Putin calls U.S. treatment of admitted agent Butina an outrage

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday made his first comments on a U.S. court sentencing admitted Russian foreign agent Maria Butina to 18 months in prison, calling her treatment a travesty of justice. Speaking in Beijing, Putin said the sentence looked like an attempt by U.S. law enforcement and judicial officials to save face. “It’s an outrage,” Putin said. “It’s not clear what she was convicted of or what crime she committed. I think it’s a prime example of ‘saving face.’ They arrested her and put the girl in jail. But there was nothing on her, so in order not to look totally stupid they gave her, fixed her up, with an 18-month sentence to show that she was guilty of something.”