Everytown Statement on Indictment of NRA-Linked Political Operative Paul Erickson — Maria Butina’s Boyfriend, Who is Believed to Have Assisted With her Alleged Operation to Use NRA to Advance Kremlin Agenda

According to Indictment, Erickson Being Charged with Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

Erickson Reportedly Attempted to Set up a Meeting Between Then-Candidate Trump and Maria Butina’s Alleged Handler Aleksander Torshin During the 2016 NRA Convention

WASHINGTON – Everytown for Gun Safety released the following statement today on the indictment of Paul Erickson, the NRA-linked Republican political operative who is believed to have assisted Russian national and purported lifetime NRA member Maria Butina, with whom he was in a romantic relationship, with her alleged efforts to use the NRA to advance the Kremlin’s agenda. In the indictment, which is unrelated to Butina’s case, Erickson is charged with wire fraud and money laundering relating to a series of allegedly fraudulent business ventures.

According to filings from federal prosecutors in Butina’s case, “Person 1,” widely reported to be Erickson, was integral in assisting Butina with her alleged operations in the U.S.

STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT OF EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:

“Another day, another court case against someone linked with both the NRA and the Russian government. It’s time for the NRA to back up its patriotic bluster and tell us everything it knows about Paul Erickson, Maria Butina, and the organization’s ties to Putin’s Russia.”