Originally Posted by helenwheels
Interesting story that's been overshadowed today by the Helsinki disaster:

A Russian National named Maria Butina was arrested by the DOJ, she is accused of infiltrating the NRA to influence the Republican party.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-relea ... 6/download

The details in there are quite eyebrow raising. The document redacts the name of the Republican Party and the NRA as [Political Party #1] and [GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION] respectively. This creates a comic effect that makes the document worth reading for that alone.

The alleged contents of intercepted communications described here are fascinating

Also interesting here is that the same day Butina was arrested, the Treasury declared that 501c4 organizations - like the NRA (not the NRA Foundation which is a 501c3) - "are no longer required to report the names and addresses of their contributors". 35M went through the NRA's 501c4 in the 2016 election and now there will be no disclosure of the origin of the funds.

https://twitter.com/LydsONeal/status/1019006639821778944

Peculiar timing to say the least.