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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe NRA & Steve Bannon get caught up in the Russian web
Last edited Sun Apr 2, 2017, 12:47 PM - Edit history (1)
The entire article is worth the read. I only pulled 4 paragraphs per DU rules.
Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia and investigated in Spain for money laundering, has infiltrated the US presidents circle
On February 1, Alexander Torshin, 63, a Russian politician and banker who is close to Vladimir Putin and whom the Spanish anti-corruption prosecutor and the Civil Guard define in their reports as a godfather from a notorious Russian mafia organization, had in his diary for the next day an appointment to meet in Washington with the worlds most powerful man: Donald Trump. The encounter was due to take place before an official and well-attended breakfast meeting, which Torshin attended as the head of a Russian delegation. The meeting was canceled that very night, according to sources from the White House, given the wave of criticism in the US press related to the influence of determined Russian circles in President Trumps power teams. But the information reveals the heights to which this person, who has been investigated by the Spanish authorities, had reached in his rise to the upper echelons of the American leaders circle.
Torshin, who is currently the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, has met with one of the children of the US president, has close links with the organization that provided the most money for Trumps election campaign, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and attended the aforementioned breakfast that Donald Trump presided over in the White House in February.
...snip
The point of entry for Torshin to the upper echelons of US politics was the National Rifle Association (NRA), which is perhaps the most powerful lobby in the United States. The NRA invested more than $21 million in Trumps election campaign, more than any other organization. According to the groups official magazine, the NRA proclaimed itself to be the key to the Trump victory.
...snip
During that visit to Washington, Torshin did have dinner with two Republican congressmen. The date was February 1 in a French restaurant, according to an article published in Time magazine two weeks ago, and at which Maria Butina and a close friend of Trump White House strategist Stephen Bannon were also present.
More: http://elpais.com/elpais/2017/03/31/inenglish/1490984556_409827.html
Jonny Appleseed
(960 posts)Trump's victory will cost them more than 21 mill in dues. If Hillary won they'd finally have enough money to pass legislation arming teachers.
synergie
(1,901 posts)They have plenty of money and own plenty of congressmen.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)calimary
(81,209 posts)Whatever brings Bannon down is good for ALL the rest of us.
fleabiscuit
(4,542 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 2, 2017, 01:14 PM - Edit history (1)
HAB911
(8,880 posts)MelissaB
(16,420 posts)The rise of Torshin in the upper circles of the United States continued to progress. When Trump, a self-declared admirer of Putin, reached the presidency, Torshin was invited to an official breakfast at the White House scheduled for February 2, along with other guests. The event was later to be remembered thanks to Trumps jibes aimed at Arnold Schwarzenegger. Torshin traveled there as the head of a Russian delegation. Together with the invitation, Torshin received a proposal for a meeting with the president just before the breakfast, according to Yahoo News, which contributed to this article. This meeting was suddenly cancelled. The reason, according to sources from the White House, were the rumors and suspicions about which all of Washington is now talking: the links between Trumps political team and Moscow. The White House gave no official explanation for the cancellation. Maria Butina, who attended gala dinners to celebrate Trumps inauguration, confirmed to Yahoo News in an email that the notification of the cancellation of the meeting between her boss and the president arrived the night before the breakfast.
Eyeball_Kid
(7,430 posts)the NRA should be audited to find out whether Torshin laundered money to the Trump campaign through the NRA to enrich the Trump campaign coffers.
It appears that Russian oligarchs specialize in money laundering. That's where investigations should lead.
MelissaB
(16,420 posts)Phoenix61
(17,000 posts)Ruble by ruble.
Turbineguy
(37,317 posts)That's about $175 for every American who will get shot dead during the Trump Administration (assuming it's 4 years...)
Paladin
(28,252 posts)sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)DJT and top GOPers are done for. TrumpRussia will pull them down.
Getting the NRA's evil violence-facilitation to go down in the same scandal seems like a dream too far. But bringing down the NRA will help America be safer. Let's hope.
Straw Man
(6,622 posts)I read the article. The evidence they provide for Torshin's "close links" with the NRA is that he "has managed to become a 'life member'" and that he attended the 2013 convention in Houston.
If you have $1500 to spare, you could be a life member of the NRA too.
https://joinnra.nra.org/join/Life.aspx
Torshin had a lot of company at the Houston NRA convention. Attendance was over 86,000.
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2013/05/06/annual-nra-convention-shatters-previous-attendance-record/
I'm not seeing a conspiracy. Perhaps you/they could dig a little deeper.
OK, now you can call me a "barrel stroker" and a "gun humper." I expect no less.
bluedigger
(17,086 posts)Lots of Russians enjoy that.
Straw Man
(6,622 posts)... for the organization he started in Russia, which is almost certainly corrupt as fuck. There is no indication that he got it, but I'm sure he will try to spin it that way to the gullible.
Nyuck, nyuck.
bluedigger
(17,086 posts)Why would a God fearing Russian hating organization like the NRA want a Russian member? I'm guessing for a lot more than $1500, but maybe I'm just a skeptic.
Straw Man
(6,622 posts)So far, there's no indication that the NRA wants anything from Torshin. They don't screen memberships. If you've got a credit card and a mailing address, you're in. Osama Bin Laden could have joined, as long as he didn't mind a drone strike on whatever address his copy of American Rifleman was delivered to.
GoCubsGo
(32,079 posts)Amaryllis
(9,524 posts)Bannon associations finally coming out. You know he's in it up to his eyeballs.