FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump

Exis · Jan 18, 2018

My only issue with this story so far is that this is not from the Post or the Times. It is not shocking that NRA is crooked. What is shocking is that there is a team in the FBI that is so damn good at their jobs that they are able to tackle the political pressure and investigate this.

XMonkey · Jan 18, 2018

Haunted said:
What? No.

I was implying that the FBI cannot compete with the NRA in terms of political power, support and monetary means.

Put another way, if the FBI actually tries to seriously go after the NRA, expect a bunch of high profile personnel changes and budget cuts for the bureau.

Exis said:
My only issue with this story so far is that this is not from the Post or the Times. It is not shocking that NRA is crooked. What is shocking is that there is a team in the FBI that is so damn good at their jobs that they are able to tackle the political pressure and investigate this.

The FBI was investigating the President of the United States. Investigating the NRA seems a bit small in comparison to that.

Zyrokai · Jan 18, 2018

TetraGenesis said:
Yuuuuuuuuuuup.

To the point where I don't know if there's anything that can be done. When this much of the political elite is entirely bought, how do you possibly bring them to justice?

I don't know......but I hope it's fixed in my lifetime. This is insanity.

Haunted · Jan 19, 2018

XMonkey said:
The FBI was investigating the President of the United States. Investigating the NRA seems a bit small in comparison to that.

I disagree - the president is only backed by one party because of your extremely partisan system. That means leverage and plenty of people profiting (mostly politically) from his downfall.

The NRA has bought politicians on both sides of the aisle, so their support is essentially bi-partisan and much more structurally sound, with many more people from both parties profiting (politically and financially) from the NRA continuing to operate as usual.

Lurkyseas · Jan 19, 2018

ReginOfFire said:
I wonder what US-ERA will do if Mueller gets fired

If anything, firing Mueller would make Trump, his administration & the GOP look bad even more. It would be a huge political blunder even more so than it was when Trump fired Comey.

BrassDragon · Jan 19, 2018

The Guardian is also picking up on this. No new sourcing but they draw a few connections between the NRA and the Putin regime that some posters have already pointed out.

Bleepey · Jan 19, 2018

You need guns for domestic enemies but the NRA will pull out the red carpet for foreign enemies. lol because of course.

tlhm94 · Jan 19, 2018

It might be noted that this story overlaps a lot with what Fusion GPS was looking into as per simpson's testimony.

BrassDragon · Jan 19, 2018

tlhm94 said:
It might be noted that this story overlaps a lot with what Fusion GPS was looking into as per simpson's testimony.

Yep, Simpson / Fusion GPS were the ones pointing to Alexander Torshin (Russian banker accused of international money laundering and a Putin crony) as the key player here. The New York Times also brought him up in December, along with this little bombshell:

The emailed outreach from the conservative {NRA} operative to Mr. Dearborn {Trump campaign adviser} came far earlier, around the same time that Russians were trying to make other connections to the Trump campaign. Another contact came through an American advocate for Christian and veterans causes, and together, the outreach shows how, as Mr. Trump closed in on the nomination, Russians were using three foundational pillars of the Republican Party — guns, veterans and Christian conservatives — to try to make contact with his unorthodox campaign.

Hold on to your butts.... Christian conservative groups may also be implicated.

Opto · Jan 19, 2018

Bleepey said:
You need guns for domestic enemies but the NRA will pull out the red carpet for foreign enemies. lol because of course.

If we ever got invaded by a right-wing controlled, white country, you bet the NRA'd be kissing their ass.

jroc74 · Jan 19, 2018

Oh boy.

Maybe this is why they are trying to interfere with the investigation?

That nra ad that looked like a scene from The Purge, I can believe it.

SK4TE · Jan 19, 2018

Nope, totally just about gun safety and rights, right?

jroc74 · Jan 19, 2018

SK4TE said:
Nope, totally just about gun safety and rights, right?

lol, thank you. This is what I was talking about.

Ok, it's insane but I dont think this is what I was talking about. It either is and I can't remember or it's another one.

Still, wtf.

Shoeless · Jan 19, 2018

El Bombastico said:
Don't these fucks say we need guns to keep foreign powers OUT of America?

Foreign is code for "colored." Russians aren't *really* foreigners, because they look like native Americans. I mean those other native Americans. The ones not on reservations, who aren't actually indigenous to--OH YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN... REAL AMERICANS!

Bleepey · Jan 19, 2018

Opto said:
If we ever got invaded by a right-wing controlled, white country, you bet the NRA'd be kissing their ass.

They'd rather not fight people who have no problem bringing drones to a gun fight.

Aviator Irelia · Jan 19, 2018

Shoeless said:
Foreign is code for "colored." Russians aren't *really* foreigners, because they look like native Americans. I mean those other native Americans. The ones not on reservations, who aren't actually indigenous to--OH YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN... REAL AMERICANS!

Hulk Hogan? I knew there was something up with that dude, brother.

Kernel · Jan 19, 2018

BrassDragon said:
Hold on to your butts.... Christian conservative groups may also be implicated.

That's been happening for years now

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Congress_of_Families

The 2014 WCF conference was scheduled to be held in September in Russia,[62] and is being promoting as "the 'Olympics' of the international Pro-Life movement supporting the Natural Family".[63] Because of the situation in the Ukraine and Crimea, planning for the conference was suspended.[64][65]

Larry Jacobs was invited to Russia to advise Russian Orthodox leaders in setting up Christian right coalitions that unite Protestant Evangelical and Roman Catholic groups opposing legalized abortion.[66] Larry Jacobs has been a strong advocate of the Russian LGBT propaganda law, commenting that "The Russians might be the Christian saviors of the world"[67][68] The coalition stated "Russia, with its historic commitment to deep spirituality and morality, can be a hope for the natural family supporters from all over the world"[69] Jacobs commented that "The Kremlin used to be a no-no for conservatives," but added "We're going to redeem that building."[70]

jroc74 · Jan 19, 2018

Naw, it was this one: