Legal experts say it’s likely special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerSenate Democrats urge Garland not to fight court order to release Trump obstruction memo Why a special counsel is guaranteed if Biden chooses Yates, Cuomo or Jones as AG Barr taps attorney investigating Russia probe origins as special counsel MORE secretly gained access to the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) tax returns as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a McClatchy report. Mueller’s team is reportedly looking into NRA donors with links to Russia and investigating whether some donors used the organization to illegally funnel foreign money to President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE’s campaign. The NRA spent $30 million in support of Trump's campaign in the 2016 presidential race. ADVERTISEMENT NRA officials maintain that the organization has not been contacted by the FBI, but legal experts told McClatchy that it would be “routine” for investigators to access the group’s tax filings through the IRS. The tax filings would reveal the NRA’s “dark money” donors, whose names are hidden on public documents. David F. Axelrod, an Ohio lawyer who formerly prosecuted cases for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, told McClatchy that prosecutors often request tax filings “entirely in the background, with no notice to the subject of the investigation.” Former senior Justice Department official Michael Zeldin told McClatchy that “it would be basic blocking and tackling for the prosecutors to seek all relevant tax returns.” Mueller’s office declined to comment for McClatchy’s report. The NRA disclosed in April that it received about $2,500 in contributions from 23 Russia-linked individuals since 2015. McClatchy reported earlier this year that the FBI was looking into whether one of those donors, Alexander Torshin, used the NRA to funnel money to the Trump campaign. Torshin is a Russian politician and deputy of the country's central bank. He has ties to former NRA President David Keene and hosted him for a pro-gun conference in Russia. Torshin has previously claimed that his connections to the NRA have given him access to the president. NRA general counsel John Frazer said in the April disclosure that Torshin has not made additional contributions beyond his dues as a member of the organization, but later said that the NRA was "reviewing our responsibilities with respect to him” after he was hit with sanctions from the Treasury Department. The Hill has reached out to the NRA for comment.<doc-sep>Robert Mueller, who has been leading a special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, likely possesses the tax filings of the National Rifle Association, according to a new report. The NRA spent $30 million during the 2016 campaign in an effort to get President Donald Trump elected, which has prompted questions about whether any Russian money was used. While the NRA has denied that it has been questioned by law enforcement, legal experts told McClatchy it's likely Mueller's team has secretly obtained the NRA's tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service. "There are a lot of unanswered questions," Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told Vanity Fair in June, commenting about the NRA's lack of transparency over its connections to high-ranking Russian officials. "The notion that all of these important oligarchs who had involvement with the NRA and were close to Putin were spending money on a few magazine subscriptions doesn't strike me as very plausible." Michael Zeldin, a former Justice Department official, told McClatchy the special counsel's review of the NRA's tax returns would be standard procedure for an investigation. "It would be basic blocking and tackling for the prosecutors to seek all relevant tax returns," he said. While the NRA initially said it had only received one contribution from a Russian-related member in six years, the group acknowledged in April that it had received 23 Russian-related contributions since 2015. "The NRA has fallen into a public relations trap, and the Russians knew damn well what they were doing," former NRA spokesman John Aquilino told McClatchy. "The NRA was naive and got hoodwinked." As Mueller's investigation continues, President Trump has increased his rhetoric against the special counsel, claiming repeatedly that there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. "The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt, will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls," Trump tweeted, without any evidence for his claim about the special counsel. "There was no Collusion, except by Democrats!" The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt, will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls. There was no Collusion, except by the Democrats! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2018 In January, Trump called the investigation "the single greatest Witch Hunt in American history." "There was no collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet on and on it goes. Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing. Republicans should finally take control," he said. The NRA, which markets itself as "America's longest-standing civil rights organization," has grown into an influential political organization with its Political Victory Fund, which serves to rate and endorse political leaders according to how their policies would affect the NRA. "Now is the time to unite," NRA Executive Director Chris Cox said in May 2016 when the organization first endorsed Trump for president. "If your preferred candidate got out of the race, It's time to get over it."