Keene, D ACU nra

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preston torshin russia<div></div><div><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/12/nra-leader-jack-abramoff-gop-operative-russian-spy-maria-butina-lobbying/">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/12/nra-leader-jack-abramoff-gop-operative-russian-spy-maria-butina-lobbying/</a></div><div>
</div><div>Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina has changed her plea to guilty, according to a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5498380-Joint-Motion-to-Set-Change-of-Plea-Hearing.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">new joint motion</a> filed by her attorneys this morning.</div>As her attorneys were negotiating the plea deal, her partner, GOP operative Paul Erickson, lawyered up in light of reports swirling that he too may be targeted by federal prosecutors as a covert Russian agent.Meanwhile, David Keene — a paid member of the NRA’s board of directors and former president of the gun rights organization who has faced scrutiny over ties to Butina’s alleged Russian influence operation — has registered as a different type of foreign agent lobbying for Argentina’s government.Keene and Erickson have a long history together dating back to the 1990s when they were registered foreign agents lobbying, in collaboration with Jack Abramoff, for a well-known “dictator” to gain entry into the United States.Signs that Butina may soon cop a plea deal follows a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-08/accused-russian-spy-not-fit-for-pre-trial-release-u-s-argues" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">September filing</a> by federal prosecutors indicating that Butina “offered to provide information to the government about [Erickson’s] illegal activities.”Meanwhile, DOJ scrutiny on Erickson is only heating up.The Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/feds-target-butinas-gop-boyfriend-as-foreign-agent" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a> reviewing a “target letter” from federal investigators that they are considering charges against him. Unlike the rare but increasingly common charges brought under FARA, Erickson is reportedly being targeted for violating Section 951 — the same statute Butina was indicted and jailed for violating.The NRA’s cozy ties with RussiaIn December 2015, Butina’s Russian gun-rights organization called the Right to Bear Arms sponsored an NRA delegation to Moscow where attendees met with influential Russian officials including former deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin who had been under U.S. sanctions since 2014.The convoy to Moscow <a href="http://time.com/4696424/moscow-right-kremlin-republicans/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">included</a> Keene, Trump campaign surrogate Sheriff David Clarke, president and CEO of the Outdoor Channel Jim Liberatore, soon-to-be NRA president Peter Brownell and NRA donors Jim Gregory, Arnold Goldschlager and Hilary Goldschlager.Alexander Torshin — a Russian politician and longtime associate of Butina who has since come under U.S. sanctions — played a key role in the trip and, allegedly, Russia’s decade-long operation infiltrating American conservative groups. A conservative Nashville lawyer named G. Kline Preston IV who has done business in Russia <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-republican-right-found-allies-in-russia/2017/04/30/e2d83ff6-29d3-11e7-a616-d7c8a68c1a66_story.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">claims</a> that he first introduced David Keene to Torshin in 2011 while Keene was NRA president.Keene and Torshin quickly forged an alliance based on mutual interests.“Just a brief note to let you know just how much I enjoyed meeting in Pittsburgh during the NRA annual meeting,” Keene <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/inside-the-decade-long-russian-campaign-to-infiltrate-the-nra-and-help-elect-trump-630054/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">wrote</a> in a 2011 letter later obtained by anti-corruption activists in Russia that extended a personal invitation to the NRA’s conference the following year.Keene added, “If there is anything any of us can do to help you in your endeavors . . . please don’t hesitate to let us know.”“We will start organizing our own Russian NRA,” Torshin <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/inside-the-decade-long-russian-campaign-to-infiltrate-the-nra-and-help-elect-trump-630054/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">tweeted</a> shortly thereafter.In 2011, Maria Butina became founding chair of a new Russian gun rights group called the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/she-was-like-a-novelty-how-alleged-russian-agent-maria-butina-gained-access-to-elite-conservative-circles/2018/07/17/1bb62bbc-89d2-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html?utm_term=.fc61846e9ed5" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Right to Bear Arms</a>.By 2013, Keene was introduced as an honored guest at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tj-ceQb9Ao" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Right to Bear Arms</a> conference in Moscow. “There are no peoples that are more alike than Americans and Russians,” Keene <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/inside-the-decade-long-russian-campaign-to-infiltrate-the-nra-and-help-elect-trump-630054/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">said</a>. “We’re hunters. We’re shooters. We value the same kinds of things… we need to work together.”Erickson accompanied Keene to the 2013 conference, where he reportedly first crossed paths with Butina.Senate intelligence and finance committees have reportedly <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/senate-intelligence-wants-documents-on-nras-russia-trip" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">requested</a> documents on the NRA’s connections to Russia, including documents related to whether the NRA took Russian money and the 2015 delegation. After spending a <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/nra-in-the-red/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">record</a> $54.4 million to put President Donald Trump in the White House and support Republicans in Congress, the NRA’s membership dues dropped precipitously the following year.Although the NRA’s lawyers initially denied the Russian money, they eventually <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/wyden-wants-answers-on-nras-moscow-trip" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">admitted</a> to receiving “a total of approximately $2,512.85 from people associated Russian addresses” and “about $525” from two Russian nationals living in the United States in a letter to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00007724&cycle=Career" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Sen. Ron Wyden</a> (D-Ore.).The NRA also acknowledged “membership dues” from Torshin, who has been a non-voting life member of the NRA since 2012 — the year after he first connected with Keene.Even after his term as president of the NRA, Keene has maintained a cozy relationship with the gun rights organization. Keene is still listed as a director on the NRA’s’ board paid $32,000 last year for working an average of one hour per week, according to a <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/nra-in-the-red/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">new tax return</a> reviewed by the Center for Responsive Politics.Keene’s wife, in collaboration with Erickson, reportedly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/02/us/politics/maria-butina-russian-spy.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">offered</a> Butina $1 million to help secure 5 million barrels of Russian jet fuel — nearly two times all of Russia’s refineries exports in a month — in an unsuccessful scheme to sell the fuel through an American middleman in 2017.Keene’s history as a foreign agentAmidst all of the buzz surrounding his ties to alleged Russian agent Maria Butina, NRA board member and former NRA president David Keene took a different approach, registering as a foreign agent representing the interests of the government of Algeria.Unlike Butina and Erickson, who are alleged to be Russian agents under Section 951, Keene has now registered as a foreign agent under FARA.This is hardly the first time Keene has had a hand in foreign influence operations.Keene kicked off his first registered foreign lobbying and influence shop, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/fara/results?foreign-principal=&location=&order=desc&page=1&query=&registrant=Keene%2C+Shirley+%26+Assoc&sort=stamped" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Keene, Shirley & Associates</a>, in 1987 by inking a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5267235-3997-Exhibit-AB-19870601-D1HDIO04.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">$60,000-per-year contract</a> with the National Farmers’ Federation of Australia before signing on to represent Nicaraguan interests the following year. The firm’s <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5267237-3997-Exhibit-C-19870601-D1HDIC04.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">board of directors</a> included Keene’s wife, Diana, and another political consultant named Craigan Shirley.Perhaps most well-known is Keene’s lobbying for Nigeria and Algeria — which was disclosed under the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmlbs.php?id=D000032355&year=2006" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Lobbying Disclosure Act</a>. Keene went on to lobby for a broad array of interests, including the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=F217978%20%20%20&year=2000" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">World Wrestling Federation</a>.Now David Keene has again registered as a foreign agent, according to FARA filings made available through CRP’s <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/fara/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Foreign Lobby Watch</a> tool.Outlining the terms of their $360,000 lobbying agreement, Algeria’s government issued a cheeky press release titled “Algeria is Keen on NRA Alum Keene.”One chapter of Keene’s lobbying history has made even fewer headlines: The time he, Paul Erickson and Jack Abramoff were lobbying for a widely recognized dictator’s entry into the United States.Erickson and Abramoff had been longtime friends whose professional lives often intertwined. After college Republicans, Erickson and Abramoff went on to do more than just develop the anti-Communist Dolph Lundgren flick <a href="https://twitter.com/annalecta/status/1019666037330141184" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Red Scorpion</a> together.In 1995, Erickson obtained a $30,000 contract for a six-week stint lobbying for entrance into the United States on behalf of Mobutu Sese Seko, the president of the Republic of Congo during the Rwandan genocide who was widely referenced as a military dictator. Mobutu had been banned from the entering the United States after he developed political ties while working as a journalist then formed an authoritarian regime. He was notorious for corruption, nepotism, and embezzlement between $4 and $15 billion during his reign as well as widespread human rights violations.As Abramoff noted in the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5253418-5020-Supplemental-Statement-19951130-DM0IAT91.