NRA and Trump campaign illegally coordinated ads

[Mormolyce]

Trump Campaign, NRA Illegally Coordinated Ads, Groups Allege

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign may have illegally coordinated with the National Rifle Association in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election, two watchdog groups said in a complaint filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission.

The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action and its political action committee, the NRA Political Victory Fund, placed $25 million worth of television ads through the same ad-buying executives who also arranged spots for Trump’s campaign.

That ensured that “spending by both the NRA and the Trump campaign would be complementary and advance a unified, coordinated election strategy,” according to the complaint brought by the Campaign Legal Center, which favors greater regulation of money in politics, and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun safety group.

Federal election law bars campaigns and independent groups from coordinating their spending.

The complaint follows a report by the Trace and Mother Jones, which found that during the presidential campaign in 2016, the media buyers the NRA and its PAC used to order advertisements supporting Donald Trump were also buying ads on behalf of the campaign.

“There is reason to believe that the NRA-ILA and NRA-PVF made illegal, unreported and excessive in-kind contributions to Donald J. Trump for President Inc. in the form of coordinated communications,” according to the complaint. The groups are asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate the matter.

NRA Challenges
The complaint is the latest in a string of legal challenges to embroil the NRA this year. In April, the NRA said it received donations from about two dozen individuals with Russian addresses. U.S. authorities are investigating whether the gun-rights group funneled Russian money into the 2016 presidential election, McClatchy has reported.

The NRA didn’t respond to a request for comment. The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

The complaint cites disclosures that broadcast and cable outlets must file with the Federal Communications Commission when they run political ads. Some forms show that four individuals were buying ads for both the Trump campaign and the NRA at the same stations in the final weeks of the election, listing different employers on different disclosures.

American Media & Advocacy Group bought ads for the Trump campaign, which directed $74.2 million to the firm for that purpose, according to FEC records. The NRA used Red Eagle Media Group, the trade name for a firm called National Media Research, Planning and Placement. The two firms share the same address, according to the complaint, and the same employees.

FEC rules allow campaigns and outside groups to use the same vendor, provided it has procedures in place that create Chinese walls between employees working for each.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen as much evidence as this of coordination,” said Brandon Fischer, director of federal reform for the Campaign Legal Center. He noted that the four executives are described as senior officials involved in the development of strategies. “Here it’s the exact same employees buying on behalf of the Trump campaign and the NRA.”

Initiating an FEC investigation requires four of the agency’s commissioners to vote to take up the matter. There are currently two Republican commissioners, a Democrat, an independent and two vacancies. Under federal law no more than three commissioners may belong to the same party.

If the FEC doesn’t act, it can be sued in federal court to force it to take action, something Fischer says that his group and the Giffords Law Center could undertake.

Overall, the NRA spent $31.2 million to influence the presidential election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The gun rights group ran ads on behalf of Trump in the summer of 2016 at a time when his campaign was silent. The NRA’s ads, which ran in battleground states, attacked Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her positions on gun safety as well as her role in the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...roup-tells-fec

In addition to the NRA funneling Russian money into the GOP, here we have evidence of yet another crime...

[Azadina]

I see 4 fresh juicy nothingburgers. I'm also foreseeing something else....resident reichmod swooping in to quickly close them with the same excuse as the last time there were several fresh threads: "use the big trump thread". Anything to hide and bury the stuff happening.

[Flarelaine]

I don't know, the NRA angle sounds like it deserves its own thread. They've been a major league player in campaigning these last few decades.

[Redwyrm]

Why the NRA actively supports Republicans (at least for President) is a mystery. If you want to increase gun sales and memberships, a Democrat in office is the best thing you could hope for. It's kind of tough to fearmonger when your own party is in control of everything.

[Flarelaine]

Not really, there are vastly bigger fish in budget. The NRA's campaigning probably is more about harassment than lobbying.

There may be bigger fish by the dollar, but few match them for reach and visibility.

[Xeones]

I see 4 fresh juicy nothingburgers. I'm also foreseeing something else....resident reichmod swooping in to quickly close them with the same excuse as the last time there were several fresh threads: "use the big trump thread". Anything to hide and bury the stuff happening.

