BREAKING: CNN Reports NRA “Readying for an Investigation” as Connections With Russia Become Harder to Ignore

CNN: “The National Rifle Association Setting Aside Years of Documents Related to its Interactions” With Russian Banker, Politician and Putin Ally Alexander Torshin, Who is Reportedly at the Center of an FBI Probe Into “Whether Russian Money Went to NRA to Help Trump” in 2016

CNN Reports That the NRA “Appears to be Bracing for a Possible Investigation” as it Prepares for Annual Meeting in Dallas Next Week

NEW YORK – Today, Everytown for Gun Safety released the following statement after CNN published a bombshell report that the NRA is preparing documents amid increased scrutiny into their relationships with Russian banker, politician and top Putin ally, Alexander Torshin and his longtime aide, Maria Butina, who has reportedly claimed to have acted as a go-between between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. Torshin, who was recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, is reportedly at the center of an FBI probe into “whether Russian money went to [the] NRA to help Trump” in 2016.

CNN reports:

“Despite the public denials, officials at the gun-rights group have been anxiously preparing as if they were already under investigation, sources said. Some employees have been tasked with preserving years of documents mentioning Torshin or his associate, Maria Butina, who runs a pro-guns group in Russia, a source familiar with the situation said. Privately, some officials have expressed anxiety about a potential investigation and the group’s Russian ties.”

STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT OF EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:

“The drumbeat of damning news continues as the NRA reportedly braces for a much-needed investigation into its ties to Putin’s Russia. What the NRA should be preparing is an honest answer about whether it used Russian money to influence an American election.”

Other key report findings include:

• By 2016, “Torshin and Butina had become fixtures at the NRA’s high-dollar donor events, according to attendees,” even attending the a dinner for the NRA’s large donor program, known as the Golden Ring of Freedom. The NRA has recently claimed that no foreign individuals were part of Golden Ring of Freedom.
• Donald Trump, Jr. met and spoke with Torshin and Butina at former NRA President David Keene’s birthday party in 2016, which was happening at the same restaurant as an event to which Trump, Jr. had been invited.