NRA Reveals More Russian Donors

News  |  Apr 11, 2018

The National Rifle Association is changing the number of Russian nationals it says have contributed to the group. It was just one as of last month. Now it is 23

That first lone contributor was Alexander Torshin, an oligarch whom the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned last Friday.

ABC News:

Last month, a lawyer for the NRA told ABC News that Torshin had, indeed, donated membership dues of between $600 and $1,000 to the organization. But the lawyer, J. Steven Hart, said that was the extent of money coming from Russians.

“We have one contribution from a Russian,” Steven Hart, outside counsel to the NRA, said in an interview with ABC News before Friday’s sanctions announcement.

Hart said it was the “life membership payment” made by Torshin, which went to the NRA's non-profit parent organization, which is not required by law to disclose the donation. Hart added, “The donation was the person’s membership dues” and was not used for election-related activities. “That was not a major donor program,” he said.

NRA General Counsel John C. Frazer, in an earlier letter to [Senator Ron] Wyden (D-OR) said the gun-rights group accepted an undisclosed amount of foreign donations, though not for electioneering purposes.

The NRA's story changed Wednesday. 

NPR:

The National Rifle Association has accepted contributions from about 23 Russians, or Americans living in Russia, since 2015, the gun rights group acknowledged to Congress.

The NRA said in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., unveiled on Wednesday, that the sum it received from those people was just over $2,500 and most of that was "routine payments" for membership dues or magazine subscriptions.

About $525 of that figure was from "two individuals who made contributions to the NRA."

Wyden has been querying the NRA about its Russia connections following press reports that suggest the FBI is investigating whether Russians might have tried to use the NRA or other political organizations as part of their attack on the 2016 election.

Now the NRA says it is done answering questions, but Senator Wyden is not finished with the NRA. 

NPR:

Frazer told Wyden in his letter that he believed the NRA has been more than cooperative with Wyden's questions and that this would be the last response he'll send to the senator's office.

"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," Frazer wrote.

(...)

A Wyden aide, who asked not to be identified discussing the office's investigation, said the NRA's shifting statements would prompt Wyden to consider how he might continue his questioning.

"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.

"Sen. Wyden will be referring his correspondence with the NRA to the Federal Elections Commission to contribute to their inquiry ... As ranking member of the Finance Committee, he is considering additional oversight actions in light of this response."

NRA, In New Document, Acknowledges More Than 20 Russian-Linked Contributors (NPR)

Wyden Sends Additional Questions to NRA Regarding Alexander Torshin and Foreign Funding (press release)

Alexander Torshin, Russian who courted NRA leaders, sanctioned by US Treasury (ABC News)

NRA Response To Sen. Wyden On Russian Membership (NPR)