A Russian woman accused by the U.S. Justice Department of acting as an unregistered foreign agent attended the National Prayer Breakfast hoping to “to establish a back-channel of communication” with American politicians, according to The New York Times.

Maria Butina, 29, was indicted for alleged conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent for the Russian Federation. The indictment, unsealed last week, said her political activities included twice attending the prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C. 

The annual events were launched in 1953 by Methodist minister Abraham Vereide, who had been leading congressional prayer groups for a decade. The breakfasts now attract nearly 4,000 participants.

The indictment shows the dangers of Christians cozying up to political power. Ironically, it surfaced the same week a lengthy profile appeared in the conservative Weekly Standard. The story detailed how younger members of the Southern Baptist Convention are heading in the opposite direction by resisting the SBC’s identification with the Republican Party.

The piece quoted from a blog by new SBC President J.D. Greear, in which he wrote, “We’ve been acting like this country is our final home and political power is our greatest hope. They aren’t. Heaven is our home and our hope is the resurrection of Christ.”