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">FARA disclosures</a>, he was “under no illusion we are dealing with Thomas Jefferson.”The official foreign principal who hired Erickson’s firm was Andre Soussan, a “Danish citizen residing in Paris who is a close political advisor to President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire,” according to the FARA disclosures obtained by CRP.Soussan reportedly “acted as an intermediary for President Mobutu’s quest for a U.S. visa,” which entailed rallying together members of Congress to write letters of support and “employment of Mr. Keene to assist in Andrew Soussan’s visa quest.” But the FARA disclosures discovered through Foreign Lobby Watch’s full-text search feature show Soussan played little role in the operation.In the FARA disclosure, Abramoff argued that negotiations in the United States, “where Mobutu has few or no friends — would be less susceptible to manipulation.” U.S. officials did not agree, reportedly pushing back that Mobutu merely wanted to sanitize his image by appearing to support democratic reforms so he could stage controlled elections and further consolidate his power.The State Department ultimately rejected Mobutu’s entrance into the United States. He stayed in power until he was expelled in 1997.Abramoff has again been <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/maria-butina-paul-erickson-suspicious-bank-money-russia" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">implicated</a> in Erickson’s schemes related to Butina, though the full extent and scope of Abramoff’s role is unclear.Anti-fraud investigators at Wells Fargo bank, acting on a tip from federal investigators, flagged potentially suspicious bank transfers from an account held jointly by Butina and Erickson to what appeared to be a shell company tied to Abramoff’s family. Erickson sent wire transfers for $15,000 to a California company incorporated in March 2017 out of the home of Abramoff’s son who is listed as its CEO and sole director while Abramoff’s brother is the registered agent.A tale of two types of foreign agentUnlike the registration requirements under FARA, Butina’s charges of conspiracy and illegally acting as an agent of the Russian government, as well as potential charges, reportedly outlined in Erickson’s target letter fall under a separate criminal statute, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara/fara-related-statutes" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">18 U.S.C. § 951</a>.Both statutes expressly prohibit “acting” as a foreign agent without prior notification or registration, but there are several subtle differences between the two statutes.A key distinction between the two statutes is that activity covered under Section 951 does not have to be political and is also limited to activity on behalf of foreign governments. This means 951 generally does not apply to agents acting on behalf of other non-government foreign interests such as companies or nonprofits that may be covered under FARA while FARA does not apply to non-political activities that may be covered by Section 951.Confused yet? You’re not alone.A <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/a1624.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2016 Inspector General report</a> found that personnel interviewed “frequently” confused the two statutes. Despite using similar terms like “agent” and relating to foreign influence, the two statutes address different types of conduct.Attempting to provide some clarity on the issue, the Inspector General notes that “typical conduct to which Section 951 applies consists of espionage-like behavior, information gathering, and procurement of technology, on behalf of foreign governments or officials. FARA, on the other hand, is designed to provide transparency regarding efforts by foreign principals (a term defined more broadly than foreign governments or officials) to influence the U.S. government or public through public speech, political activities, and lobbying.<div class="related-box" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; width: 760px; padding: 8px 0px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 12px;">RELATED TOPICS<ul class="related-list" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px -5px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 5px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: inside; float: left;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/tag/abramoff/" rel="tag" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background: rgb(236, 238, 242); text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 5px 11px; border-radius: 3px;">abramoff</a></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; 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display: block; padding: 5px 11px; border-radius: 3px;">Russian spy</a></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 5px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: inside; float: left;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/tag/section-951/" rel="tag" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background: rgb(236, 238, 242); text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 5px 11px; border-radius: 3px;">Section 951</a></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 5px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: inside; float: left;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/tag/sheriff-david-clarke/" rel="tag" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background: rgb(236, 238, 242); text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 5px 11px; border-radius: 3px;">Sheriff David Clarke</a></li></ul></div><div>
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</div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/inside-the-decade-long-russian-campaign-to-infiltrate-the-nra-and-help-elect-trump-630054/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/inside-the-decade-long-russian-campaign-to-infiltrate-the-nra-and-help-elect-trump-630054/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">November 2013, the president of the National Rifle Association, David Keene, was introduced as an honored guest at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tj-ceQb9Ao" target="blank" rel="noopener nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">conference of the Right to Bear Arms</a>, a gun lobby in Moscow. “There are no peoples that are more alike than Americans and Russians,” Keene said. “We’re hunters. We’re shooters. We value the same kinds of things.” Keene underscored his friendship with Alexander Torshin, a top politician in the ruling party of Vladimir Putin; for the past three years, Keene said, “I’ve hosted your senator Alexander Torshin at the National Rifle Association’s annual meetings.” In words that now carry a darker connotation, Keene insisted, “We need to work together.”<div class="admz" id="adm-inline-article-ad-1" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><div class="adma google-publisher" data-device="Desktop" data-width="300" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><div class="pmc-adm-goog-pub-div ad-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0.9375rem 0px;">Torshin, now 64, is a roly-poly politician, perhaps five feet six, with thick glasses and a passion for borscht – “like medicine!” he once <a href="https://twitter.com/torshin_ru/status/769518269162283008" target="blank" rel="noopener nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">tweeted</a>. A member of Putin’s right-wing United <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/russia/" id="auto-tag_russia" data-tag="russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">Russia</a> party, he served in the Russian senate for more than a decade, forging close ties to Russia’s internal security service, the FSB, which awarded him a <a href="https://twitter.com/torshin_ru/status/750717261112049665" target="blank" rel="noopener nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">medal</a> in 2016. His embrace of Keene, says Steven Hall, who served as chief of Russian operations for the CIA until 2015, was about more than forging “an international brotherhood of the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/nra/" id="auto-tag_nra" data-tag="nra" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">NRA</a>.”<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0.9375rem 0px;">As part of Putin’s “active measures,” Hall says, Russia has attempted to influence right-wing and populist factions abroad, preaching unity around social conservatism: “‘We’re both religious-based countries – we have the Orthodox Church that’s a big deal for us.’ ” The Russians, Hall believes, “made a natural transition in the United States to the NRA”; over time Putin became determined to exploit the American gun lobby “and decided Mr. Torshin is going to be the guy to do it for him.”<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0.9375rem 0px;">Keene proved an easy mark. <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=processSearchCriteria" target="blank" rel="noopener nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">A career lobbyist</a> who advised presidential candidates from Ronald Reagan to Mitt Romney, he was a longtime chair of the American Conservative Union, which organizes the annual CPAC convention. NRA board member Grover Norquist has praised Keene as “<a href="https://www.newsmax.com/RonaldKessler/DavidKeene-NRA-ACU-CPAC/2011/03/28/id/390893/" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">a conservative Forrest Gump</a>” who’s been at “the center of all things conservative for decades.” Keene, with a sweep of white hair, owlish glasses and a patrician bearing, might move in cutthroat political circles, but friends say his personality runs against type. “He’s like a teddy bear,” says Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, who has known Keene for decades. “He’s not hard-edged at all. He’s a gentleman.” (Keene did not respond to multiple interview requests.)<div class="admz" id="adm-inline-article-ad-2" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><div class="adma google-publisher" data-device="Desktop" data-width="300" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><div class="pmc-adm-goog-pub-div ad-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><div id="gpt-dsk-tab-inbody2-uid1" class="ad-rotatable adw-300 adh-250" data-google-query-id="CKKQ4uKLs9wCFYQJgQodkSoKMg" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3782/rstone.site/politics/article/inbody2_0container" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0pt none;"><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0.9375rem 0px;">Torshin and Keene forged a quick friendship. “Just a brief note to let you know just how much I enjoyed meeting in Pittsburgh during the NRA annual meeting,” Keene wrote in a 2011 letter later obtained by anti-corruption activists in Russia. Extending a personal invitation to the following year’s event, Keene added, “If there is anything any of us can do to help you in your endeavors . . . please don’t hesitate to let us know.”