The NRA’s Acceptance of Foreign Influence Triggers Required Public Disclosures
Under 18 USC §2386, registration is required for “every organization subject to foreign control which engages in civilian military activity.” By choosing to accept financial contributions and the brokering of connections between National Rifle Association (NRA) leadership and top officials of the Russian government (and United Russia, its ruling political party), the NRA has subjected itself to registration. While investigations by the House Finance Committee and the Federal Election Commission concerning campaign finance violations continue, the registration requirement is immediate.
At a minimum, the law requires the filing of a registration statement by the NRA and extends to all NRA affiliates, including the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the NRA Foundation, Friends of NRA, the NRA Political Victory Fund, and all NRA State Associations. Importantly, each registering organization must legally disclose to the public the manner in which it is subject to foreign control, as well as details on all leadership, membership, financial and in-kind contributions, as well as overall financial information detailing assets and liabilities.
The statute details further required disclosures and specifies that the public has a legal right to know the names and addresses of every NRA member as well as the manufacturers’ serial numbers of weapons owned by the organization, its chapters, branches, and affiliates.
BACKGROUND
On March 19, 2018, National Rifle Association (NRA) Secretary and General Counsel John C. Frazer sent a letter replying to questions posed by Senator Ron Wyden (D, OR). He stated that, “while we do receive some contributions from foreign individuals and entities, those contributions are made directly to the NRA for lawful purposes.” On March 28, 2018, NRA outside counsel Steven Hart told ABC News that the NRA had accepted only one such donation between 2012 and 2108 election cycles, totaling less than $1000.00, and represented it as the lifetime membership dues payment of Alexander Torshin. Neither Mr. Frazer nor Mr. Hart provided any further information detailing the foreign donations to the NRA other than to consider them generally not related to the 2016 election.
On January 28th, 2018, the McClatchy Report identified Alexander Torshin as both a lifetime member of the NRA and a leading figure in Vladimir Putin’s United Russia, the ruling political party of the Russian Federation. While few details have been disclosed to the public regarding this ongoing investigation, Mr. Torshin has been connected to NRA leadership, to Russian leadership, and to figures close to the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government.
On April 9th, 2018, NPR disclosed two more individuals found both to be admitted NRA members and as having close ties to NRA leadership and Russian oligarchs — Evgeny Spiridonov and Maria Butina. Maria Butina is, or was, an aide to Alexander Torshin, and has identified herself as a “representative of the Russian Federation.” Mr. Spiridonov is a Russian citizen who works for a U.S.-sanctioned arms manufacturer, Kalishnikov Concern, according to NPR.
The NRA, in choosing to accept financial contributions for membership dues from Torshin, Butina, and Spiradonav, has fallen directly within this statute, and triggered registration requirements. Additionally, any non-financial support (such as brokering relationships between the top echelons of the Russian government and American political candidates through the NRA) triggers registration.
Also known as the Voorhis Act, 18 USC §2386 was enacted in the run-up to WWII and was primarily concerned with preventing the spread of Nazism and Communism from Europe into the United States. To address this growing threat to American democracy, the statute required organizations to register with the Attorney General, and make specific disclosures. These registrations were then required to be made public.
The statute’s most prominent usage occurred during the Cold War and focused on perceived subversive political groups, such as the U.S. Communist Party, the NAACP, and others. Notably, none of these groups were shown to have engaged in civilian military activity, as defined by the statute, even at the height of McCarthyism. While the statute has been relatively dormant since the Cold War, it has never been repealed, ruled unconstitutional, or otherwise challenged. In short, it remains good law. Given ongoing investigations into Russian intervention in American democracy, application of the law today appears consistent with original intent and timely to today’s need for additional disclosure.
APPLICATION OF THE STATUTE
Under 18 USC §2386, an organization engages in civilian military activity if it “gives instruction to, or prescribes instruction for, its members in the use of firearms or other weapons or any substitute therefor.” The NRA has long promoted their instructional programs for members on the use of firearms. The NRA indeed touts itself as the “gold standard” of firearms training and promotes its network of more than 125,000 instructors, 8,000 coaches and 2,200 training counselors as well as online courses. Training covers the use of pistols, rifles, and shotguns.
An organization is “subject to foreign control” if it “solicits or accepts financial contributions, loans, or support of any kind, directly or indirectly, from, or is affiliated directly or indirectly with, a foreign government or a political subdivision thereof, or an agent, agency, or instrumentality of a foreign government or political subdivision thereof, or a political party in a foreign country, or an international political organization.”
By the plain meaning of the statute, the NRA has met both requirements and must register. Further, 18 USC §2386 provides that all registration information, “be public records and open to public examination.” In fact, this mandatory public disclosure is essentially the entire purpose of the statute — providing the public information necessary to gain understanding of the nature and degree of foreign influences under which an organization conducting civilian military training acts.
The law provides no penalties for participating in an organization that meets the registration requirements under 18 USC §2386; however, members of the NRA should have a reasonable expectation that membership information will be made public when the required registration forms are filed with the government irrespective of membership or contribution level. Note that the statute does not on its face extend the registration requirement to weapons owned exclusively by individual members.
While ongoing investigations into past elections continue to reveal important information, registration under 18 USC §2386 provides a clear path forward to important details previously unavailable to the public. As a “social welfare” organization under its tax code designation, the NRA is currently exempt from donor reporting thereby making the underlying influences on the organization and its lobbying efforts obscured from the public.
The sooner the legally required statements are delivered to the Attorney General and made publicly available according to 18 USC §2386, the sooner We the People will have important information to consider about the nature and degree of foreign governmental influence on the NRA, which in turn has considerable influence on US policy.
