Donald Trump and the NRA get caught in the act

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a situation where illegal coordination seems more obvious.” While Special Counsel Robert Mueller has likely stated that sentiment to his team investigating Trump-Russia treason, this quote was actually made by Ann Ravel, a former chair of the Federal Election Commission in regard to alleged illegal campaign coordination between Donald Trump and the NRA. “It is so blatant that it doesn’t even seem sloppy,” Ravel added. “Everyone involved probably just thinks there aren’t going to be any consequences.”

This revelation comes following an investigation into the NRA’s political activity by Mother Jones and The Trace, an independent nonpartisan group dedicated to reporting on guns and gun violence. As Palmer Report documented in October, the NRA has already been caught illegally conspiring with GOP Senate candidates prior to the recent midterm elections. We previously knew that the NRA spent $30 million in potentially laundered Russian money, in an effort to boost candidate Trump.

It now turns out the NRA utilized a media strategy firm, Red Eagle Media, in coordinated fashion with the Trump campaign, to bombard television viewers in Norfolk, Virginia with “anti-Hillary” and “pro-Trump” commercials. The political ads “targeted adults aged 35 to 64, and aired on local news programs and syndicated shows like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune”, according to Mother Jones. While simply paying for commercials is not illegal, a review of over 1,000 pages of Federal Communications Commission and Federal Election Commission documents reveals that the Trump campaign purchased very similar ads, targeting the exact same location, on the exact same channel, during the exact same week. This coordination disqualified the NRA’s donation from being independent, meaning they were only legally able to spend $5,000. Instead they spent 600,000% that much – and that’s not a typo.

“This is very strong evidence, if not proof, of illegal coordination,” said Larry Noble, who previously worked for the Federal Election Commission as an attorney. “This is the heat of the general election, and the same person is acting as an agent for the NRA and the Trump campaign.” While it is not surprising in the least that the NRA and Trump campaign were willing to do anything, including cheating, to steal the election, this is simply more evidence that continued scrutiny must be paid to both groups.