Menendez Seeks Financial Information on NRA-Linked Maria Butina

Wyden-Menendez-Whitehouse Letter asks Secretary Mnuchin to provide any financial records in the department’s possession linking the NRA and Russian nationals at the center of an alleged 2016 election influence scheme.

Washington, D.C. – Following the arrest of NRA-linked Russian national Maria Butina, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) joined Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) to request financial information from the Treasury Department as it relates to the NRA, Alexander Torshin and Butina. Butina was charged last week with infiltrating domestic political organizations to undermine and influence U.S. elections. She served as Torshin’s assistant at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in 2015.

“If the Treasury Department has information linking the NRA to Russian nationals trying to influence our elections, the American people deserve to know about it,” said Menendez. “The arrest of Maria Butina after she attempted to use the NRA to push the Republican party to be more friendly to Russia adds ever more urgency to this issue. Unless Secretary Mnuchin is unconcerned by this disturbing course of events, he cannot ignore this request.”

Menendez, Wyden, and Whitehouse’s letter to the Treasury Department can be found here.

Wyden first requested financial information on the NRA and Torshin from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in February. Mnuchin ignored this oversight letter. Three months after Wyden’s request, Treasury sanctioned Torshin due to his close relationship with Vladimir Putin.