The NRA is under fire for allegations it illegally funneled Russian money into the 2016 election

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Tell Congress: Investigate the NRA's ties with Russia

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    Petition to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees:
    Please immediately launch a full investigation into allegations that the NRA illegally served as a conduit for Kremlin-linked Russian banker Alexander Torshin to pour money into the 2016 election.

    According to a recent bombshell news story, the FBI is looking into whether a Kremlin-linked banker illegally funneled millions in Russian money to the NRA to spend on the 2016 election.1

    The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee has started exploring the ties between top Trump foreign policy aides and this Kremlin-linked operative, but we need a full, immediate investigation into NRA-Russia by the Senate Judiciary Committee and its counterpart in the House.

    With the NRA’s chokehold on most of the Republican Party, we’ll need constituent pressure to force the Republican chairs of these committees to allow a full investigation into the NRA’s Russian ties.

    Sign the petition: Congress must launch a full investigation into the serious allegations that the NRA illegally funneled Russian money into the 2016 election.

    Foreign nationals are strictly forbidden from spending money to influence U.S. elections, and Americans cannot legally solicit foreign money or coordinate with foreign spending in U.S. elections. But the flood of secret money in politics after Citizens United has created a huge opening to violate these laws.

    The Russian operative, Alexander Torshin, is a top Putin ally, Russian central banker, and alleged mafia boss.2 He’s already been pursued by the Spanish authorities for money laundering, so it doesn’t seem like he’s above shady financial maneuvers.

    The ties between the NRA and Russia go deep:

    • The NRA mysteriously TRIPLED its spending to elect Trump in 2016 compared to Mitt Romney’s 2012 bid against President Obama, who the NRA famously despised.3
    • Torshin spoke with Donald Trump Jr. at the NRA’s 2016 annual convention after being “instructed” to make contact with the Trump campaign.4
    • An NRA-linked operative famously tried to broker a meeting between then-Candidate Trump and Vladimir Putin during the 2016 election, with an email bearing the subject line “Kremlin Connection.”5
    • The Trump administration continues to take bizarre pro-Russia moves – like unlawfully refusing to implement sanctions against Russia that passed Congress almost unanimously.6

    Even as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election continues to heat up, it’s clear we need an all-hands-on-deck moment to get to the bottom of this – before Russia or another country has the chance to do the same thing in 2018.

    Sign to tell Congress: Investigate allegations that the NRA served as an illegal conduit for pouring Russian money into the 2016 election.

    As Rootstrikers has highlighted for years, the Supreme Court opened the door to way more big money and secret spending in our elections through disastrous decisions like Citizens United v. FEC.

    We’ve seen $800 million in secret political spending by groups who don’t identify their donors since Citizens United7. It’s practically a red carpet invitation for foreign nationals to illegally spend money in U.S. elections and never get discovered.

    Not coincidentally, most of the NRA’s upsurge in political spending on the 2016 presidential race came through their secret money arm that hides its donors.

    A full investigation into NRA-Russia could also build the case for long overdue campaign finance reform. The DISCLOSE Act would finally require groups playing in politics to stop hiding their large donors and the Government by the People Act would match contributions by small (American) donors to give ordinary folks a real voice in our elections.

    This isn’t about left-right politics. It’s Congress’s responsibility to investigate to protect the integrity of American elections against intrusion by foreign powers.  

    Sign the petition to Congress: Immediately investigate the NRA’s involvement in Russian efforts to meddle with U.S. elections.

     

    Sources:
    1. McClatchy, "FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump," Jan. 18, 2018.
    2. Everytown for Gun Safety, "The NRA, Russia, and Trump World," Accessed Jan. 31, 2018.
    3. McClatchy, "FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump," Jan. 18, 2018.
    4. Washington Post, "Guns and religion: How American conservatives grew closer to Putin’s Russia," April 30, 2017.
    5. NY Times, "Operative Offered Trump Campaign ‘Kremlin Connection’ Using N.R.A. Ties," Dec. 3, 2017.
    6. TIME, "The Trump Administration Won't Impose New Sanctions on Russia," Jan. 30, 2018.
    7. NY Daily News, "An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs' fears correct," Jan. 19, 2018.