<div class="l-article-contentpull l-article-contentpull--left" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1.375rem 1.375rem 1.375rem calc(-14.2857% - 0.6875rem); max-width: 11.875rem; float: left;"><div class="c-related" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"><h4 class="c-relatedheading t-bold t-bold--upper" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4375rem 0px 0.5rem; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: flex-start; text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 1; border-top: 0.3125rem solid rgb(211, 37, 49);">RELATED</h4><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/a-key-russian-figure-with-connections-to-trump-and-the-nra-faces-sanctions-628836/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/a-key-russian-figure-with-connections-to-trump-and-the-nra-faces-sanctions-628836/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/a-key-russian-figure-with-connections-to-trump-and-the-nra-faces-sanctions-628836/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/a-key-russian-figure-with-connections-to-trump-and-the-nra-faces-sanctions-628836/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;"><img width="900" height="600" src="https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/torshin-russia-nra-76870d6b-0761-5d4c-b421-86a1df6e06ea.jpg?crop=900:600&width=900" data-src="https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/torshin-russia-nra-76870d6b-0761-5d4c-b421-86a1df6e06ea.jpg?crop=900:600&width=900" class="c-cropimg wp-post-image visible" alt="Alexander Torshin NRA" style="border-width: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; height: calc(100% + 0.125rem); max-width: calc(100% + 0.125rem); transition: opacity 0.3s; opacity: 1; object-fit: cover; position: absolute; top: 62.4844px; left: 95px; width: calc(100% + 0.125rem); transform: translate(-50%, -50%);" /></a></div></div><h5 class="c-relatedcaption t-bold" style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 1.125rem 0.625rem; position: relative; line-height: 1;">A Key Russian Figure with Connections to Trump and the NRA Faces Sanctions</h5><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><h5 class="c-relatedcaption t-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 1.125rem 0.625rem; position: relative; line-height: 1;"><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; 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outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-relatedlink" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russiagates-second-smoking-gun-129451/" class="c-related__link" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative; display: block; align-items: center; padding: 0px;">Russiagate’s Second Smoking Gun</a></h5></div></div><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0.9375rem 0px;">Torshin’s “endeavors” included a plan to back a gun-rights group in Moscow. “We will start organizing our own Russian NRA,” Torshin soon <a href="https://twitter.com/torshin_ru/status/175081877638623232" target="blank" rel="noopener nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transition: color 0.24s cubic-bezier(0.215, 0.61, 0.355, 1) 0s; position: relative;">tweeted</a>. The NRA president seemed flattered, seeing Torshin as a powerful Russian eager to build a gun organization that mirrored his own, and even secured a Russian translation of the NRA charter.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0.9375rem 0px;">But Russia experts believe Torshin’s interest in U.S. gun culture masked a dark, ulterior motive. “It’s all a big charade, basically,” Glenn Simpson, founder of the research firm behind the infamous Steele Dossier, testified to the House Intelligence Committee. Much of what passes for civil society in modern Russia is, in fact, controlled by Putin. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee published a January 2018 report on “Putin’s Asymmetric Assault on Democracy,” which describes how the Kremlin has “sought to co-opt civil society by ‘devot[ing] massive resources to the creation and activities of state-sponsored and state-controlled NGOs.”<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0.9375rem 0px;">...</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/nra-insiders-are-bracing-themselves-potential-investigation-their-russian-ties">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/nra-insiders-are-bracing-themselves-potential-investigation-their-russian-ties</a></div><div>
</div><div>... NRA's precautions could be little more than due diligence as the group faces inquiries from congressional investigators and the media about its relationship with Torshin. But the feeling among some officials internally is that the group appears to be readying for an investigation.</div><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"True believers to the cause are getting very antsy," said a person privy to the NRA's internal deliberations. "They were definitely preparing, they were bracing themselves."</blockquote>The gun advocacy group has admitted previously that some of its funding in recent years has come from numerous <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/04/11/601534305/nra-in-new-document-acknowledges-more-than-20-russian-linked-contributors" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Russians</a> or people living in Russia, but it described these as "routine payments." But <a href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">McClatchy</a> has reported that the FBI is investigating whether Kremlin-linked sources used the NRA to financially support President Donald Trump's campaign, which would likely violate federal election law....ref april 11<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/04/11/601534305/nra-in-new-document-acknowledges-more-than-20-russian-linked-contributors">https://www.npr.org/2018/04/11/601534305/nra-in-new-document-acknowledges-more-than-20-russian-linked-contributors</a>...One high-profile Russian NRA supporter, state bank official Alexander Torshin, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/590076949/depth-of-russian-politicians-cultivation-of-nra-ties-revealed" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">has cultivated a years-long relationship</a> with the organization — but he was placed under sanction by the United States with other Russians last week.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The NRA acknowledged that Torshin, a Kremlin-linked politician, is a life member of the NRA, and has been since 2012. "He has paid membership dues, but has not made any contributions," NRA general counsel John Frazer wrote to Wyden.<aside id="ad-backstage-wrap" aria-label="advertisement" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Now, however: "Based on Mr. Torshin's listing as a specially designated national as of April 6, we are currently reviewing our responsibilities with respect to him," Frazer wrote.<div id="res601543547" class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col " style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 27px 15px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: right; width: 330.781px; clear: right; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket img" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;"><div class="bucketblock" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 80px; padding: 9px 11px 9px 17px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; min-height: 62px;"><h3 class="slug" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.27273; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/national-security/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px;">NATIONAL SECURITY</a></h3><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.27273; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/04/06/600111532/the-russia-sanctions-saga-weapons-dealers-mobsters-and-suitcases-full-of-cash" data-metrics="{" category="category" story="Story" to="to" action="action" click="Click" internal="Internal" link="Link" label="label" https="https" www.npr.org="www.npr.org" the-russia-sanctions-saga-weapons-dealers-mobsters-and-suitcases-full-of-cash="the-russia-sanctions-saga-weapons-dealers-mobsters-and-suitcases-full-of-cash" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased;">The Russia Sanctions Saga: Weapons Dealers, Mobsters And Suitcases Full Of Cash</a></h3></div></div></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">McClatchy has previously reported that the<a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"> FBI is investigating</a> whether Torshin may have funneled money to the NRA<p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Frazer told Wyden in his letter that he believed the NRA has been more than cooperative with Wyden's questions and that this would be the last response he'll send to the senator's office.<p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">"Given the extraordinarily time-consuming and burdensome nature of your requests, we must respectfully decline to engage in this beyond the clear answers we have already provided," Frazer wrote.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">The NRA has been revising its statements on the question of foreign donations. StevenHart, an outside counsel for the NRA, had said previously in an interview with <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nra-received-contribution-1000-russian/story?id=54080082" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">ABC News</a> that the NRA had received just one contribution from a Russian individual between 2012 and 2018.<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/politics/" style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px;">POLITICS</a><div id="res601558416" class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col " style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 27px 15px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: right; width: 330.781px; clear: right; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket img" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;"><div class="bucketblock" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 80px; padding: 9px 11px 9px 17px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; min-height: 62px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.27273; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/03/27/597279176/nra-says-it-receives-foreign-funds-but-none-goes-to-election-work" data-metrics="{" category="category" story="Story" to="to" action="action" click="Click" internal="Internal" link="Link" label="label" https="https" www.npr.org="www.npr.org" nra-says-it-receives-foreign-funds-but-none-goes-to-election-work="nra-says-it-receives-foreign-funds-but-none-goes-to-election-work" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased;">NRA Says It Receives Foreign Funds, But None Goes To Election Work</a></h3></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Since then, it has emerged <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/04/09/600359958/the-nra-may-have-more-russian-contributors-than-first-it-said" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">there have been more</a>. A Wyden aide, who asked not to be identified discussing the office's investigation, said the NRA's shifting statements would prompt Wyden to consider how he might continue his questioning.