prosecutors say butina conspired with a russian official in a plan spanning several years. the charges appear to be part of a wide-ranging russian attempt to influence u.s. politics prior to the 2016 election. but how did it all get to this point for butina? cnn s sarah murray has more. reporter: the young russian gun lover twice applied for visas to attend the national rifle association s glitzy annual meeting. twice she says she was denied. maria, thank you. reporter: the nra came to moscow. butina hosted a gun conference and charmed nra board member david keen and his associate political operative paul erickson. by april 2014, visa in hand, butina was on her way to indianapolis for the nra s 2014 annual meeting. there, she snapped a pick with nra chief executive wayne la pierre and began blazing a path within u.s. political circles in what authorities allege was a
russia s ambassador to the united states is calling the case against an accused russian agent a farce. the ambassador says he will be demanding that this woman may radioyeah butina released from jail immediately. on wednesday a federal judge ruled she was a flight risk, ordered her held without bond until the trial and sara murray explains how prosecutors say she used sex, lies and guns to infiltrate american politics. reporter: the young russian gun lover twice applied for visas for the nla meeting and twice she said she was denied. thank you very much. reporter: and then the nra came to moscow. she hosted a gun conference and charmed david keen and his associate political operative
reporter: the young russian gun lover twice applied for visas. twice she says she was denied. then the nra came to moscow. she hosted a gun conference and charmed nra board member and his associate political operative paul erickson. by april 2014 she was on her way to indianapolis for the nra s 2014 annual meeting. there she snapped a pic with executive director and began blazing a path in what authorities alleged was a covert russian operation. her relationship with erickson quickly turned romantic. whether he was duped by his young lover or wittingly lured into a spy operation to influence politics ahead of the 2016 election is unclear. erickson is nearly twice butina s age.