The American Democracy Legal Fund has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against the National Rifle Association for their support of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election. ADLF is requesting an investigation into whether the NRA violated federal law by taking illegal contributions from foreign nationals in connection with the 2016 presidential election and violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
“Just when you thought Donald Trump’s connections to shady Russian agents couldn’t get any more revolting, that is exactly what happens. A foreign agent illegally laundering millions of foreign dollars to influence an American election in support of then candidate Donald Trump is absolutely an issue for the Federal Election Commission to take up,” said ADLF’s Brad Woodhouse. “We expect the FEC to get to the bottom of this issue swiftly and deliver the results of a thorough investigation to the American people.”
Last week, reports revealed that the FBI was investigating Alexander Torshin, a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin, who may have been funneling money to the NRA in an effort to help elect Donald Trump. Torshin used the NRA, which he had already been involved with for several years by 2016, to repeatedly contact the Trump campaign.
The complaint states that according to sources, the NRA spent at least $55 million dollars in connection with the 2016 election. Only contributions received by the NRA-PVF in connection with the 2016 election will be disclosed to the public. To put it another way, at least $33 million was spent to influence federal elections in 2016, but the public will never learn the source of those contributions. This is particularly problematic given the news reports detailed above and the longstanding relationship between the NRA and prominent foreign nationals in Russia whose interests in influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election cannot be denied.