<p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">"After three letters, the NRA continually, and specifically avoided detailing what measures it takes to vet donations, including from shell companies, a known means for Russians to funnel money into the United States," the aide said.<p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">"Sen. Wyden will be referring his correspondence with the NRA to the Federal Elections Commission to contribute to their inquiry ... As ranking member of the Finance Committee, he is considering additional oversight actions in light of this response."<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ref mcclathy</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mueller’s office declined comment.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Disclosure of the Torshin investigation signals a new dimension in the 18-month-old FBI probe of Russia’s interference. McClatchy reported a year ago that a multi-agency U.S. law enforcement and counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s intervention, begun even before the start of the 2016 general election campaign, initially included a focus on whether the Kremlin secretly helped fund efforts to boost Trump, but little has been said about that possibility in recent months.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The extent to which the FBI has evidence of money flowing from Torshin to the NRA, or of the NRA’s participation in the transfer of funds, could not be learned.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>However, the NRA reported spending a record $55 million on the 2016 elections, including $30 million to support Trump – triple what the group devoted to backing Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race. Most of that was money was spent by an arm of the NRA that is not required to disclose its donors.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Two people with close connections to the powerful gun lobby said its total election spending actually approached or exceeded $70 million. The reporting gap could be explained by the fact that independent groups are not required to reveal how much they spend on Internet ads or field operations, including get-out-the-vote efforts.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">During the campaign, Trump was an outspoken advocate of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, at one point drawing a hail of criticism by suggesting that, if Clinton were elected, gun rights advocates could stop her from winning confirmation of liberal Supreme Court justices who support gun control laws.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks,” Trump said at a rally in August 2016. “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Spanish authorities tag Torshin for money laundering</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Torshin, a leading figure in Putin’s party, has been implicated in money laundering by judicial authorities in Spain, as Bloomberg News first revealed in 2016. Spanish investigators alleged in an almost 500-page internal report that Torshin, who was then a senator, capitalized on his government role to assist mobsters laundering funds through Spanish properties and banks, Bloomberg reported</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A summary obtained by McClatchy of the still-secret report links Torshin to Russian money laundering and describes him as a godfather in a major Russian criminal organization called Taganskaya.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Investigators for three congressional committees probing Russia’s 2016 operations also have shown interest in Torshin, a lifetime NRA member who has attended several of its annual conventions. At the group’s meeting in Kentucky in May 2016, Torshin spoke to Donald Trump Jr. during a gala event at the group’s national gathering in Kentucky in May 2016, when his father won an earlier-than-usual NRA presidential endorsement.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">An FBI spokesman declined to comment on the investigation.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"We have not been contacted by the FBI about anything related to Russia," said Steven Hart, an outside attorney for the NRA, in a statement provided to McClatchy five days after publication of this story.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Torshin could not be reached for comment, and emails to the Russian central bank seeking comment from Torshin and the bank elicited no response.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mueller’s investigation has been edging closer to Trump’s inner circle. This week, The New York Times reported that Mueller had negotiated an agreement under which Steve Bannon, who was recently ousted from his post as a senior White House adviser, would fully respond to questions about the Trump campaign. Bannon headed the campaign over its final weeks.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Since taking over the investigation last May, Mueller has secured guilty pleas from two former Trump aides, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, both of whom agreed to cooperate with prosecutors; and criminal charges against two other top campaign figures, former campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</div><div>year ago, three U.S. intelligence agencies signed off on a joint assessment that was the basis for the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and other sanctions against the Kremlin. The intelligence agencies concluded that what began as a sophisticated Russian operation to undermine Americans’ faith in democracy morphed into a drive to help Trump win.Torshin is among a phalanx of Putin proxies to draw the close attention of U.S. investigators, who also have tracked the activities of several Russian billionaires and pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs that have come in contact with Trump or his surrogates.Torshin was a senior member of the Russian Senate and in recent years helped set up a Moscow gun rights group called Right to Bear Arms.He not only spoke with Trump Jr. at the NRA convention, but he also tried unsuccessfully to broker a meeting between Putin and the presidential candidate in 2016, according to the Times. He further sought to meet privately with the candidate himself near the 2016 NRA convention.Torshin’s ties with the NRA have flourished in recent years. In late 2015, he hosted two dinners for a high-level NRA delegation during its week-long visit to Moscow that included meetings with influential Russian government and business figures.In their internal report, Spanish prosecutors revealed a web of covert financial and money-laundering dealings between Torshin and Alexander Romanov, a Russian who pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges in 2016 and was sentenced to nearly four years in prison.The prosecutors’ evidence included 33 audio recordings of phone conversations from mid-2012 to mid-2013 between Torshin and Romanov, who allegedly laundered funds to buy a hotel on the ritzy island of Mallorca. Torshin had an 80 percent stake in the venture, the Spanish report said.In the phone conversations, Romanov referred to Torshin as the “godfather” or “boss.” Torshin has denied any links to organized crime and said his dealings with Romanov were purely “social.”The Madrid-based newspaper El Pais last year reported that Spanish police were on the verge of arresting Torshin in the summer of 2013, when he had planned to attend a birthday party for Romanov, but a Russian prosecutor tipped the banker to plans to nab him if he set foot in Spain, and Torshin canceled his trip.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " mcclatchy="McClatchy" slab="Slab" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" margin-top="margin-top" px="px" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" font-size="font-size" padding="padding">Congress looking at Torshin, too</h3>The House and Senate Intelligence Committees and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also have taken an interest in Torshin as part of their parallel inquiries into Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections.In questioning Donald Trump Jr. at a closed-door hearing in mid-December, investigators for the Senate Intelligence Committee asked about his encounter with Torshin at the NRA convention, according to a source familiar with the hearing.Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Jr., said his client and Torshin talked only briefly when they were introduced during a meal.“It was all gun-related small talk,” Futerfas told McClatchy.California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters in November to two senior Trump foreign policy aides, J.D. Gordon and Sam Clovis, seeking copies of any communications they had with or related to Torshin; the NRA; veteran conservative operative Paul Erickson; Maria Butina, a Torshin protege who ran the Russian pro-gun group he helped launch, and others linked to Torshin.Erickson has raised funds for the NRA and is a friend of Butina’s. Shortly before the NRA’s May 2016 convention, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/03/us/politics/trump-putin-russia-nra-campaign.html" target="blank" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: 0px 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">he emailed Trump campaign aide Rick Dearborn </a>about the possibility of setting up a meeting between Putin and Trump during the campaign, according to the Times.Erickson’s email to Dearborn bore the subject line “Kremlin Connection.” In it, Erickson solicited advice from Dearborn and his boss, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a top foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, about the best way to connect Putin and Trump.Both Dearborn and Butina, who has been enrolled as a graduate student at American University since mid 2016, have been asked to appear before the Judiciary Committee, but so far Erickson has not, sources familiar with the matter said.Bridges LLC, a company that Erickson and Butina established in February 2016 in Erickson’s home state of South Dakota, also is expected to draw scrutiny. Public records don’t reveal any financial transactions involving Bridges. In a phone interview last year, Erickson said the firm was established in case Butina needed any monetary assistance for her graduate studies — an unusual way to use an LLC.Erickson said he met Butina and Torshin when he and David Keene, a former NRA president, attended a meeting of Right to Bear Arms