<doc-sep>The National Rifle Association (NRA) defense that it is not a focus of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign does not hold water, McClatchy reported on Monday. The NRA has claimed that they have yet to hear from the FBI about the investigation. McClatchy's legal experts say that is because Mueller's investigators did not need the NRA's cooperation to identify any potential Russian funding of the group's record financial backing of the Trump campaign. It is illegal to spend foreign money to influence an American election. The Federal Election Commission does not require that the NRA disclose the source of it's "dark money" contributors, but the group was required to provide that information to the Internal Revenue Service. According to "people familiar with the inquiry," McClatchy reported that, "the main focus of Mueller’s inquiry, as McClatchy reported in January, has been whether Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of Russia’s central bank and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, arranged for Russian money to flow through the gun rights group to aid Trump." Obtaining such filings from the IRS would be critical to determine if Russians "used shell companies as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 election," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) argued. Invoking a famous saying from the Watergate investigations that drove President Richard Nixon from office, Wyden said, "investigators must follow the money wherever it leads to understand the full story of Russia’s attack on our democracy." One former federal prosecutor told McClatchy that it should be expected that Mueller has already obtained the IRS filings as such investigations frequently use “secret subpoenas, tax orders and other investigative techniques to collect an extraordinary amount of financial information without their target even knowing that the investigation exists." There are two leading theories on how Russian money could have flowed through the National Rifle Association to influence the 2016 election. Under the less-scandalous theory, the NRA's hatred of Democrat Hillary Clinton allowed them to become "useful idiots" who were unwittingly used by a foreign power. "That’s the most innocent explanation: The NRA got snookered," explained Steve Hall, the former chief of the CIA's Russia operations. “The NRA was naive and got hoodwinked," suggested former NRA spokesperson John Aquilino. However, there are enough red flags that analysts wonder about the second theory, that the NRA may have intentionally spent foreign money in support of Donald Trump. "It’s just so insidious, and it sort of ticks all the boxes: connections to the current administration, major backer of then-candidate Trump, the Russians wanting to get in and manipulate our own political system," Hall reminded.<doc-sep>
Have you been wondering where the money came from? If Robert Mueller has too, he may been able to see for himself. The Special Counsel’s Russia investigation has likely viewed National Rifle Association (NRA) tax filings revealing donors behind the $30 million that was spent to help get Donald Trump elected in 2016, McClatchy reported on Monday. It comes on the heels of speculation about the origins of the NRA donations and whether it was done with “Russian money.” The key points of the McClatchy report are that it was deemed likely by legal experts that Mueller would be able to secretly gain access to NRA tax filings through the IRS. If he did, he’d be able to see who was among the “dark money” donors of $21 million (out of the total $30 million) because those names come out in nonprofit filings with the IRS. Ohio lawyer David Axelrod (not to be confused with the Barack Obama strategist of the same name) has prosecutorial experience in the DOJ Tax Division and said requests to a judge for access to such documents are usually made “entirely in the background, with no notice to the subject of the investigation.” Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said he’d be “surprised” if Mueller didn’t have the NRA records. This is correct. I would be surprised if Mueller’s team doesn’t have the NRA’s tax returns and related records. https://t.co/R3FWnltF4Z — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) July 2, 2018 Interestingly, one former chief of the CIA’s Russia operations was quoted as suspecting that NRA board members may have been manipulated by Russia intelligence. Steve Hall said he believed they failed to see the NRA was at risk of being used for its “dangerous propaganda machine. … That’s the most innocent explanation: The NRA got snookered.” “It’s just so insidious, and it sort of ticks all the boxes: connections to the current administration, major backer of then-candidate Trump, the Russians wanting to get in and manipulate our own political system,” Hall continued. Another possible connection to the Mueller inquiry named is to Alexander Torshin, described as a Vladimir Putin ally and a high-up official in Russia’s central bank. The Torshin focus has two elements. First, though Torshin denies it, Spanish prosecutors have accused him of laundering money for the Russian mob. Second, he made friends with former NRA President David Keene in 2011 and is a lifetime NRA member. Their relationship even resulted in a visit by Keene and others to Moscow. Former NRA spokesman John Aquilino seemed to agree somewhat with Hall’s prior assessment, that the Torshin-Moscow-NRA connection shows the NRA was fooled. “The NRA has fallen into a public relations trap, and the Russians knew damn well what they were doing,” he said. “The NRA was naive and got hoodwinked.” Whether or not this leads to anything remains to be seen, but it does highlight the broadness of the Special Counsel’s Office’s Russia probe and the kind of reach and resources that are at its disposal. Law&Crime has reached out to the NRA for comment. Mueller’s office declined to comment on the McClatchy report. [Image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images] Have a tip we should know? [email protected]