Editing National Rifle Association (section)

===Russian influence===
{{Further|Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections}}
Investigations by the FBI and [[Mueller special counsel investigation|Special Counsel]] [[Robert Mueller]] resulted in indictments of Russian nationals on charges of developing and exploiting ties with the NRA to influence US politics by using the NRA to gain access to Republican politicians. Russian politician and gun-rights activist [[Aleksandr Torshin]], a lifetime NRA member who is close to Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]],<ref name=mcclatchy-20180118>{{cite news |url= http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html |title= FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump |publisher= [[The McClatchy Company|McClatchy]] |last1=Stone |first1=Peter |last2=Gordon |first2=Greg |date= January 18, 2018 |access-date=March 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/01/18/the-russia-scandal-just-got-bigger-and-republicans-are-trying-to-prevent-an-accounting/|title=The Russia scandal just got bigger. And Republicans are trying to prevent an accounting.|date=January 18, 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> was suspected by some of illegally funneling money through the NRA to benefit Trump's 2016 campaign. In May 2018, Democrats on the [[Senate Judiciary Committee]] released a report stating it had obtained "a number of documents that suggest the Kremlin used the National Rifle Association as a means of accessing and assisting Mr. Trump and his campaign" through Torshin and his assistant [[Maria Butina]], and that "The Kremlin may also have used the NRA to secretly fund Mr. Trump's campaign."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article211265784.html |title= Senate Dems: Documents suggest Russia used NRA to aid Trump campaign |first1=Greg |last1=Gordon |first2= Peter |last2= Stone |date= May 16, 2018 |publisher= McClatchy DC BUreau |access-date= May 16, 2018 |via=McClatchyDC.com |quote=...Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a report on Wednesday that their preliminary investigation turned up "a number of documents" suggesting Russia used connections to the NRA "as a means of accessing and assisting Mr Trump and his campaign.}}</ref><ref name=Anapol>{{cite web | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/388005-senate-judiciary-committee-kremlin-used-the-nra-to-help-trump/ | title=Judiciary Dems: Kremlin may have used the NRA to help Trump campaign | work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] | date=May 16, 2018 | access-date=May 29, 2018 | last=Anapol | first=Avery}}</ref>

Butina was arrested on July 15, 2018, and charged with conspiring to act as an [[Foreign Agents Registration Act|unregistered agent]] of the Russian Federation and using Republican operative [[Paul Erickson (activist)|Paul Erickson]] for cover and connections as she developed an influence operation designed to "advance the interests of the Russian Federation." The FBI acquired an email Erickson had sent to an acquaintance in 2016 stating, "Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, I've been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key [GOP] leaders through, of all conduits, the [NRA]."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Carrie |title=Feds Charge Russian Student, Linked To NRA, With Conspiracy |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/07/16/629531772/feds-charge-russian-student-linked-to-nra-with-conspiracy |website=NPR.org |access-date=December 11, 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/gun-rights-activist-charged-with-acting-as-russian-agent-1531770436|title=Gun-Rights Activist Charged With Acting as Russian Agent|first1=Aruna|last1=Viswanatha|first2=Del Quentin|last2=Wilber|newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=July 16, 2018|via=www.wsj.com}}</ref> According to the affidavit, from 2015 through at least February 2017, Butina worked at the direction of Russian who was a high level government official and official at the Russian Central Bank.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hennigan |first1=W.J. |title=The Strange Case of the NRA-Linked Russian Charged With Being a Kremlin Agent |url=https://time.com/5340362/mariia-butina-arrest-russia/ |access-date=December 13, 2018 |agency=Time |date=July 16, 2018}}</ref><ref name=Bykowicz-180717>{{cite web | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/alleged-russian-agent-cultivated-ties-with-u-s-conservatives-nra-1531865613 | title=Alleged Russian Foreign Agent Cultivated Ties With U.S. Conservatives, NRA | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | date=July 17, 2018 | access-date=July 17, 2018 | first1=Julie | last1=Bykowicz | first2=Del Quentin | last2=Wilber}}</ref><ref name=Sheth-180717>{{cite web | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/maria-butina-indicted-russian-national-nra-ties-2018-7 | title=Grand jury indicts Maria Butina, a Russian national with deep ties to the NRA, for conspiracy and acting as a Russian agent | work=[[Business Insider]] | date=July 17, 2018 | access-date=July 17, 2018 | first=Sonam | last=Sheth}}</ref> In December, Butina agreed in a plea deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors.<ref name=Madden-181210>{{cite web | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/maria-butina-accused-russian-agent-reaches-plea-deal/story?id=59719083 | title=Maria Butina, accused Russian agent, reaches plea deal with prosecutors that includes cooperation | work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] | date=December 10, 2018 | access-date=December 10, 2018 | first1=Pete | last1=Madden | first2=Katherine | last2=Faulders | first3=Matthew | last3=Mosk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Helderman, Rosalind S. |author2=Hamburger, Tom |author3=Lee, Michelle Ye Hee |date=December 13, 2018 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/russian-agents-guilty-plea-intensifies-spotlight-on-relationship-with-nra/2018/12/13/e6569a00-fe26-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html |title=Russian Agent's Guilty Plea Intensifies Spotlight on Relationship with NRA |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 14, 2018 |quote=Butina's case exposed how Russia saw the NRA as a key pathway to influencing American politics to the Kremlin's benefit. And it has intensified questions about what the gun rights group knew of the Russian effort to shape U.S. policy and whether it faces ongoing legal scrutiny.}}</ref> Butina later denied accusations that she was a Russian agent.<ref>{{cite news |title=Accused Russian Spy Maria Butina Speaks Out for the First Time |url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/02/maria-butina-speaks-out-for-first-time-denies-being-a-spy.html |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=February 11, 2019}}</ref>

