Documents show that the Trump campaign and the NRA illegally coordinated their advertising during the 2016 election.
According to The Trace:
Reporting by The Trace shows that the NRA and the Trump campaign employed the same operation — at times, the exact same people — to craft and execute their advertising strategies for the 2016 presidential election. The investigation, which involved a review of more than 1,000 pages of Federal Communications Commission and Federal Election Commission documents, found multiple instances in which National Media, through its affiliates Red Eagle and AMAG, executed ad buys for Trump and the NRA that seemed coordinated to enhance each other.
Individuals working for National Media or its affiliated companies either signed or were named in FCC documents, demonstrating that they had knowledge of both the NRA and the Trump campaign’s advertising plans.
Experts say the arrangement appears to violate campaign finance laws.
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The NRA Is Already Under Investigation For Funneling Russian Money To Trump
On the surface what looks like a brazen and obvious campaign finance violation by the NRA and Trump could be linked to much more. The NRA is already under investigation by the FBI for potentially being a front used to launder Russian money and get it to the Trump campaign. The NRA has admitted to taking Russian cash, but one of the most powerful activities that the NRA engages in is running ads for and against candidates.
It is possible that some of the cash that Russia gave the NRA found its way onto the television screens of voters in swing states to help influence the 2016 election for Donald Trump. The illegal coordination between Trump and the NRA is bad enough, but add in the potential for the Russians using the NRA as a front for their ads, and what happened in 2016 gets taken to a whole other level.
The pieces are coming together, and what the American people are beginning to see is how a compromised candidate was able to get into the White House with the help of conservative organizations that have been bought and corrupted by Russia.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