a few years ago in Moscow. Erickson described the links between Right to Bear Arms and the NRA as a “moral support operation both ways.”Torshin’s contacts with the NRA and the Trump campaign last year also came to the attention of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and key adviser. When Torshin tried to arrange a personal meeting with Trump near the NRA convention site last May, Kushner scotched the idea, according to emails forwarded to Kushner.On top of Torshin’s efforts to cozy up to the Trump campaign, the Moscow banker has forged ties with powerful conservatives, including Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the Californian whom some have deemed Putin’s best friend in Washington. In a phone interview in 2016, Rohrabacher recalled meeting Torshin in Moscow a few years earlier and described him as “a mover and shaker.”Last February when Torshin visited Washington, Rockefeller heir and conservative patron George O’Neill Jr. hosted a fancy four-hour dinner for the banker on Capitol Hill, an event that drew Rohrabacher, Erickson and other big names on the right. Rohrabacher has labeled Torshin as “conservatives’ favorite Russian,” Torshin was in Washington at the time to lead his country’s delegation to the National Prayer Breakfast, where Trump spoke. The banker also was slated to see the presidentat a meet-and-greet event prior to a White House breakfast, but Torshin’s invitation was canceled after the White House learned of his alleged mob connections, Yahoo News reported.Torshin’s involvement with the NRA may have begun in 2013 when he attended the group’s convention in Houston. Keene, the ex-NRA leader and an avid hunter, was instrumental in building a relationship with the Russian, according to multiple conservative sources.Keene also helped lead a high-level NRA delegation to Moscow in December 2015 for a week of lavish meals and meetings with Russian business and political leaders. The week’s festivities included a visit to a Russian gun company and a meeting with a senior Kremlin official and wealthy Russians, according to a member of the delegation, Arnold Goldschlager, a California doctor who has been active in NRA programs to raise large donations.Others on the trip included Joe Gregory, who runs the NRA’s Ring of Freedom program for elite donors who chip in checks of $1 million and upwards, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke and Pete Brownell, a chief executive of a gun company and longtime NRA board member.In a phone interview, Goldschlager described the trip as a “people-to-people mission,” and said he was impressed with Torshin — who, he noted, hosted both a “welcoming” dinner for the NRA contingent and another one.“They were killing us with vodka and the best Russian food,” Goldschlager said. “The trip exceeded my expectations by logarithmic levels.”</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div></aside>=<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/russia-elections-nra-observer-e7cfe4816869/">https://thinkprogress.org/russia-elections-nra-observer-e7cfe4816869/</a>
Here’s what we know about the American lawyer tying Russia to the NRABit by bit, we're learning more about the NRA's connections in Russia.CASEY MICHELMAR 20, 2018, 2:12 PM
 Kline Preston introduced Alexander Torshin to the NRA—and praised Putin's recent reelection. CREDIT: YOUTUBE /  TG33KLINE PRESTON INTRODUCED ALEXANDER TORSHIN TO THE NRA—AND PRAISED PUTIN'S RECENT REELECTION. CREDIT: YOUTUBE / TG33The National Rifle Association (NRA) might not want to answer any questions about its ties to Russia. But a series of reports over the past few days provide new insight into how the gun lobby first became acquainted with Alexander Torshin — a Russian operative accused of massive money laundering — and how Torshin helped build up a series of bizarre ties between Moscow and the NRA.
On Tuesday, The Tennessean reported that the NRA first met Torshin through the help of a Nashville-based lawyer named Kline Preston. According to the report, Preston considers Torshin a “longtime friend,” despite the latter’s close links to the Kremlin and Russian officials sanctioned by the United States.In 2011, Preston connected Torshin with David Keene, former president of the NRA — and a member of the NRA’s notorious 2015 trip to Moscow — due to Torshin’s “strong interest in gun rights.” In 2015, Torshin joined Keene and Preston at the NRA convention, and even “enjoyed an evening at an Alan Jackson concert, Preston said.”
A photo shared by Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin (right), then under U.S. sanctions, which appears to show him standing alongside the NRA's Joe Gregory, Pete Brownell, and David Keene in Moscow in Dec. 2015. (CREDIT: TWITTER)The NRA tried to dodge questions about its ties to Russia, but Congress isn’t done yetPreston told The Tennessean that any allegations that Torshin helped funnel Russian money to the NRA in the hopes of supporting Donald Trump’s campaign were “probably false.” Preston — whose Twitter feed is saturated with Russian propaganda outlets and numerous conspiracy theorists — also claimed that Torshin was “not anti-American in any way.”Kline Preston@gittinpaid As long as US is electing foreign-born presidents, I propose Vladimir Vladimirivich Putin. 
9:23 AM - Sep 7, 2013See Kline Preston's other TweetsTwitter Ads info and privacy
Kline Preston@gittinpaid Putin sets example for U.S. in crackdown on foreign funding of NGOs. Foreign influences must be prevented! ???????  ???????? ????????????!
1:59 PM - Mar 29, 2013See Kline Preston's other TweetsTwitter Ads info and privacy
Kline Preston@gittinpaid @AlanCullison Your latest hit piece on Russia lacks integrity. US observers said last 3 elections were fair and free!
2:04 AM - Nov 6, 2016See Kline Preston's other TweetsHowever, Preston may not the best judge of character — or political realities. Over the past week, Preston traveled throughout Russia to act as an “independent” international observer for Russia’s most recent sham election, which saw Putin effectively crowned for another six years.The election was neither free nor fair, with rampant ballot-stuffing and carousel voting — to say nothing of blocking leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny from running — marring the election results.Someday, Russia will have a free and fair election. CREDIT: GETTY / MIKHAIL SVETLOVMeet the latest critic of Russia’s sham election: Edward SnowdenBut that didn’t matter to Preston. According to Russian state media, Preston saw the election as “honest, open, and trustworthy,” adding that “Putin’s crushing victory is a clear sign of trust in his policy and leadership.”
In another video, Preston claimed that he “didn’t see any complaints” from voters.
While observing the Russian elections — and helping whitewash Putin’s regime — isn’t, on its face, illegal, RIA Novosti also reported that Preston observed “elections” in Crimea, which remains occupied by Russia. While in Crimea, Preston proclaimed that “Crimea is yours… Crimea was, is, and will be Russian.”It’s also worth noting, as The Tennessean found, that Preston appears close with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is also one of his clients. Preston told The Tennessean that he was “close” to Blackburn, and that they’d been “family friends” for a “long time.”<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene</a>fluff
David A. Keene (born May 20, 1945) is an American political consultant, former Presidential advisor, and newspaper editor, formerly the Opinion Editor of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times" title="The Washington Times" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">The </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times" title="The Washington Times" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Washington Times</a>. Keene was the president of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association" title="National Rifle Association" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">National Rifle Association</a> for the traditional two one-year terms from 2011 to 2013. From 1984 to 2011, he was the chairman of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Conservative_Union" title="American Conservative Union" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">American Conservative Union</a>. Keene has worked for the political campaigns of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Ronald Reagan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H.W.Bush" title="George H. W. Bush" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">George H.W. Bush</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole" title="Bob Dole" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Robert Dole</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney" title="Mitt Romney" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Mitt Romney</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-:0-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;" xmlns:xml="xml">
</div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#Early_life_and_education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Early life and education</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#Political_career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Political career</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#Civil_liberties" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Civil liberties</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#The_Washington_Times" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4The Washington Times</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#Media_appearances" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Media appearances</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#Awards" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Awards</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#Personal_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7Personal life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">8References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">9External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Early life and education[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Keene&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Early life and education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Keene made a name for himself as chapter leader and eventually national chairman of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Americans_for_Freedom" title="Young Americans for Freedom" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Young Americans for Freedom</a> (YAF) while at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Wisconsin" class="mw-redirect" title="University of Wisconsin" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">University of Wisconsin</a> in the 1960s. He supported American efforts to oppose communism and took a strong stance against radicalism on both sides of the debate, particularly the violent efforts to suppress discourse, which he found inconsistent with the basis of educational institutions as bastions of rational thinking and discussion.