FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump

[Arkansas Granny]

The FBI is investigating whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump win the presidency, two sources familiar with the matter have told McClatchy.

FBI counterintelligence investigators have focused on the activities of Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank who is known for his close relationships with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the NRA, the sources said.

It is illegal to use foreign money to influence federal elections.

It’s unclear how long the Torshin inquiry has been ongoing, but the news comes as Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sweeping investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including whether the Kremlin colluded with Trump’s campaign, has been heating up.

http://amp.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html?__twitter_impression=true

[underpants]

1. Well knock me over with a feather

Last edited Thu Jan 18, 2018, 11:46 AM - Edit history (1)

[rzemanfl]

8. Some people can't get apostrophes in their subject line.

[True Blue American]

10. IPad Spell Check

Does that. Trust me, I know.

[rzemanfl]

15. My comment was about the contraction of "We will." I think the poster meant to say

"Well, knock me over...."

[BigmanPigman]

17. My Samsung tablet does this to me all the time and

I always have to explain the reason for incorrect punctuation, caps., misspelling, etc. The tablet inserts INCORRECT changes when you actually typed the correct spelling, caps, punct., etc. It is very frustrating and time consuming. I have to triple edit sometimes and have to rewrite the correction 2 or three times until the tablet allows it to remain as I initially intended to write. This happens to a lot of people and I always overlook errors from posters knowing this fact. My friend is a teacher and I was and it is especially frustrating for us since whenever we write anything, emails included, there are missed edits and people think we are idiots.

[rzemanfl]

18. That would be frustrating. All I can blame for my mistakes is old age. n/t

[True Blue American]

36. Even after editing

It still changes as I post. You should see what it does with long names.

Very frustrating.

[Straw Man]

38. It's because the people who program the autocorrect functions ...

... are themselves borderline illiterate.

Welcome to the new "information society."

[underpants]

28. Oops. My mistake. Didn't even notice it. Thanks.

Yeah but autocorrect thinks "tge" (instead of "the" ) is fine.

[True Blue American]

37. That too, :)

[beachbum bob]

2. this would be a gift if true

man oh man, what a gift this would be

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. I love this post!

I have always wondered why the NRA had so much money to give away.

Looks as though we might be about to find out.

[cannabis_flower]

4. And it was a logical organization to use for this purpose..

because they already had a lot of donations. It wouldn't look too suspicious if the NRA had a lot of money to give to a candidate.

[Nitram]

12. The NRA gets most of its money from gun manufacturers. They are basically a lobbying firm

for the gun industry.

[lastlib]

23. Bring the traitorous f&uckers down!!

I'd love to see them indicted and wrecked. Seize their assets and shut them down!

[mopinko]

25. me too.

their money and power always seemed pretty outsized to me, even here in gunmerica.

[uponit7771]

32. +1

[bdamomma]

5. what's the saying??

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!!

[bucolic_frolic]

6. NRA Mailer 5 days before election

I never get ANY political mailers except DNC related. But the week before the NRA sent a large postcard bashing
HRC. Didn't save it, too disgusted. Had a mockup of a picture of her. They left no stone unturned.

[hlthe2b]

7. good-- dismantle the damned NRA under RICO

Last edited Thu Jan 18, 2018, 10:02 AM - Edit history (1)

[Nitram]

13. A twofer! Take down the NRA and Trump at the same time.

[L. Coyote]

24. That would be sweet. NRA convicted as criminal enterprise.

National RICO Association.

[randr]

9. Before long we will learn that all things Republican have been showered with Russian monies

They are all complicit and with their collective denial conspirators of treason.

[Arkansas Granny]

11. Which is why it's so important that Mueller continue the investigation.

The closer he comes to the truth, the louder the squeals from the right to shut it down. We have no idea how deep the corruption goes.

[spanone]

14. ooh, would love to see wayne lapierre perp walked

[Botany]

16. Right wing fascism .... using gun humpers to get their way

Last edited Thu Jan 18, 2018, 10:48 AM - Edit history (1)

Remember Trump's "Hillary is gonna change the Constitution to get rid of the
2nd amendment."

