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Lawyer who worked for NRA said to have had concerns about group’s Russia ties

Peter Stone And Greg Gordon
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March 15, 2018 07:27 PM
Updated 43 minutes ago

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article205412394.html
National Rifle Association executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre said opponents of gun rights "hate individual freedoms" and want to eliminate the 2nd Amendment. LaPierre spoke at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Congressional investigators are examining information that an ex-National Rifle Association board member who had done legal work for the group had concerns about its ties to Russia and its possible involvement in channeling Russian funds into the 2016 elections to help Donald Trump, two sources familiar with the matter say.

Cleta Mitchell, who represented the NRA for years, is on a newly disclosed list of people whom Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are seeking to interview. Democratic investigators for that committee’s Senate counterpart also are interested in what she may know about relationships between the NRA or its allies and wealthy Russians, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Mitchell told McClatchy in an email that any suggestion she has concerns about the NRA's Russia connections is a "complete fabrication."

The sources declined to detail the specific nature of the information prompting investigators’ interest in Mitchell, a prominent gun rights champion, election law specialist and veteran conservative operative.

The nation’s leading gun rights lobby was the biggest backer of Trump’s presidential campaign, spending $30 million to help propel him to his upset victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, a strong advocate of gun control laws. But in January, the NRA was drawn into the furor over Russian interference in the election when McClatchy reported that the FBI was investigating whether Russian banker and “lifetime” NRA member Alexander Torshin, who hosted a high-level NRA delegation in Moscow in late 2015, funneled funds to the NRA to help Trump.

It’s illegal for foreign funds to be spent in American elections.

“Whether there was an effort by Russia to create a back channel or assist the Trump campaign through the NRA or gun-rights groups is an open question the committee’s minority has endeavored to answer for the past year,” California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement to McClatchy. “Much work remains to be done concerning that thread of our investigation, including conducting witness interviews and receiving relevant documents from several organizations and individuals.”

Mitchell's name surfaced after House Republicans announced this week they were ending the panel's year-old investigation into Russia's meddling, which had been plagued by months of partisan friction. They issued a 150-page report that concluded there was no “collusion” between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Angry Democrats responded by issuing a wide-ranging, 21-page status report on Tuesday laying out areas of inquiry that were short-circuited by the majority's decision, vowing to pursue them independently.

Mitchell was among more than two dozen people the Democrats said they would like to interview, including two other figures with connections to Torshin and the NRA. The report said Democratic investigators want to know if Mitchell “can shed light on the NRA’s relationship with Alexander Torshin” or other Russians and also want to see financial records from a South Dakota company and a Russian gun rights group..

Neither the FBI, which is working with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian meddling in the election, nor the congressional committees have provided details of potentially improper Russian involvement with the NRA.

Mitchell, a lawyer with Foley & Lardner, has worked with several prominent conservative organizations and has helped set up nonprofit groups that can legally spend some funds on elections but keep donors secret. She has also worked for an A-list of Republican lawmakers and candidates, including Sens. Roy Blunt (Mo.), Pat Toomey (Penn.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.).

In a series of emails, Mitchell strongly denied having concerns about Russian funds being improperly routed through the NRA.

“I have no knowledge of anything like this and zero concerns whatsoever about anyone — Russians or otherwise — who ‘funneled’ funds to / through NRA,” she said. The NRA “ is meticulous about following all the rules. This is all a complete fabrication.”

On Friday, after this story first appeared, Mitchell said “I have not had any relationship with the NRA in six years. I had zero contact with the NRA in 2016.” The NRA did not respond to requests to verify Mitchell’s statements; according to an NRA publication, her board membership expired in 2013.

Mitchell said she would be willing to talk to investigators but it would be “...wasting everyone’s time and money...”

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article205412394.html