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Political career[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Keene&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Political career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>After graduating from college, he ran for the Wisconsin State Senate in 1969 at age 24 in a special election to replace <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_E.Panzer" title="Frank E. Panzer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Frank E. Panzer</a>, who had died in office in August that year. Keene ran as a conservative and had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon" title="Richard Nixon" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Richard Nixon</a>'s endorsement, but was defeated by Democrat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_McKenna" title="Dale McKenna" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Dale McKenna</a> in a race to fill the traditionally Republican <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Senate,District_13" title="Wisconsin Senate, District 13" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">13th district</a> senate seat.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> This was the only time that Keene ran for public office.Keene later worked as a political assistant to Vice President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew" title="Spiro Agnew" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Spiro Agnew</a> during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_administration" class="mw-redirect" title="Nixon administration" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Nixon administration</a>, and then in the 1970s as executive assistant to Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L.Buckley" title="James L. Buckley" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">James L. Buckley</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a>Keene went on to become the southern regional coordinator for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ronald Reagan</a>'s 1976 bid for the Republican presidential nomination and national political director for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H.W._Bush" class="mw-redirect" title="George H.W. Bush" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George H.W. Bush</a>'s 1980 presidential campaign. He advised Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dole" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Dole" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Robert Dole</a>'s 1988 and 1996 presidential campaigns. In 2007 he endorsed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney" title="Mitt Romney" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mitt Romney</a> for president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a> and was an advisor to his second run for president.A campaign consultant or advisor to countless local and state campaigns, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Kessler" title="Ronald Kessler" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ronald Kessler</a> once called Keene "one of the country’s most astute political observers,”<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> while <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politico" title="Politico" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Politico</a>'s Andy Barr commented that at the peak of his power he had been "counted as one of the few men with both the ear of Republican presidents and an ability to influence the grassroots."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a>From 2006 to 2007, Keene represented the Nigerian and Algerian governments while working for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Group" title="Carmen Group" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Carmen Group</a>, a DC lobbying firm.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Civil liberties[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Keene&action=edit&section=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Civil liberties" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Keene is best known for his efforts on behalf of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_the_United_States" title="Gun politics in the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">gun rights</a>. He was appointed by the Bush White House to serve as public delegate to the UN Small Arms and Light Weapons Conference.In 2007, Keene co-founded the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Freedom_Agenda" title="American Freedom Agenda" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">American Freedom Agenda</a> (AFA), which describes itself as "a coalition established to restore checks and balances and civil liberties protections under assault by the executive branch."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>(In 2007, Keene resigned from the AFA.) He also co-chairs the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Project" title="Constitution Project" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Constitution Project</a>'s Liberty and Security Committee, and has said that "the right to appeal one's detention to an independent judge is a cornerstone of responsible, conservative governance."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a> He has been critical of the Patriot Act,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[12]</a> and he has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to limit the effects of the act.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-13" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">[13]</a>While Keene was Chairman of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Conservative_Union" title="American Conservative Union" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">American Conservative Union</a> (1984–2011), he fought to maintain CPAC's broad reach of not-always-united conservatives, from the Christian Coalition to the tea party to libertarian, including the pro-marijuana organizations, and to allow the right-leaning gay rights organization <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOProud" title="GOProud" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">GOProud</a> to participate in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Political_Action_Conference" title="Conservative Political Action Conference" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Conservative Political Action Conference</a> (CPAC).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-kessler2-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a> Instigated by problems his son David Michael Keene was having in filing complaints while serving a 10-year sentence for firearms offenses during a 2002 road rage incident, Keene also had an unlikely collaboration with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union" title="American Civil Liberties Union" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">American Civil Liberties Union</a> in a campaign to reform the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Litigation_Reform_Act" title="Prison Litigation Reform Act" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Prison Litigation Reform Act</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[15]</a> Keene is a founding member of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_on_Crime" title="Right on Crime" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Right on Crime</a>, a conservative criminal justice reform group.He co-chairs the Constitution Project's “Liberty & Security” initiative with David Cole of the ACLU that has since 9/11 critiqued government security and surveillance measures in terms of their impact on individual privacy and constitutional rights.<h2 style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">The Washington Times</h2>On Saturday, July 13, 2013, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times" title="The Washington Times" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">The Washington Times</a> announced that Keene would become the paper's opinion editor. Keene was placed in charge of the newspaper's editorial page and commentary section, while editor emeritis <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Pruden" title="Wesley Pruden" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Wesley Pruden</a> directed and produced editorials.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-:0-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Media appearances[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Keene&action=edit&section=5&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Media appearances" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>On March 25, 2017, Keene was a guest on Against the Current (ATC), a "content series devoted to in-depth topical conversations between [radio host] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Proft" title="Dan Proft" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dan Proft</a> and distinguished guests that are masters in their field of study."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-:1-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> ATC's parent organization Upstream Ideas wrote that Keene and Proft discussed "the fundamental problem of how to roll back the size and scope of government."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-:1-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> They also talked about lessons that could be learned from the NRA as a successful political movement. Keene also offered his thoughts on media.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-:1-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Awards</h2>In 2004, Keene received the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_on_Racial_Equality" class="mw-redirect" title="Congress on Racial Equality" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Congress on Racial Equality</a>’s prestigious Martin Luther King Award in New York; in March 2012 was recognized by the bi-partisan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Project" title="Constitution Project" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Constitution Project</a> in Washington as a “Champion of the Constitution”; in early 2016 received the Conservative Political Action Conference's Lifetime Achievement Award; and in September 2016 received the Second Amendment Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award. His first book is Shall Not Be Infringed: The New Assaults on Your Second Amendment <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a> with Thomas L. Mason, published by Skyhorse Publishing in October 2016.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Personal life</h2>In 2004 Keene married Donna Wiesner Keene, Senior Fellow at the Independent Women's Forum and an appointee in the Reagan, Bush and Bush Administrations. He has five children, Tracey, Kerry, David Michael, Taylor, and Lisa.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keene#cite_note-kessler2-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a>