[gademocrat7]

19. This is good news.

[Paladin]

20. Please let it be true. (nt)

[L. Coyote]

21. Eric Garland is tweeting this:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Arkansas Granny]

29. That's some good stuff.

[BoneyardDem]

30. Looks like the NRA is swimming in money

I wonder if all of those candidates knew they were being funded by Russians. I suspect a lot more subpoenas are coming down.

Is there any ONE predominantly Republican or right supporting organization that the Russians haven't touched?

[L. Coyote]

31. Which other organizations were receiving laundered Russian money? Trump himself even?

Trump was getting double the actual value for property he sold to Russians. How is this not laundering money to an American politician?

[not fooled]

41. Oh, but it's A-OK

because pukes + dirty russian $$$$$$$ + russian gangsters + guns = jeebus

[uponit7771]

33. This is one of the reasons the KGOP is so dead set against Mueller

[firstwife]

22. It would be icing

On the proverbial cake!

[jmbar2]

26. The NRA would be a logical channel for money laundering because it is such a sacred cow

The Russians may have assumed that the NRA is untouchable in the US.

Going after them WILL mightily disturb all the wannabe army men, and will get a lot of fierce pushback. Could turn into a mini civil war in the US. It's a big festering boil that has needed to be popped for decades. We must be prepared to fight their propaganda with every ounce of effort we can muster.

[quakerboy]

45. It seems like a fairly safe assumption

Even if they ever manage to get close to proving this, I expect mysterious deaths to follow soon. Planes falling out of the sky. Spontaneous radiation pellets appearing in bodies. Muggings gone bad. That sort of thing.

[peggysue2]

27. This is a YUGE story

It means the FBI and Mueller are really pulling back the veil (or should I say shroud) on the Trumpster and his clan's involvement with not only Russia and Pooty but major figures of the Russian syndicate, as well as our own American-grown mobsters and mobster admirers and wannabes.

This is bad news for Trump, bad news for Putin and his oligarchs and bad news for anyone involved the biggest con in history, the 2016 election.

I want all of this to come out, regardless of how ugly, have all the character assassins, the criminals, the money-launderers and traffickers exposed to the harsh sunlight.

Because that's when we Make America, America Again and restore the Rule of Law, applying its purging effects to anyone who thought they could bring the country to its knees for their own personal gain.

[raven mad]

34. As if they didn't know already.........

LOL! I had a BFF (now deceased) who processed checks from there in the 1970's.

[BobTheSubgenius]

35. This seems a rather difficult thing to prove.

I imagine it would come down to intent, and without a smoking gun memo, or the like, how would the FBI make that case?

"The money came into General Revenue, the contributions came out of General Revenue," would be one of the main pillars of the NRA's defense, I would think.

[stuffmatters]

39. Ca Prop 30 & 32 investigations found entire Repug non profit infrastructure sloshng in dark money

I suspect The NRA is just the tip of this iceberg re; Russia fueling Repugs through their massive network of 501c 4 "charities," which are shielded from taxation and also disclosure of donor identifications. The perfect mechanism to launder dark money (including Russian) & illegally contribute to our elections.

[flying_wahini]

40. Any money coming into the NRA coffers is going to leave a trail. Especially that much money.

It wouldn't surprise me one little bit that the NRA is a leading laundry for illegal $$!
If the figures are correct; 10% of all the world dollars are coming thru banks for laundering.
They will have a ready answer but probably not that hard to trace the $$ going into the RNC to dispense to all the GOP candidates.
Virtually every single one of them has received $$$ for decades from the NRA.
I would love to see Wayne LaPierre lose everything. EVERYTHING.

[ProudLib72]

42. Oh really?

[triron]

43. I am beginning to wonder is Mueller might be feeling

a little like Alice in Wonderland. Where does this end??

[czarjak]

44. Thank you for your service to our country...

You great American patriotic Christian, you.