iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats are pushing for information about a 2015 meeting in Moscow between top NRA donors and a number of Russian nationals who have since fallen under scrutiny from law enforcement.
A group of former NRA presidents, board members and major donors traveled to Moscow that year on a trip seemingly sponsored by “Right to Bear Arms,” the Russian gun-rights group co-founded by Maria Butina, who was recently arrested and charged as a covert agent conspiring to infiltrate the American political system.
The delegation included Pete Brownell, Sheriff David Clarke, Dr. Arnold Goldschlager, Hilary Goldschlager, Joe Gregory, David Keene and Jim Liberatore. They reportedly met with Butina, who has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, Alexander Torshin, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018, and Dmitry Rogozin, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2014.
In a letter released on Thursday, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon – who launched an investigation earlier this year into whether the Russian Federation had attempted to illegally funnel money into the American political system through the NRA – and Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut requested “information and documentation you may have in relation to a National Rifle Association delegation’s December 2015 trip to Moscow” from seven people who made the trip.
The senators asked specifically for detailed records of any of the participants’ interactions with Butina, Torshin and Rogozin.
An NRA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for the seven members of the NRA delegation did not immediately respond to requests for comment, either.
Senate Democrats have for months been seeking to determine whether the NRA has received money from any Russian sources, and if it did, whether any of it was used to support the candidacy of Donald Trump. Trump received record financial backing from the NRA in 2016, estimated at more than $30 million.
The NRA has told the senators that the group did receive a small number of donations – totaling $2,512 – from people associated with Russian addresses. That included membership dues from Torshin, the wealthy Russian banker.
“As our previous correspondence should have made clear, any NRA funding received from foreign persons is minimal, is received only for lawful purposes, and has no influence on the content or targeting of our legislative or political communications,” NRA General Counsel John C. Frazer wrote in a letter to the senate in April.
The new inquiry, focusing on members of the NRA board who traveled to Russia, seeks information about whether Russian money could have been routed through entities associated with a close friend of Butina’s, Paul Erickson. Erickson, a political operative who is identified only as “U.S. Person 1” in court filings, lived with Butina and had formed a corporate entity with her known as Bridges LLC.
In their letter, the senators ask the NRA leaders to “describe any interactions, financial or otherwise, you have had with Paul Erickson or any entity connected to him, including but not limited to Bridges LLC and provide all related documentation, including e-mails, other correspondence, and receipts.”
ABC News has not been able to locate Erickson but has left messages for him seeking comment.
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