"Political Party 1" has been officially identified as being complicit. Louise Mensch has been reporting this for nearly two whole years! Her bombs have literally been a play-by-play. Ryan is on intercepts negotiating with Butina's "superior" during the convention in Cleveland. Oh me, oh my!
3/ Butina admitted that she drafted a proposal in Russian called "Description of the Diplomacy Project" that suggested Russia could use "unofficial channels of communication" to build relations with Political Party #1 (the Republican Party). 4/ In the proposal, she pointed to her attendance at conferences organized by "Gun Rights Organization" (the National Rifle Association or @NRA), which she told the Russian government had influence over the Republican Party. 5/ She told the Russian government that she believed the Republican Party would win the next presidential election and that she "laid the groundwork for an unofficial channel of communication with the next U.S. administration." 6/ In the proposal, Butina also claimed that she had been introduced to Republican Party leaders as "an unofficial representative" of Russian official Alexander Torshin. (It's worth noting that there are photos of Butina with Trump Jr., Santorum, and many others.) 7/ What shocks me most is that Erickson helped write this proposal! His behavior amounts to what most Americans would regard as outright treason. (As I discussed on my latest #OnTopic podcast with @Mimirocah1, our Constitution defines "treason" narrowly.) What was he thinking?
8/ In the joint statement to the court agreed to by the government and Butina, they said Erickson reviewed a Google-translated version of the proposal and gave advice, including information about U.S. political figures and connection with a Russian media commentator. 9/ Butina sent the proposal to the Russian official (Torshin) and asked for $125,000 from a Russian billionaire to attend NRA conferences as well as "separate meetings with interested parties," including the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 10/ She then traveled to the U.S. in April 2015 to attend a NRA convention. and was introduced to "influential members" of the Republican Party, including Donald Trump. (As @washpost recently noted, she was later able to directly ask Trump a question.) 12/ Butina and federal prosecutors noted that part of the conspiracy was also inviting NRA leaders to Moscow in December 2015, and using Torshin to set up meetings with high-ranking Russian politicians because doing so would advance Russian interests.
Gun rights in Russia: Russian citizens over 18 years of age can obtain a firearms license after attending gun-safety classes and passing a federal test and background check. The license is for five years and may be renewed. Firearms may be acquired for self-defense, hunting, or sports activities. Why the NRA was so quick to suck up to Russia is interesting.
"Individual 1" = "Political Party 1" = "Gun Rights Organization" = Let's play a game - take a stab at whom Butina identified here.
At this point, the NRA should just officially change their name to the GRO. Think of it as global branding. Why be national when you can be international? Stop thinking small. They are missing a real opportunity here. BNM
This only could have happened when she was in prison and when Russian officials visited 5 times. That is absolutely scary if that happened.