In 2018, in a letter sent to Sen. [[Ron Wyden]] and addressed to Congress, the NRA acknowledged it had accepted approximately $2,000 in membership dues and magazine subscriptions and $525 in contributions from 23 Russian nationals or people associated with Russian addresses since 2015. In an earlier news interview the NRA's lawyers stated that the NRA had received less than $1000 from only one Russian donor. According to a Wyden aide, the NRA letter would be referred to the [[Federal Election Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/04/11/601534305/nra-in-new-document-acknowledges-more-than-20-russian-linked-contributors|title=NNRA, In New Document, Acknowledges More Than 20 Russian-Linked Contributors|last=Mak|first=Tim |date=April 11, 2018|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/nra-admits-accepting-money-23-russia-linked-donors-882310|title=NRA admits accepting money from 23 Russia-Linked donors|last=PM|first=Gillian Edevane On 4/11/18 at 4:20|date=April 11, 2018|website=Newsweek|language=en|access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref> NRA's general counsel John C. Frazer wrote to Senator Wyden: "While we do receive some contributions from foreign individuals and entities, those contributions are made directly to the NRA for lawful purposes. Our review of our records has found no foreign donations in connection with a United States election, either directly or through a conduit."<ref>{{cite news |title=NRA Says It Receives Foreign Funds, But None Goes To Election Work |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/03/27/597279176/nra-says-it-receives-foreign-funds-but-none-goes-to-election-work |work=NPR |date=March 27, 2018}}</ref>

According to the minority Democratic staff of the [[United States Senate Committee on Finance|Senate Finance Committee]] the NRA acted as "a foreign asset" of Russia during the 2016 election, putting its tax exempt status at risk.  The allegations were made in a 77-page report on an 18-month investigation released on September 27, 2019. An 18-page rebuttal by majority committee Republicans said the Democratic report demonstrated "little or nothing".<ref>{{cite news |title=Clashing Senate Reports and New Questions on the N.R.A. |first=Danny |last=Hakim |date=September 27, 2019 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=September 27, 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/27/us/nra-senate-reports.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=NRA Was 'Foreign Asset' To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Reveals |date=September 27, 2019 |first=Tim |last=Mak |agency=[[NPR]] |access-date=September 27, 2019 |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The NRA & Russia How a Tax Exempt Organization Became a Foreign Asset |date=September 2019 |author=United States Senate Committee on Finance minority staff |access-date=September 27, 2019 |url=https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=6432520-The-NRA-Russia-How-a-Tax-Exempt-Organization}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Majority Staff Report accompanying the Minority Staff Report: The NRA and Russia |date=September 2019 |author=United States Senate Committee on Finance majority staff |access-date=September 27, 2019 |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6432305-2019-09-27-NRA-Russia-Majority-Report.html}}</ref>

Neither the FBI nor special counsel investigations found any Russian money funneling. The FBI investigation resulted in the conviction of Butina, not on any money-related charges, and the Mueller Report does not mention the NRA.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/download |title=Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election |access-date=2022-11-07}}</ref> The [[Federal Election Commission]] has dismissed allegations of Russian money funneling as unsupported by the evidence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/MUR_7314_NRA_et_al_statement_of_Chair_Caroline_C_Hunter.pdf |title=STATEMENT OF CHAIR CAROLINE C. HUNTER |access-date=2022-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7637/7637_06.pdf |title=FIRST GENERAL COUNSEL'S REPORT |access-date=2022-11-07}}</ref>