The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 3, 2019

Russia: U.S. Citizen Detained on Espionage Charges
--------------------------------------------------

In Russia, the U.S. ambassador, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman,
visited a U.S. citizen who is accused by the Russians of espionage. Paul
Whelan, who was arrested in Russia Friday, is a former marine who now
works for the auto parts supplier Borg Warner. He was reportedly in
Moscow to attend a wedding. His family has said he is innocent of the
espionage allegations. Some have speculated that Whelan's arrest is
retaliation for the arrest of Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina,
who in December pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a Russian agent
without registering with the Justice Department. Butina has been jailed
since July, after being accused of trying to infiltrate the NRA and
other right-wing groups in the lead-up to the 2016 election.


.