Maria Butina NRA Transparency Act

On January 6, 2017, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued its Intelligence Community Assessment “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections”, which stated that “We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”

On July 2, 2018, the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate released its evaluation of the January 6, 2017, Intelligence Community Assessment, finding that “The Committee finds that the Intelligence Community met President Obama’s tasking and that the ICA is a sound intelligence product. While the Committee had to rely on agencies that the sensitive information and accesses had been accurately reported, as part of our inquiry the Committee reviewed analytic procedures, interviewed senior intelligence officers well-versed with the information, and based our findings on the entire body of intelligence reporting included in the ICA.”

On Monday, July 17, a Federal court in Washington, DC, charged Maria Butina, a Russian national with a long record of gun rights activism and ties to the National Rifle Association, with conspiracy under section 371 of title 18, United States Code, to act as an agent of a foreign government (the Russian Federation) under section 951 of title 18, United States Code.