Did Putin Put Millions Of Dollars Into The Trump Campaign Through The NRA?

Since 1990, all the gun manufacturers groups in the country-- so not just the NRA-- gave contributed about $30 million to congressional candidates. In fact since 1990 the bribes to congressional Republicans have totaled $32,361,024 and the bribes for Democrats have totaled $4,257,494. It appears that in just one year, 2016, just the NRA alone, spent as much as $30 million on one campaign-- the Señor Trumpanzee campaign. Where did they suddenly get all that money... all those rubles? Hopefully Robert Mueller will have the answer when he finishes up his investigation sometime in 2019 or 2020.

Yesterday, NPR reported that "The NRA now admits it accepts foreign donations but claims it doesn't use the money it gets from the Kremlin for "election work." Putin funneled immense sums of money into the Trump campaign, laundering it through one of his corrupt allies, Alexander Torshin, to the NRA.

The NRA is not required to be transparent about how money moves between its various political entities, and this leaves questions unanswered about how these foreign funds were ultimately spent.

In the context of ongoing investigations, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to the National Rifle Association earlier this month asking, "Can you categorically state that your organizations have never, wittingly or unwittingly, received any contributions from individuals or entities acting as conduits for foreign entities or interests?"

The NRA said that in fact they do receive foreign money, but not for election purposes.

"While we do receive some contributions from foreign individuals and entities, those contributions are made directly to the NRA for lawful purposes," NRA's General Counsel John C. Frazer wrote to Wyden in a letter obtained by NPR. "Our review of our records has found no foreign donations in connection with a United States election, either directly or through a conduit."

...Wyden also demanded to know whether any Russian nationals or foreign individuals had been members of the NRA's donor programs, and whether the NRA received any money from sanctioned individuals.

While the NRA claims it does not receive foreign money for election purposes, the movement of its money between accounts could make it difficult, if not impossible, to track how the money is spent since it is not isolated or sequestered.

The NRA has a variety of accounts, and the NRA Political Victory Fund is their official political action committee and must report all of its spending to the Federal Election Commission.

It also has other accounts that require less transparency, and do not report spending to the FEC-- and in those funds, the NRA told Wyden, they "receive funds from foreign persons only for purposes not connected to elections, as permitted by federal law."

However, the NRA acknowledges that money moves between those accounts: "transfers between accounts are made as permitted by law," the NRA's general counsel wrote.

The NRA did not immediately respond to a request from NPR to disclose the total sum of its donations from foreign sources.

...The controversy around the NRA and alleged ties to Russia center around one man: Kremlin-linked Russian politician Alexander Torshin. Starting in 2011 Torshin began cultivating ties with the National Rifle Association, establishing relationships with NRA officials, most especially former NRA President David Keene.

Torshin's relationship with the NRA opened the door to his becoming an election observer in during the 2012 U.S. presidential election, at least five years of attendance at NRA conventions, and he even claimed to know Donald Trump through the organization.

"I know D. Trump (through NRA)," Torshin once wrote on Twitter. "A decent person."

The House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, led by Republicans, reported that "Donald Trump Jr. briefly met with a Russian government official at the 2016 National Rifle Association annual meeting," but that the committee found no evidence that they discussed the election.

How would they? Remember we're talking about Devin Nunes here, who interpreted his job as protecting Trump, not getting to the bottom of how the Kremlin stole the election for Trump. And now let's take a peak at another Putin cut-out few of us have heard about, Dmitry Rogozin.

The NRA paid $30.3 million to have Trump elected. The NRA’s support for Trump is unprecedented. The organization started backing Trump in May 2016, before he had even been officially named the Republican presidential nominee.

The Obama Administration, in March, 2014, blocked Dmitry Rogozin, a hardline deputy of Vladimir Putin’s, and the head of Russia’s defense industry, from entering the United States. This was retaliation for Russia’s invasion of the eastern Ukraine and Crimea. The same executive order banned imported Kalashnikov firearms, which the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action protested.

In September of 2015, the NRA, sent a delegation to Moscow that met with Dmitry Rogozin. The meeting with Rogozin, who is sanctioned by the U.S., is not illegal, so long as there no business transacted. So, why have a meeting?

The NRA had objected to U.S. sanctions that blocked Russian-made guns. However, David Keene, a former NRA president, who went on the Moscow trip, stated the meeting had nothing to do with America’s politics. As a 501(c)(4) organization, the NRA is not required to disclose its donors. (No transparency here.)

...It is illegal for foreign countries and citizens to donate money in U.S. campaigns. Should a Russian agent donate funds, by funneling them through the NRA, it would be very similar to money laundering. There is growing evidence that money coming from hidden sources may be influencing U.S. politics, by way of two paths. The first is through the President’s obscured personal finances, and the other is through secret contributions. Russian bribery and collusion may run much deeper than many people realize.

The FBI is now investigating the NRA for funneling money from Russians to the election. This violates U.S. election laws, which prohibits the use of foreign money in U.S. elections. In the last few years, the NRA has formed relationships with a number of well-connected Russians, which includes Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank.