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NPR uncovers this “secret plot” from the recent Butina filings and disclosures. I thought you just might like to know ...
NPR - All Things Considered -- December 13, 2018
"The diplomacy project"
Butina worked in concert with her boyfriend, GOP fundraiser Paul Erickson, and a Russian handler, Alexander Torshin, who also cultivated his own relationships with important conservatives in the United States.
A lawyer for Erickson issued a statement after the hearing on Thursday.
[...]
Torshin was a Russian government official who is reportedly retiring from his latest role as a deputy governor of the central bank.
Butina laid out her plans in a document called "Description of the Diplomacy Project," according to court documents; she wrote that she believed Russia could not reinvigorate ties with the United States through official institutions.
Instead, she argued, Moscow should expand its "unofficial channels of communication," of which she could be one.
The course she chose was via gun rights, building off Butina's history of shooting and gun ownership inside of Russia. So Butina, Erickson and Torshin sought to strengthen their relationships with the politically powerful NRA.
Butina and Torshin moved in gun rights circles in the United States and, according to court documents, she and other Russians also arranged to host NRA members in Moscow in late 2015.
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Reportedly the Feds are looking for her Republican Operative co-conspirator “boyfriend” Paul Erickson — but he’s gone into hiding.
And the Money-man Alexander Torshin? Fugget about it! He has so many Moscow connections, that he has long since flown the coop. Apparently leaving his pals at the NRA holding the illegitimate $100M bag.
Did the Kremlin funnel payments to help Trump's campaign through the National Rifle Association?
by Tim Dickinson, rollingstone.com — Jan 18, 2018
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Trump Connections
At the May 2016 NRA convention in Louisville, Kentucky, where Donald Trump accepted the group's endorsement, Torshin shared a table at dinner with the candidate's son Donald Jr. According to Bloomberg, Torshin claimed to also have met now-president Trump at the convention, and that: "He keeps photos of the event on his computer tablet."
The 2016 NRA convention came off just as Russians were actively seeking contact with the Trump campaign – just weeks earlier, a Russian conduit told Trump staffer George Papadopoulos that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, including thousands of her emails. – and hoping to set up a meeting with Trump and Putin.
According to the New York Times, Torshin tried to set up a dinner meeting in Louisville at the time of the NRA convention with then-candidate Trump – with the aim of connecting Trump with Putin. The request was conveyed through a Trump ally in the Christian conservative world, who reportedly sent the campaign an email with the subject line: "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite." (Trump did not attend that dinner.)
Separately, an NRA member, Paul Erickson – who had been part of the 2015 NRA delegation to Moscow – wrote an email titled, “Kremlin Connection," to Trump campaign adviser Rick Dearborn, according to the New York Times. Erickson reportedly told the campaign that Russia was "quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S." and would be seeking "first contact" at the NRA convention.
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Does the NRA ignore the blood of unarmed gun victims? Hell-Yes they do?
snopes.com, by Bethania Palma — Feb 18, 2018
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According to an 18 January 2018 McClatchy D.C. Bureau report, the FBI is investigating allegations that Alexander Torshin, an official at the Central Bank of the Russia and life member of the NRA, funneled money through the gun lobby group to the Trump campaign. [...]
McClatchy added that the NRA spent record amounts of money supporting candidates in the 2016, most of which went to the Trump campaign:
The extent to which the FBI has evidence of money flowing from Torshin to the NRA, or of the NRA’s participation in the transfer of funds, could not be learned.
However, the NRA reported spending a record $55 million on the 2016 elections, including $30 million to support Trump – triple what the group devoted to backing Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race. Most of that was money was spent by an arm of the NRA that is not required to disclose its donors.
Two people with close connections to the powerful gun lobby said its total election spending actually approached or exceeded $70 million. The reporting gap could be explained by the fact that independent groups are not required to reveal how much they spend on Internet ads or field operations, including get-out-the-vote efforts.
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Wyden demands documents on possible links between Russian money and NRA
CBS News — Feb 2, 2018
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OpenSecrets.org — National Rifle Assn — Cycle 2016
[NRA] Affiliates
OpenSecrets.org — National Rifle Assn — Cycle 2018
[NRA] Affiliates
OpenSecrets.org — Donors to NRA Institute for Legislative Action (501c) — Cycle 2016
Donor Filing Date Amount Recipient
Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce
|
12/31/14 |
$4,895,000 |
NRA Institute for Legislative Action (04) |
Politically active non-profit organizations are not required under current law to disclose the names of businesses, organizations and individuals who provide their funds. However, 501(c) non-profit organizations are required to disclose their contributions to other organizations [...]
OpenSecrets.org — Freedom Partners Action Fund — Cycle 2016
…
But, but, the NRA has an excuse. And never the two accounts shall meet ...
NPR, Tim Mak — March 27, 2018
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Pressure on the organization has also been increased by a McClatchy report that suggested that the FBI had been investigating whether a top Russian banker with Kremlin ties illegally funneled money to the NRA to aid Donald Trump's campaign for president. The Federal Election Commission has also opened a preliminary investigation into this question.
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The NRA said it does 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."
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While the NRA claims it does not receive foreign money for election purposes, the movement of its money among accounts could make it difficult, if not impossible, to track how the money is spent since it is not isolated or sequestered.
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However, the NRA acknowledges that money moves among those accounts:
“Transfers between accounts are made as permitted by law," the NRA's general counsel wrote.
[Emphasis added]
Just trust them. No need to verify.
Secret recording by Spanish police could mean trouble for Donald Trump Jr.
"Mr. Trump’s son should be concerned."
by Judd Legum, ThinkProgress — May 26, 2018
Spanish police secretly recorded conversations between Alexander Torshin, an official at Russia’s Central Bank with close ties to the NRA, and Alexander Romanov, a Russian who was convicted of money laundering, Yahoo News reports. The discussions were related to a meeting Torshin had with Donald Trump Jr. at the NRA convention in May 2016.
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In April, the NRA acknowledged receiving “23 donations from individuals tied to Russia since 2015” but denied receiving any substantial sums. The NRA told Wyden that Torshin only paid his annual dues but said that “[b]ased on Mr. Torshin’s listing as a specially designated national as of April 6, we are currently reviewing our responsibilities with respect to him.”
A report released in May by Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the committee received “a number of documents that suggest the Kremlin used the National Rifle Association as a means of accessing and assisting Mr. Trump and his campaign.” Feinstein’s report concluded that the “extent of Russia’s use of the NRA as an avenue for connecting with and potentially supporting the Trump campaign needs examination.”
[...] [Emphasis added]
On second thought —
Don’t Trust Them. Investigate the Hell out of them instead.
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PS. If was all above board — then Why All the Lies?
PSS. Why is Alexander Torshin no where to be found, right about now. After their “Diplomacy Project” has accomplished its objectives? And Maria Butina has been left behind to take the “secret agent” rap?
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