Federal prosecutors have charged, a U.S.-Russian dual citizen, Tuesday with illegally acting in the U.S. as an agent for the Russian government.
The Justice Department claims that Elena Branson (also known as Elena Chernykh) was an illegal Russian agent who worked almost a decade as a criminal case not sealed in New York federal court.
According to the filing, Branson received funding and direction from Russia throughout, including from the Russian Embassy at the United States. He also received tasking from high ranking Russian officials and Russian Government-run organisations.
NBC News reached out to the Russian Consulate in New York to get their opinion.
According to the filing, Branson is said to have spoken with one of the officials directly: the then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. She is accused of asking for “administrative assistance” in order to host events at the New York consulate and Washington, D.C. embassy.
It claims that she coordinated an effort to reach out and contact Donald Trump , the presidential candidate, in April 2016. He was invited to Russia Forum New York, an annual event, or, if he could not make it, one of his adult kids.
According to the filing, “there is no evidence that the former President or his children attended this meeting.”
Branson, 61 is also accused of trying to convince Trump to attend 2016 World Chess Championship at New York’s South Street Seaport. Prosecutors claim that Branson, 61, emailed a Trump advisor on November 10, 2016 asking him to attend the 2016 World Chess Championship. In a court filing, the FBI stated that it had publicly published photos of the event in order to show that Dmitry Peskov was there. He is now Putin’s press secretary. It is not clear that Trump was present.
According to court filings, Branson was born in the Soviet Union and became an American citizen in 1999. According to the court filing, she set up the Russian Center New York with help from the Russian government. She is accused of telling a high-ranking member of a Moscow-based thinktank that the center’s “goals” were to “fight against” anti-Russian sentiments in the United States.
Russian Center New York didn’t respond to our request for comment.
According to the filing, Branson participated in numerous efforts to reach out to New York State senators and New York City officials. She is also alleged that she lobbied Hawaiian officials to not change the Russian name for a Kauai fort.
In a court filing, the FBI stated that she had spoken with Russian government officials multiple times, including diplomats in the U.S. and that she also “participated” in a scheme to send information to the U.S. Department of State in support of visa applications for Russian officials. She knew that the information contained materially false statements and fraudulent statements.
According to a court filing, the FBI interviewed Branson in September 2020 and searched her home. Agents found 34 electronic devices, including 11 cell phones.
Prosecutors claimed Branson returned to Moscow one month later. He has not since returned to the U.S., and is still at large.
Prosecutors claimed that Branson was also interviewed on Russian television with Maria Butina in October 2018. She was convicted of acting as an agent for a foreign government in an investigation by Robert Mueller.
According to court filings, Branson stated that she had left the U.S.A. following an FBI interview. She believed that the “probability” was high that she would be arrested if they stayed.
According to court documents, Butina attempted to gain favor with the National Rifle Association. She also participated in outreach to Donald Trump’s campaign. After serving her sentence, she was released and elected to the Duma, the Russian assembly, last year.
