THREAD: While we wait for the NRA to come clean about its connections to alleged Russian agent Maria Butina, let’s take a trip down memory lane and explore the twisted web of ties between Butina, the NRA, and prominent GOP operatives. 
In 2011, then-NRA president David Keene befriended Russian banker & politician Alexander Torshin. Shortly thereafter, Torshin joined with Maria Butina to form a Russian gun rights group supposedly modeled after the NRA called the Right to Bear Arms. newrepublic.com/article/110223…
In 2013, Butina’s gun rights group hosted Keene and NRA-linked Republican operative Paul Erickson at the Right to Bear Arms’ annual convention in Moscow. rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
Sidenote: John Bolton—current White House National Security Advisor—is a longtime friend of former NRA president Keene, and days after the 2013 Right to Bear Arms Convention, Bolton recorded a video for the group praising “a new era of freedom” in Russia. npr.org/2018/03/22/595…
In 2014, Butina attended her first of 3 consecutive NRA conventions. Torshin & Butina’s attendance at NRA conventions gave them access to prominent Republican figures, including President Donald Trump, Gov Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal & others washingtonpost.com/politics/how-t…
In July 2015, during a public question-and-answer session at FreedomFest, a libertarian convention in Las Vegas, Butina asked Trump what he would do as president about “damaging” US sanctions. Trump suggested he would get rid of them. motherjones.com/politics/2018/…
In 2015, Butina’s gun rights group hosted an NRA delegation in Moscow, which included former NRA president David Keene, NRA and Trump campaign surrogate Sheriff David Clarke, and Pete Brownell, who would soon become NRA president. thedailybeast.com/top-trump-ally…
During the 2015 trip, the NRA delegation met with the then-sanctioned Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and visited a Russian gun manufacturer, whose weapons have been cited by the U.S. military as a threat to American troops.
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By 2016, “Torshin and Butina had become fixtures at the NRA's high-dollar donor events, according to attendees,” even attending a dinner for the NRA’s million-dollar donor program, known as the Golden Ring of Freedom. cnn.com/2018/04/27/pol…
In February 2016, Butina and Paul Erickson created a mysterious limited liability company in South Dakota together. mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-wo…
In May 2016, Erickson reached out to the Trump campaign on behalf of Butina’s mentor, Alexander Torshin, saying that Russia was “quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S.” and would try to use the NRA convention to make "first contact." nytimes.com/2017/12/03/us/…
Also in 2016, Donald Trump, Jr. met and spoke with Torshin and Butina at former NRA President David Keene's birthday party, which was happening at the same restaurant as an event to which Trump, Jr. had been invited. cnn.com/2018/04/27/pol…
Shortly after President Trump’s election, Trump campaign aides & Paul Erickson, who claimed to advise the Trump transition team, attended Butina's birthday party. There, she claimed to have acted as a go-between between the Trump campaign and Russia. thedailybeast.com/the-kremlin-an…
In March 2017, Butina wrote in an email to Time, “I am deeply grateful for the friendship of the American NRA.” time.com/4696424/moscow…
Then, in January 2018, McClatchy first reported that the FBI was “investigating whether Russian money went to [the] NRA to help Trump” get elected. mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-wo…
In Feb '18, @RonWyden wrote his first of three letters to the NRA requesting documents detailing financial links between Russia & the NRA. The NRA originally denied taking any money from foreign individuals or entities. Later, it acknowledged receiving a contribution from Torshin
And in response to Senator Wyden’s third letter, the NRA acknowledged receiving contributions from at least 23 Russia-linked individuals. motherjones.com/politics/2018/…
Then, in April 2018, Maria Butina’s mentor, Alexander Torshin, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…
And on Monday, Butina was charged with Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Federation Within the U.S. for allegedly “infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics” to advance Russia’s interests. washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…
Questions still remain: When will the NRA come clean about its connections to Butina and her allies? And when will the NRA fully answer questions about any role they may have played in the NRA’s record-breaking 2016 electoral activity?
