Maria Butina's boyfriend claimed he set up Trump-Russia NRA "conduit" as campaign funds flowed

[turbinetree]

Source: Salon

Republican operative Paul Erickson claimed in an email he’d set up a private Russia-GOP channel through the NRA

IGOR DERYSH
DECEMBER 12, 2018 12:00PM (UTC)

Admitted Russian spy Maria Butina’s Republican operative boyfriend wrote in private communications that he was involved in setting up a “very private line of communication” between Russia and the Trump campaign using the National Rifle Association as a “conduit.”

Butina, a 30-year-old Russian gun rights activist, worked for years to cultivate relationships within Republican and NRA circles. She was charged with working as an agent of the Russian government earlier this year and on Monday agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges and cooperate with prosecutors.

In her plea deal, Butina admitted that she and “US Person 1,” who is longtime Republican operative Paul Erickson, “agreed and conspired, with a Russian government official,” whose description matches Russian banker and close Putin ally Alexander Torshin, for Butina to “act in the United States under the direction of Russian Official without prior notification to the Attorney General,” ABC News reported.

Under Torshin’s direction, the document said, Butina “sought to establish unofficial lines of communication with Americans having power and influence over U.S. politics.”

Read more: https://www.salon.com/2018/12/12/maria-butinas-boyfriend-claimed-he-set-up-trump-russia-nra-conduit-as-campaign-funds-flowed/

---

A fucking traitor....................end of story

And as for the NRA........................they need to be stripped of there 501(c) tag, they operate under, and then run around hiding behind the second amendment..............................fucking traitors.......................nothing more and nothing less....................enabling fucking traitors....................

Bring there asses into Congressional hearings.................January 3, 2019..................


November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough.......................

[underpants]

1. Damning

[watoos]

2. How the hell can they get a 501(c) tag,

when they gave 30 million dollars to Trump?

Well, if that's the case, maybe they should owe a lot of back taxes. Bankrupt the traitors.

[turbinetree]

3. The NRA, a Tax-Exempt Loaded with Private Interest

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2018/03/08/ask-the-taxgirl-is-the-nra-a-charity/#5d2b818e17df


https://www.csgv.org/nra-tax-exempt-loaded-private-interest/

They are not suppose to take any foreign money and shove it into a campaign that came from a power power or players.....................................bring there asses into a congressional hearing ....................

[Mrs. Overall]

4. K & R

[lostnfound]

5. "30 year old gun rights activist" like Doogie Howser is an MD

Last edited Wed Dec 12, 2018, 01:13 PM - Edit history (1)

She plays one in videos
If she was seriously fighting for private gun rights in Russia, she’d be in Siberia or six feet under or have periodic lockups

[deurbano]

9. Yeah, that's letting her continue to define the (bogus) narrative.

The idea that Putin is a fan of private gun rights in Russia reminds me of the NRA's legendary support for gun rights for black Americans.

[angrychair]

41. Dude

NPH for life! 🥳☝️
Never talk bad about NPH

[Funtatlaguy]

6. Why isn't this a big deal? Should lead every newscast, no?

[watoos]

11. I'm hoping it will be a big deal.

It will be a bigger deal if McConnell was involved. I don't think that all of that 30 million dollars went to just Trump.

[vlyons]

30. Republicans won't go near this with a 10 ft pole

The question is -- what GOP congressman/senator did NOT get NRA money?

Check out top congress critters who got NRA money -- https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000082

[global1]

7. Will Butina And Erickson And This Russian Connection To The NRA....

bring down the NRA or just severely wound it? Will it root out the bad element in the NRA and let it become again an organization just for gun safety?

[procon]

8. The depth and scope of the GOPs eagarness to sell out their country

to Russia is unprecedented. How did they think they could get away with it?

[Moral Compass]

10. Sure looks like a Smocking Gun to me

Hard to pick which smocking gun is going to do the most damage.

This looks reaaaaaaalllllly bad. Back channel communications with a hostile foreign power and money laundering through a purported 501c to obscure where the money was coming from...

What a tangled web was weaved...

The shit is hitting the fan.

[watoos]

13. Meh, remember Alito mouthing "not true" at president Obama's SOTU?

I keep waiting for journalists to ask Alito if he wants to apologize to Obama?

[safeinOhio]

12. Just in...,

North Korea and SA are forming Gun Rights Orgs. Setting up offices at NRA.

[watoos]

14. I mean, really.

[BigmanPigman]

15. Meanwhile in Russia the media is saying she is being tortured

in jail here and she is a political prisoner (CNN).

[calimary]

29. They're saying that because that's what THEY do.

That’s how they treat their own political prisoners.

[BigmanPigman]

42. Probably in Saudi Arabia the media is saying

That bone saws are being used on her. Our new allies, Russia and the Saudis...isn't it lovely.

[onetexan]

16. about this GOP operative Paul Erickson Butina worked with

who is he and what charges does he face?

[slumcamper]

17. Incoming House Intel Committee--please investigate.

Let's hear what the folks at NRA have to say about this "channel."

[global1]

18. Will The Repugs In The House & Senate That Accepted Russian Tainted NRA Money.....

be caught up in this as well or will they just say that they didn't know it was Russian tainted? With the amount of money that was passing from the NRA to the Repugs - seems like it could take a lot of Repugs down.

[HopeAgain]

19. NRA has no non-profit purpose

Nothing they do is charitable, religious or educational. Why is being traitorous tax exempt?

[FakeNoose]

35. That's the $64-thousand question

Their tax-exempt status should be rescinded immediately. Then the IRS should bill them for 30 years' back taxes during the time they were nothing but a pro-gun lobby (not a charity) and they'll be out of business in no time.

[SunSeeker]

20. Yep, traitors.

[AllyCat]

21. Can Scott Walker be the first to be prosecuted?

[Botany]

23. Scott Walker w/Butina and her Russian handler Alexander Torshin

https://thinkprogress.org/new-revelations-about-maria-butinas-funding-shine-light-on-why-russia-targeted-nra-311b92f1418d/

[Botany]

22. I have heard (Rachel I think) that Mr. Torshin has now gone missing in Russia.

How many Republicans got Russian money through the NRA.

In Ohio Rob Portman got > $3,000,000. Total traitors.

[yardwork]

26. Apparently the Republican senators from NC received millions from the NRA.

It's important to point out that the NRA itself - in addition to illegally funneling Russian cash to Trump and other Republican campaigns - promote massive marketing efforts against Democrats. The NRA routinely promotes lies about Democratic positions on gun rights.

For instance, there was an incredibly well-funded, massive campaign by the NRA against Hillary Clinton in 2016. Millions of people became convinced that she would take away all their guns if elected.

The same smear campaigns contributed to the losses of Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004.

The Democrats need to put the NRA out of business.

[Botany]

34. 2 things:

I was in the belly of the beast in 2004 and we had the real life people who served w/Kerry in Vietntham and the local TV stations and Newspaper would not give them any coverage but some were more than willing to give a platform to those paid liars.

In 2016 the gun nuts in Ohio were convinced that HRC was going to repeal the 2nd amendment as President....
We were overwhelmed with dark (Russian) money NRA ads.

[DownriverDem]

24. Came out months ago

I remember seeing something about this months ago. Let's hope it brings down the NRA too.

[infullview]

25. My bet is the 30M went through the RNC

You have all the right people involved Elliott Broidy, Reince Priebus, and Michael Cohen. I'm sure they passed millions on to republican candidates - so they are all guilty and this is probably one of the big reasons they're protecting tRump. If he goes down, there will be a lot of small fish who will also fry.

[beachbum bob]

27. goes back to having "Hard Evidence" and verification of witnesses, if true, this

WILL DESTROY THE NRA

[Wellstone ruled]

28. Watch for some folks in SoDak

being rolled up in this. Last I heard,his family and friends do not know him. BTW,watch for NRA Sodaker's running for the hills so to speak.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

37. Dusty Johnson was more than happy to be at the Teenage Republicans retreat with Butina...

... I post this to give others here an update or background on a few things discussed in this thread.

[link:http://dakotafreepress.com/2017/03/27/maria-butina-connects-russians-nra-trump-sibby-and-mathew-wollmann/|

[Wellstone ruled]

39. Hey thanks for the info.

Was in Sodak when the famous Sunday insert in the Souix Falls Paper. The fellow next door where we were staying is the County Dem Chair Person,and he came over with this story. Erickson was behind the Broadside to take out Dashle. Perfect timing,we saw this method used in Utah were by white papers and Sunday Broadsides were our stake through the Heart for we Dems. In my neighborhood in Utah at the time,white papers were the norm on the Sunday before Election Day.

[LiberalLovinLug]

31. I keep hearing the NRA's name brought up, but no actual charges

Why don't they get more coverage? I get there is so much happening in the White House every day, but this is directly related to the election that got Trump where he is. Why is there no hard interviews with NRA officials? No arrests made? I hope its coming down the pike.

[Apollyonus]

32. A lot of that is under investigation

Butina and her BF have to be debriefed by the prosecutors and then they have to find corroborating evidence.

I think we'll see indictments in a few months naming the NRA's brass. Until then, there will be silence. It is also possible that someone in the NRA will start secretly singing to get a better deal.

[mickswalkabout41]

33. What I want to know

Is how long the NRA has been funneling money to the Republican Party. Follow the money, step over the turtle and find out whose involved. Then lock em all up.

[Just a Weirdo]

36. Jack Abramoff is involved again.

Time to revoke his parole and put him back in prison facing new charges.

[UpInArms]

40. Black Jack has been waaay too quiet of late

jmho

And from what I know, these swamp things just go dark and crawl out at night to do nefarious deeds

[PSPS]

38. "Russian gun rights activist" LOL. Even Salon is going with that canard?

There is no "gun rights" movement in Russia.

[Honeycombe8]

43. This is dynamite, if true. And shocking...how Russia infiltrated our government.

F***king Russia actually infiltrated our government.

[dlk]

44. This is Confirmation of What was Widely Suspected

The NRA has been money laundering for the Russians. Lock them up!

[paleotn]

45. Is Erickson going to jail too?

Please tell me he is. Please. Please. Please!

[ZERTErYNOthe]

46. Wayne LaPierre

Wayne LaPierre, who is a long time VP? President? of the NRA, since 1991, apparently resigned in May of this year, which lead to Ollie North becoming president of the organization. I think ... hope someone else can verify.

My googling tonight hasn't really helped me out, so I will ask some fellow DU people:

* What has been Wayne LaPierre's role in the NRA over the last 30+ years?
* Did he resign in May of this year?

I think there is 'something' there, but would like to hear other peoples opinions. I searched for his resignation, and honestly, there isn't much out there (unless I have been using the wrong search terms), except for this article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/us/oliver-north-nra-president.html

I suspect that he saw the пишу on the wall ....

[jpak]

47. This is traitorous Trump/NRA/GOP Putin collusion writ large

Lock them UP.

Grab their fucking holy gunz.

Yup

[Hassler]

49. Whether it's Iran-Contras or NRA-Russia, wherever there's treason there is Ollie North.