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Mrs. Overall

(6,839 posts)
Wed Jan 30, 2019, 12:23 PM Jan 2019

NRA says 2015 Moscow trip wasn't 'official.' Emails, photos reveal gun group's role

Source: ABC

The National Rifle Association made its first public attempt this week to distance itself from any formal involvement in a now infamous trip to Moscow undertaken by a group of its high-ranking members, but internal NRA emails and photos posted on social media reviewed by ABC News appear to show the organization was significantly involved in planning it.

Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has launched an investigation of the NRA and written a series of letters seeking “information and documentation” about the trip, disputed the NRA’s public attempt to distance itself from the trip.

“It’s not credible for the NRA to claim that they played no official role in the 2015 Moscow trip,” Sen. Wyden told ABC News on Tuesday.

The December 2015 trip, which involved meetings with senior Kremlin officials, has attracted increased scrutiny in the wake of the arrest and guilty plea of gun rights activist and alleged Russian agent Maria Butina, who was involved in planning the trip. After months of silence on the matter, the NRA’s outside counsel William Brewer told The New York Times that NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre “was opposed to the trip” and even prohibited staff members from joining the delegation out of concern that it would be perceived as officially sanctioned.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/Politics/nra-2015-moscow-trip-wasnt-official-emails-photos/story?id=60715741

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NRA says 2015 Moscow trip wasn't 'official.' Emails, photos reveal gun group's role (Original Post) Mrs. Overall Jan 2019 OP
Yeah ... right ... NOT! UpInArms Jan 2019 #1
LOL. "Leader of 'The Right to Bear Arms' Russian non-profit organization" PSPS Jan 2019 #3
NRA & GOP Traitors DirtEdonE Jan 2019 #2
The only purpose organizations are organized under IRS codes is to solely function ... SWBTATTReg Jan 2019 #4
They really sat on this for a LONG LONG time BumRushDaShow Jan 2019 #5

UpInArms

(51,296 posts)
1. Yeah ... right ... NOT!
Wed Jan 30, 2019, 12:30 PM
Jan 2019


Russian banker said he met Trump through NRA

The Russian banker under scrutiny for money transfers to the National Rifle Association said the organization helped him meet President Trump.

Alexander Torshin, a deputy head of Russia's central bank, is one of his country's strongest supporters of the NRA, even hosting dinners for an American delegation that came to Moscow in 2015.

A report earlier this year said federal investigators were looking into whether his payments to the group were funneled towards Trump's election as part of what Fusion GPS investigator Glenn Simpson said was a "very concerted effort" by Russian officials to get in with the gun lobby.
Further digging by NPR into Torshin's prolific Twitter use found that he also mentioned in December 2015 that he knew the then-candidate.


Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, posted these photos of himself with members of a National Rifle Association (NRA) delegation in Russia on December 12, 2015. (Dmitry Rogozin via Twitter)

PSPS

(13,645 posts)
3. LOL. "Leader of 'The Right to Bear Arms' Russian non-profit organization"
Wed Jan 30, 2019, 02:18 PM
Jan 2019

Yes, Russia is well known for its "gun-rights" movement!111!1!!

 

DirtEdonE

(1,220 posts)
2. NRA & GOP Traitors
Wed Jan 30, 2019, 02:18 PM
Jan 2019

The NRA leveraged the 2nd Amendment for treason. The GOP commits treason for profit.

Either way, they both have to go.

That rat bastard darrell issa promised an investigation a week of the Obama Administration and he delivered on his nefarious promise.

Where are the investigations now? Where are the subpoenas?

SWBTATTReg

(22,226 posts)
4. The only purpose organizations are organized under IRS codes is to solely function ...
Wed Jan 30, 2019, 02:20 PM
Jan 2019

as they are originally chartered as, per IRS rules (and probably other rules too), e.g., such as non profits etc.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
How the IRS Classifies Nonprofit Organizations
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-the-irs-classifies-nonprofit...
The IRS recognizes 27 types of nonprofit organizations in fact. They are, to one degree or another, exempt from federal taxes and many state taxes. And each type is different when it comes to eligibility, lobbying, electioneering and tax-deductible contributions.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Why is the NRA's outside counsel involved at all then, if the NRA is claiming that the trip played no official role? The statements seems contradictory (we're not involved but their attorneys are?). The NRA has been accused of being a 'political' entity, and thus accusations that it pretty well interfered w/ the 2016 elections in some manner does have merit and per the evidence, these accusations make common sense vs. the crap that the NRA is claiming why it went to Russia.

So, meeting w/ senior Kremlin officials for some reason. Certainly wasn't in buying handguns or the like, I'm certain sanctions were still in place. What other purpose are they going for and if not 'official' why the heck were some of your NRA personnel there then? Some say that the official charter classifying the NRA as a non-profit org. should be taken away, since the NRA is acting more for its own private interests than educating its members on gun safety...

++++++++++++++++++++++
…The majority of the NRA’s lobbying, education, training and publication activities operate to benefit a private interest: the firearms and ammunition industry. As a result, under the cases and rulings interpreting section 501(c)(4), the NRA does not primarily serve the community interest and should not qualify as a tax-exempt social welfare organization.

Instead, the NRA should operate as a political lobbying organization to be accountable for its key interests: the firearms and ammunition industry.

NOTE: The above was written by (I only grabbed a tiny part of this writeup):

In April 2016, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence published a report on this very issue, labelling the NRA “a tax-exempt [organization] loaded with private interest.” The authors — attorney Alexandra O’Neill and financial analyst Daniel O’Neill.
++++++++++++++++++++++


BumRushDaShow

(130,122 posts)
5. They really sat on this for a LONG LONG time
Wed Jan 30, 2019, 05:57 PM
Jan 2019

The pics were boastfully being posted about multiple times, notably by people like David Clarke.

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