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David A. Keene is Chairman of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Conservative_Union" title="American Conservative Union" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">American Conservative Union</a> and a managing associate at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Carmen_Group&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Carmen Group (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Carmen Group</a>, a Washington, DC-based lobbying firm. Keene is also chair of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Conservative_Political_Action_Conference" title="Conservative Political Action Conference" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Conservative Political Action Conference</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#cite_note-About-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a>

A biographical note states that "Keene is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and has been a John F. Kennedy Fellow at Harvard University. He is a former member of the Board of Visitors of the School of Public Policy at Duke University and was a visiting professional scholar at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Freedom_Forum_First_Amendment_Center&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Freedom Forum First Amendment Center (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Freedom Forum First Amendment Center</a> at Vanderbilt University."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#cite_note-About-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a>

Keene's "political experience is extensive. He has been involved in presidential politics since 1968. He worked in the White House during the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Nixon_administration" title="Nixon administration" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Nixon administration</a> as political assistant to Vice President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Spiro_T.Agnew&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Spiro T. Agnew (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Spiro T. Agnew</a> and on Capitol Hill as Executive Assistant to Senator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_L.Buckley&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James L. Buckley (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">James L. Buckley</a>. As Southern Regional Coordinator for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Ronald Reagan</a> in 1976 and National Political Director for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_Herbert_Walker_Bush" title="George Herbert Walker Bush" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">George Herbert Walker Bush</a> in 1980, Mr. Keene won recognition for his skill as a political organizer and strategist. Additionally, Mr. Keene was a senior political consultant to Republican presidential candidate <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Robert_Dole" title="Robert Dole" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Robert Dole</a> in 1988 and was an informal advisor during the 1996 campaign."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#cite_note-About-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a>

Between 1987 and 1992, Keene had a PR firm with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Craig_Shirley" title="Craig Shirley" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Craig Shirley</a> called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Keene,Shirely%26_Associates&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Keene, Shirely & Associates (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Keene, Shirely & Associates</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a>

<h2 style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; width: auto; display: inline;">Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">hide</a>] </div>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#Clients" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">1 Clients</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#Articles_and_Resources" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">2 Articles and Resources</a>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#Related_SourceWatch_articles" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">2.1 Related SourceWatch articles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#References" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">2.2 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#External_resources" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">2.3 External resources</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#External_articles" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">2.4 External articles</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

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<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto;">Clients</h2>

(according to Lobbyists.info)

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">On behalf of American Conservative Union:

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">American Conservative Union</li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">On behalf of Carmen Group, Inc.

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Citizens for State Power</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Computer Sciences Corporation</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">CorpAlert, Inc.</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Dillard University</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Fort Collins, Colorado, City of</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Loras College</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Montefiore Medical Center</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">National Trade Productions, Inc.</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (METRA)</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">PartNET</li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Survival Inc.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/United_Seniors_Association" title="United Seniors Association" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">United Seniors Association</a></li>

<li style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Washington Hospital Center</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Wisconsin Public Service Corporation</li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">On behalf of Conservative Political Action Conference

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Conservative Political Action Conference</li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto;">Articles and Resources</h2>

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto;">Related SourceWatch articles</h3>

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto;">References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-About-0" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A.Keene#cite_ref-About_0-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">1.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A.Keene#cite_ref-About_0-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">1.1</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#cite_ref-About_0-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">1.2</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.conservative.org/pressroom/speakers/keene.asp" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaaoaaaakcayaaacnms="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs" aaaagxrfwhrtb2z0d2fyzqbbzg9izsbjbwfnzvjlywr5ccllpaaaafzjrefuef59z4ejadeiq1f36k7u5e7zkxeuqpacj3wk7unokvxvk9khnqh7by9hbdydhnxgjprlqflo4m2ggfyjhhjq8v4agfrgpqx3jtjqgbofmchga="AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA" nakks="nAKks" jajfaaaaaelftksuqmcc="JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" background-position="background-position" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat" xmlns:data="data">"David A. Keene"</a>, American Conservative Union website, accessed July 2009.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_A._Keene#cite_ref-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070407014858/http://www.conservative.org/pressroom/speakers/shirley.asp" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaaoaaaakcayaaacnms="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs" aaaagxrfwhrtb2z0d2fyzqbbzg9izsbjbwfnzvjlywr5ccllpaaaafzjrefuef59z4ejadeiq1f36k7u5e7zkxeuqpacj3wk7unokvxvk9khnqh7by9hbdydhnxgjprlqflo4m2ggfyjhhjq8v4agfrgpqx3jtjqgbofmchga="AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA" nakks="nAKks" jajfaaaaaelftksuqmcc="JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" background-position="background-position" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat" xmlns:data="data">"Craig P. Shirley"</a>, American Conservative Union website, archived from April 2007.</li>

</ol>

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto;">External resources</h3>

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; width: auto;">External articles</h3>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Mike Allen, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25072_Page2.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaaoaaaakcayaaacnms="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs" aaaagxrfwhrtb2z0d2fyzqbbzg9izsbjbwfnzvjlywr5ccllpaaaafzjrefuef59z4ejadeiq1f36k7u5e7zkxeuqpacj3wk7unokvxvk9khnqh7by9hbdydhnxgjprlqflo4m2ggfyjhhjq8v4agfrgpqx3jtjqgbofmchga="AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA" nakks="nAKks" jajfaaaaaelftksuqmcc="JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" background-position="background-position" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat" xmlns:data="data">"Exclusive: Conservative group offers support for $2M"</a>, Politico, July 17, 2009.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Dennis Whitfield, ACU Executive Vice President, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.conservative.org/pressroom/2008/StatementfromACU.asp" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaaoaaaakcayaaacnms="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs" aaaagxrfwhrtb2z0d2fyzqbbzg9izsbjbwfnzvjlywr5ccllpaaaafzjrefuef59z4ejadeiq1f36k7u5e7zkxeuqpacj3wk7unokvxvk9khnqh7by9hbdydhnxgjprlqflo4m2ggfyjhhjq8v4agfrgpqx3jtjqgbofmchga="AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA" nakks="nAKks" jajfaaaaaelftksuqmcc="JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" background-position="background-position" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat" xmlns:data="data">"Statement from ACU regarding false headline by Washington publication POLITICO "</a>, Media Release, July 17, 2009.</li>

</ul>

</div>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Category</a>:

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-style: none; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0.25em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:U.S._politics&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Category:U.S. politics (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S. politics</a></li>

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bs mont pol

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<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18.5px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">David Keene</h2>

David Keene is President of the National Rifle Association after recently passing the torch as Chairman of the American Conservative Union, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization. He is also a Managing Associate at the Carmen Group, a lobbying firm in Washington, DC. David has a home north of Helena, where he enjoys the outdoor splendors of our great state.

