The charging documents against Butina cite her efforts to influence an unnamed “gun rights organization”, which is said to be the NRA. In December 2015, Torshin and Butina invited an elite NRA group to Moscow where they were feted at vodka and caviar dinners. The NRA’s Moscow itinerary featured meetings with the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin, who oversaw defense and munitions industries. Photograph: APKey congressional committees and Democrats have been particularly interested in learning more details about the NRA Moscow trip. NRA outside counsel William Brewer III said the NRA hasn’t found any evidence that Russian funds were spent improperly in the elections.

Source: The Guardian March 01, 2019 09:56 UTC