian right to bear arms group. The very thought of such a group existing in Russia smacks of GRU or Russian Mafia. There is no chance in Hell that Russia will allow citizens a right to bear arms; at least not in this “Old Man’s” lifetime.

As the head of that gun rights group she began traveling back and forth between Russia and the United States. With the help of Torshin, she was able to cement a relationship with the NRA. It would make sense for one gun rights group to align with another. Butina was able to cultivate the NRA relationship into an introduction to American Conservative Politics and ultimately with Paul Erickson.

Conservative politics has no better home than South Dakota. As the founder for a guns right group she and Erickson were able to convince the University of South Dakota in 2015 to allow her to speak to students. She gave a speech in very stark terms what life is like in a regressive Russia without the same freedoms we enjoy in America, such as gun rights that Russia can only dream of having. During the same year she spoke many groups including the students of the Sioux Falls School District and in the Black Hills to a weeklong camp to teenage Republicans.

Dusty Johnson, the Republican Candidate for Congressman in the House of Representatives in the November 2018 election was the person responsible for organizing the weeklong camp in the Black Hills. He states that he investigated the background of everyone who was allowed to speak during that week. There was nothing they could find at that time to indicate what is known now. He found out that she already completed speaking engagements at the University of South Dakota and the Sioux Falls Schools. While in South Dakota, Butina was able to make some in-roads into conservative and Republican politics. Erickson and Butina were maintaining a residence in Washington. DC and were planning on moving their operation to South Dakota.

On Sunday, July 15, 2018 Butina was arrested and charged in DC, with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation. Because of her ties with the GRU and the Russian Mafia, the court determined that she is a likely flight risk; so she is being held without bond until her trial. These are all the details we know at this time about Butina and this “Old Man” will not be surprised if Erickson meets the same fate.

Dusty Johnson issued a statement, “I’m angry that instead of being a freedom fighter that she promised she was, it seems as though instead she’s a scam artist and a liar.”

My friends, this is just the tip of the iceberg known as Russia spying and infiltrating American Politics. If this can happen to little ol’ South Dakota; just imagine what is happening to the rest of the States; especially those who have a major impact on election outcomes. Warning: All State GOP offices need to now scour everyone associated with their elections and who they have to with that might be agents of a foreign entity.

Here are the articles you need to read, bookmark and use:

 

Published by scotthhendricks

I make my home on the great northern plains of South Dakota, where the winters are bitter and the summers brutal. It is a good place to shape a vision and to dream. It is even a better place to call home, write about and capture the personality of in pictures. I am a Christian of the Cathar and Gnostic faith. I am a writer, photographer and self taught gourmet cook. I also dabble in genealogy.

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