Keene was the National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom as a student and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has been a John F. Kennedy Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, a First Amendment Fellow at Vanderbilt University’s Freedom Forum, and a member of the Board of Visitors at Duke University’s Public Policy School.

Keene served as a Special Assistant to Vice President Spiro Agnew in the Nixon Administration. He then became Executive Assistant to New York Senator Jim Buckley on Capitol Hill. In addition to advising local, state and national figures in all manner of campaigns, he has been Southern Regional Political Director for Ronald Reagan’s 1976 presidential campaign; National Political Director for George Bush’s 1980 presidential race; Senior Advisor to former Senator Bob Dole in 1988 and advisor to Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. Most recently he advised Governor Mitt Romney in his 2008 Presidential race.Keene is recognized as one of the chief spokesmen for conservative principles and politics on television and radio, and is widely quoted. He has written for publications such as National Review, the Washington Times and The Boston Globe. He is a weekly columnist for The Hill, a newspaper covering Congress.

Exclusive: Conservative group offers support for $2M

By: Mike Allen

July 17, 2009 05:07 AM EDT

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The American Conservative Union asked <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25027.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">FedEx</a> for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s support in a bitter legislative dispute, then the group’s chairman flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

For the $2 million plus, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12646.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">David Keene</a> and/or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)”

The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9727.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">conservative group’s</a> remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” — was contained in a private letter to FedEx , which was provided to POLITICO.

The letter exposes the practice by some political interest groups of taking stands not for reasons of pure principle, as their members and supporters might assume, but also in part because a sponsor is paying big money.

In the <a target="blank" href="http://www.politico.com/static/PPM130_fedex_grassroots_proposal_6-30-09_final.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">three-page letter</a> asking for money on June 30, the conservative group backed FedEx. After FedEx says it rejected the offer, Keene signed onto a <a target="blank" href="http://www.politico.com/static/PPM130_feex_letter.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">two-page July 15 letter</a> backing UPS. Keene did not return a message left on his cell phone.

Maury Lane, FedEx’s director of corporate communications, said: “Clearly, the ACU shopped their beliefs and UPS bought.”

ACU's executive vice president, Dennis Whitfield, said that neither the group nor David Keene, the chairman, took any money from UPS. Whitfield said the group has never received a response to its original proposal to FedEx. He said Keene endorsed the second letter as an individual, even though the letter bore the logo of ACU. 

"Our position hasn't changed," said Whitfield, who was a deputy secretary of labor in the Reagan administration. "It won't change. I am fundamentally, philosophically opposed to doing what the Obama administration wants to do [to FedEx], and so is our organization."

FedEx and UPS, fierce competitors in the package delivery business, are at war over a provision under consideration in Congress that would expand union power at FedEx.

FedEx currently has one U.S. union contract for its entire express business. Under a change passed by the House and awaiting action in the Senate, FedEx — like UPS — would have to negotiate union contracts for individual locations, which FedEx claims would make it much more difficult to promise worldwide regularity for deliveries.

The American Conservative Union, which calls itself “the nation's oldest and largest grass-roots conservative lobbying organization,” took UPS’s side on Wednesday as part of a conservative consortium that accused FedEx of “misleading the public and legislators.” ACU's logo is at the top of the letter, along with those of six other conservative groups.

Just two weeks earlier, ACU had offered its endorsement to FedEx, saying in a letter to the company: “We stand with FedEx in opposition to this legislation.”

But there was a catch — an expensive one. ACU asked FedEx to pay as much as $3.4 million for e-mail and other services for “an aggressive grass-roots campaign to stop the legislation in the Senate.”

“For the activist contact portion of the plan, we will contact over 150,000 people per state multiple times at a cost of $1.39 per name or $2,147,550 to implement the entire program,” the letter says. “If we incorporate the targeted, senator-personalized radio effort into the plan, you can figure an additional $125,000 on average, per state” for an estimated 10 states. The total would be $3,397,550.”

The letter shows one reason why activists get so much junk mail, both on paper and electronically: Some groups that send it charge handsomely for the service.

Under the grass-roots program ACU proposed, “Each person will be contacted a total of seven times totaling nearly 11 million contacts total in the 10 targeted states.” “Within 72 hours of an agreement on the whole plan, we can have the data sets delivered and the first round of e-mail ready for delivery,” the offer states. “Within seven days, the mail can be in the USPS system and the phone call delivered.”

Lane, the FedEx official, said the offer was refused. "The proposal didn’t fit with our strategy of taking a straightforward approach to discussing the issue,” he said.

After the rebuff, American Conservative Union changed sides. ACU Chairman David A. Keene was one of eight conservative leaders who signed a letter to FedEx Chairman Frederick W. Smith, a champion of capitalism who in the past has been a favorite of conservatives.

The letter accuses FedEx of “falsely and disingenuously” labeling the rules change a “bailout” for UPS, since FedEx would become subject to the same arduous union structure.

The letter is also signed by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, who is also on ACU’s board. FedEx is pushing its case with a website called<a target="_blank" href="http://www.brownbailout.com/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">www.BrownBailout.com</a>.

The letter signed by the conservative leaders concludes: “To paraphrase the words of Ronald Reagan, ‘Mr. Smith, tear down this website.’”

Among the services ACU had offered to provide for the $2 million-plus price tag:

—Acquiring data of known conservatives in the targeted states (to be determined by FedEx), matching that data to an e-mail database and then incorporating those e-mail addresses with the current ACU e-mail database to create one targeted database of all potential activists.

—Sending a piece of targeted direct mail to these potential activists to ensure that they are well-educated prior to their contact with their senators. 

—E-mailing the identified voter activists, in five rounds, in order to educate them on the issue(s) and to urge them to call their senators based on key dates. The ACU would include the phone number of their personal senators directly in the correspondence.

—Conducting targeted phone call campaign that will contact all voter activists to urge them to make a personal call to their senators. Each state would have a specialized message just for that state.

—Encouraging activists who live within 30 miles of a senator’s district office to consider making a personal visit to register their concerns at the office. ACU has proved that we can turn out well-informed, quality voters who present a good image to represent our concerns.

—As the vote for the legislation nears, distributing ACTION ALERT e-mails, and after the vote has taken place, distributing MegaVote e-mails to ACU’s members letting them know how their senators vote.

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Keene, D ACU nra

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