Does the NRA Connect Trump to Russia?

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2018

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

On Thursday, Maria Butina became the first Russian national convicted of seeking to influence the 2016 election. As part of Russia’s years-long effort to cozy up to the American right, Butina gained access to conservative circles through the National Rifle Association. And as the NRA is under scrutiny for ties to Russian operatives, it appears the organization illegally coordinated with the Trump campaign. Alex Wagner catches up on the week’s developments with Atlantic staff writer Natasha Bertrand. Then, to make sense of how the NRA, Russia, and the Trump campaign connect to one another, she’s joined by Mike Spies, a staff writer for The Trace who covers the gun lobby. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	At the crossroads of artistic insight and intellectual curiosity, we find the edge of reason.
0:07.0	Dive into the heart of artistic inspiration, rooted in Enlightenment thinking, and discover how contemporary creators are holding a mirror up to society to reflect who we are, where we've been, and where we're headed.
0:20.0	Join me, Jeff Chang, at the Edge of Reason, a new limited podcast from Atlantic Rethink, the branded
0:26.8	content studio at the Atlantic, and Howzer and Worth.
0:32.0	This week saw lots of developments in Mueller's investigation, Manifort, Cohen,
0:36.6	Pekker, and Bhutina, who on Thursday became the first Russian national convicted of
0:42.3	seeking to influence the 2016 election.
0:45.6	Why did a Russian gun rights activist involve herself in American politics?
0:50.4	Why did the NRA spend more on Trump's election than any other?
0:54.4	Why did Russia use the NRA to influence American politics?
1:00.0	This is Radio Atlantic. Hello listeners it's Alex Wagner. There have been big developments this
1:21.5	week in Special Counsel Mueller's probe of Russia, the
1:24.5	Trump campaign, and the 2016 election.
1:27.5	Natasha Bertrand, our Atlantic staff writer, has been covering this story and was in court
1:32.3	on Thursday morning to get the latest.
1:34.3	Hey Natasha. Hey Alex, thanks for having me. So it's been a big week if you were a Trump
1:40.8	associate or perhaps if you were the president himself a lot of your
1:44.8	old friends were in court beginning with Paul Manifort and Michael Cohen what
1:51.0	happened with them this week?
1:52.0	Yeah so a Paul Manifort of course was a and Michael Cohen. What happened with them this week?
1:53.0	Yeah, so Paul Manafort, of course, was accused of not being forthcoming with prosecutors
1:58.4	throughout his cooperation allegedly with them.
	...

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