Rachel Maddow Unloads On The NRA For Going Into Hiding After Being Exposed As A Tool Of Russia

Rachel Maddow unloaded on the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Wednesday for remaining silent even after Russian agent Maria Butina was arrested for allegedly infiltrating the extremist gun organization.

As PoliticusUSA reported last week, “Federal prosecutors have accused Butina of conspiring with two American citizens and a top Russian official to influence U.S. policy toward Russia and infiltrate a gun rights group believed to be the National Rifle Association.”

The Trump-loving gun group has remained silent even after this jaw-dropping new information was revealed.

A stunned Maddow unloaded on the NRA for essentially going into hiding over the past week: “The NRA was used extensively by the Russian government in an illegal intelligence operation. Really, no comment on that at all, NRA?”

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Maddow said:

It is remarkable that the NRA has had no comment on this case at all. No comment on this indictment since it was first unsealed. This is federal prosecutors, including veteran counter-espionage prosecutors, now saying in court and offering evidence in court that the NRA was used extensively by the Russian government in an illegal intelligence operation. Really? No comment on that at all, NRA? None at all for more than a week now?

The NRA is a pro-Trump tool of Russia

The more we learn about Russian involvement in the 2016 election – and in U.S. politics more broadly – the more apparent it is that the Republican Party has been taken over by Vladimir Putin, as Jason Easley wrote earlier this month.

Experts, intelligence officials, lawmakers and average Americans of all political persuasions agree that Russia is a real threat that needs to be met with strength.

Stunningly, Donald Trump and the NRA – two big tools of Russia – have either bowed down to Russia or remained strangely silent about Moscow’s attack on American democracy, even after they’ve been implicated in the attack.

As Rachel Maddow continues to follow the money, Trump and the NRA are only likely to be further exposed as pawns of Moscow.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.