Isn't this a new felony for him? Like he already has the campaign finance violations from the porn star pay offs.

[Breccia]

"I'm Donald Trump, and I approve this criminal activity."

[cubby]

I don't know, the NRA angle sounds like it deserves its own thread. They've been a major league player in campaigning these last few decades.

If for some reason this does get closed, we should open another MEGA thread - the NRA angle is only going to get larger. Russian money laundering is Yuge nowadays.

[Azadina]

Isn't this a new felony for him? Like he already has the campaign finance violations from the porn star pay offs.

I've lost count how many times person can commit crimes without anything happening so far. I can't even rob one jewelry store without being thrown book at, that's for sure!

[cubby]

Isn't this a new felony for him? Like he already has the campaign finance violations from the porn star pay offs.

The problem with campaign finance laws are that they are written by the winners, and the winners really don't want a lot of punishment for doing whatever it took to win. So while most campaign finance laws are "illegal", they carry minimal fines with no jail time, and no "conviction" - meaning they aren't a felony. There are exceptions, of course. This makes any campaign finance laws Cheeto broke tough to push towards impeachment.

The good news is that it seems he also committed fraud, which is actionable, is a felony, and can be prosecuted outside the campaign finance laws.

[Adam Jensen]

Why the NRA actively supports Republicans (at least for President) is a mystery. If you want to increase gun sales and memberships, a Democrat in office is the best thing you could hope for. It's kind of tough to fearmonger when your own party is in control of everything.

Yet, they seem to be doing a good job of it under the Republicans.

[Heladys]

I see 4 fresh juicy nothingburgers. I'm also foreseeing something else....resident reichmod swooping in to quickly close them with the same excuse as the last time there were several fresh threads: "use the big trump thread". Anything to hide and bury the stuff happening.

Why would anyone want to thwart the free expression of facts?

[Ripster42]

I mean you know that your attempt to open a new Trump thread will get . . . thrwarted, so why not just use the megathread

Not all election crimes are being investigated by mueller. In this case, it's two civic watchdog groups who filed the complaint, not special council (or any arm of the gov't).

[Breccia]

Not all election crimes are being investigated by mueller.

This is an outstanding point. If Trump's rabid fanbase are going to continue to parrot "Not about Trump! No collusion!" isn't that admission that it deserves its own thread? I mean, what kind of Trump supporter would close this thread and admit it's part of Russia's ongoing campaign of collusion that Mueller is investigating Trump for?

"One who is admitting his man Trump is in a world of hurt?"

Yes. It'd take that kind of Trump supporter.

[Mormolyce]

I mean you know that your attempt to open a new Trump thread will get . . . thrwarted, so why not just use the megathread

Honestly I'm more interested in the NRA angle than adding another crime to Individual 1's pile.

[Dsonsion]

Why the NRA actively supports Republicans (at least for President) is a mystery. If you want to increase gun sales and memberships, a Democrat in office is the best thing you could hope for. It's kind of tough to fearmonger when your own party is in control of everything.

That's why they invented the Deep State, and it was a very successful sales pitch.

[Wyrt]

Well, there you have it, Trumpkins. Trump colluded with a Russian organization during the campaign. Now can you stop bitching about Mueller and let him do his job to see what crimes were committed and by whom?

[Ripster42]

I do wonder, can the NRA itself be disbanded over this or will they just take down individuals?

I believe they can take away tax exempt status and prohibit them from raising money from donations or participating in any campaign financing for x amount of years. I don't know for sure though. Definitely individuals if this plays out to be true.

[Breccia]

I do wonder, can the NRA itself be disbanded over this or will they just take down individuals?

The NRA is losing money. They might end up disbanding themselves. I'm just guessing here, but it seems to me like a lot of their members might not like the news that they've been colluding with Russians and could opt out.

[Ripster42]

The NRA is losing money. They might end up disbanding themselves. I'm just guessing here, but it seems to me like a lot of their members might not like the news that they've been colluding with Russians and could opt out.

I don't think you understand how braindead a lot of NRA members are. One of the places my dad lives has a lot of people in the NRA surrounding it, and he's made friends with quite a few of them. When I was visiting him over thanksgiving, it was disheartening to hear their views/ignorance on the subject.