First off, I want to thank admin for not only allowing this thread, but also for the patience they've shown with it. It's difficult to "separate the wheat from the chaff" with anything that touches politics, and I know the topic of this thread is walking a fine line when it comes to the rules here.
So, I've had a chance to think about all this over the last couple of days, and based partly on comments some of y'all have made regarding the NRA's diligence in record keeping, and based on reported comments by the NRA saying the same thing, I think it's more probable than not that maybe the NRA got played by this Torshin fella.
I say that because I recently heard another report that explained how it is that the Russians go about infiltrating organizations to then influence either the direction the organizations take, or influence key decisions they make, or get the organizations to become sympathetic to the Russians. When I compared what that report explained with how Torshin's relationship with the NRA developed, it seemed to fit the pattern. I won't go into all the details of how they do it, but basically, what they do is show interest in whatever the organization does, whomever their point person is gets chummy with the higher ups in the organization, and eventually enough of a connection is made that the point person can then exert whatever influence he can on what the organization does. If one understands Russia's intent to magnify and deepen existing tensions in our political system, the idea that a former Russian senator would cozy up to the NRA, under the guise of establishing a Russian version of a gun rights group when the real intent is to use that relationship to further divide us, doesn't seem all that far fetched.
I think it would be in the NRA's best interests to offer the FBI whatever assistance it may need in determining what Torshin's intentions with the NRA have been. Did he get involved with the NRA knowing that he could someday use the relationship to gain access to politicians connected with the organization? Did he in some way play a role in how much the organization has spent in past elections? Is he working as part of a Russian plot to destabilize our political system? These are questions that, in my opinion, need to be answered.
https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/5900...-politicians-cultivation-of-nra-ties-revealed