State Department official didn't reveal ties to boyfriend of Russian agent

Andrea Thompson, the State Department official responsible for U.S. arms control negotiations with Moscow and a former national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, did not disclose to lawmakers during her confirmation process last year that she had a years-long friendship with Republican operative Paul Erickson, the ex-boyfriend of convicted unregistered Russian agent Maria Butina, The Washington Post reports.

Thompson, the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs, also didn't reveal the relationship to her supervisors, the Post's Josh Rogin writes; three administration officials said she only told them this week after Rogin approached her about the matter.

In 2017, Erickson officiated Thompson's wedding to David Gillian, a former senior Australian army officer. Erickson's attorney said Butina attended as her former boyfriend's guest. At the time, Thompson was Pence's national security adviser. About six months later, news broke about Erickson and Butina being linked to Russian influence operations in the United States.

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Thompson holds top security clearances, and she should have revealed her ties to the couple, several administration officials told Rogin. "When the person who marries you gets into trouble with the Russians and your job is to negotiate with the Russians, you have to disclose that," one person said. "Everybody with an intelligence clearance knows that." Rogin notes that there is no evidence that Thompson and her husband had any major interactions with Butina outside of their wedding, and that Thompson purposely was untruthful to lawmakers during her confirmation process. For more on the relationship, and Erickson's alleged theft of $100,000 from Gillian, visit The Washington Post.