House Dems Launch Probe Into NRA’s Ties To Kremlin

ABC News reports:

A pair of House Democrats are launching a new probe of what they called the “complex web of relationships” between members of the National Rifle Association and Russian individuals with close ties to the Kremlin. In a letter sent to NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, Rep. Ted Lieu and Rep. Kathleen Rice expressed concern about the NRA’s attempts to distance itself from any formal involvement in a now infamous trip to Moscow undertaken by a group of its high-ranking members.

While the NRA’s outside counsel William Brewer told The New York Times that LaPierre “was opposed to the trip” and even prohibited staff members from joining the delegation out of concern that it would be perceived as officially sanctioned, internal NRA emails and photos posted on social media reviewed by ABC News appear to show the organization was significantly involved in planning it.

A separate probe launched earlier this month is looking into whether the NRA made “illegal, excessive, and unreported in-kind donations” to the Trump campaign.