Did The Nra Receive Money From Russia To Support Trump Campaign

In its letter, NRA Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer said that none of the Russia-linked money was used for political purposes. | Dominick Reuter/Getty Images

NRA got more money from Russia-linked sources than earlier reported

The National Rifle Association reported this week that it received more money from people with Russian ties than it has previously acknowledged, but announced that it was officially done cooperating with a congressional inquiry exploring whether illicit Kremlin-linked funding passed through the NRA and into Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said on Wednesday.

Wyden released a letter from the NRA, dated Tuesday, in which the gun rights group reported receiving $2,512.85 in contributions and membership dues "from people associated with Russian addresses" or known Russian nationals living in the United States from 2015 to the present. In the past, a congressional aide to Wyden said, the group had confirmed receiving only one financial contribution, in the form of a lifetime membership purchased by Alexander Torshin, a Russian banker.

Torshin, a gun enthusiast and an associate of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, is the focus of an FBI investigation into whether any Russian money was funneled through the NRA and on to the Trump campaign, perhaps through NRA entities not required to disclose their funding sources. The Trump administration imposed stiff sanctions last week against Torshin, who has denied wrongdoing, and six other Russian oligarchs and 17 Russian government officials in response to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In its letter, NRA Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer said that none of the Russia-linked money was used for political purposes, and that the organization is "currently reviewing our responsibilities with respect to" Torshin. In response to questions from Wyden's office, it also reported that it had not received any "significant donations from foreign nationals generally in 2015-2016," and that no Russian nationals have participated in any of its various "major donor programs."

Frazer also said that the letter to Wyden, the latest in an increasingly contentious correspondence, would be the group's last.

As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Wyden for months has been demanding more documents from the NRA as part of an inquiry into whether unreported Russian money aided the Trump campaign in violation of U.S. laws prohibiting foreign election contributions.

In this letter, Frazer complained that Wyden's most recent document request was so broad that it would require the gun group to produce "detailed information about nearly every communication the NRA has made on any topic in the past 39 months," including hunting articles, firearms safety brochures, sweepstakes offers "and countless other irrelevant materials."

"It is not feasible for the NRA or any non-profit to respond to such an overbroad request," Frazer wrote. "Therefore, given the extraordinarily time-consuming and burdensome nature of your requests, we must respectfully decline to engage in this beyond the clear answers we have already provided."

The Wyden aide said the senator's requests were not overbroad, and that the NRA consistently refused to produce the materials requested that would allow the committee to perform its role as the congressional oversight body of the NRA.

"Senator Wyden will be referring his correspondence with the NRA to the Federal Elections Commission to contribute to their inquiry," the aide said in a statement to POLITICO, which reported recently that the FEC had initiated a preliminary investigation into the potential flow of Russian money to the NRA after receiving a complaint from an advocacy group.

"After three letters, the NRA continually, and specifically, avoided detailing what measures it takes to vet donations, including from shell companies, a known means for Russians to funnel money into the United States," the aide said. "As ranking member of the Finance Committee, he is considering additional oversight actions in light of this response."

The aide noted, for instance, that the NRA's most recent letter referenced records starting in 2015 when Wyden specifically asked for material dating back to the beginning of 2012. In addition, the aide said, the NRA has not said whether it was including all of its related entities and accounts when responding to Wyden's requests.

A spokesman and lawyer for the NRA did not respond to requests for comment on the letter or on Wyden's referral to the FEC.

McClatchy reported in January that the FBI was investigating whether Torshin, a deputy governor of Russia's central bank, sent money to the NRA in an effort to secretly boost Trump's presidential campaign. Campaign records show that the NRA was Trump's biggest supporter, spending about $30 million on him during the campaign, a much larger amount than it has spent on previous presidential candidates.