Fusion GPS Founder Glenn Simpson Shared ‘False Story’ About GOP Lawyer in Meeting with DOJ’s Bruce Ohr

Glenn Simpson, Bruce Ohr

by Chuck Ross    – Notes taken by Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr show that Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson claimed that longtime GOP lawyer Cleta Mitchell was concerned about Russian funding for the NRA.  – Mitchell vehemently denies the allegation, which first appeared in a news article published by McClatchy in March.  – Mitchell says Simpson should be prosecuted for making false statements to a federal official. Veteran GOP lawyer Cleta Mitchell suddenly found her name mixed up in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The first public mention of Mitchell came in a March 13 report released by Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The report listed Mitchell, a partner at the firm Foley & Lardner, as one of the “individuals or groups who were involved in or may have knowledge of third-party political outreach from the Kremlin to the Trump campaign.” Two days later, McClatchy newspapers cited two anonymous sources who claimed that Mitchell expressed concerns just after the election that Russians had funneled secret cash to the National Rifle Association. The origin of the claims about Mitchell, which she says are a “complete fabrication,” have remained a mystery for…

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NRA Gives Diane Black Strong Endorsement for Governor

Diane Black

Today the National Rifle Association announced its endorsement of Diane Black for Governor. The NRA is the oldest and largest gun rights organizations in the nation. The full letter is available here. “For over two decades Diane Black has been a steadfast supporter of our constitutional right to self-defense. She has never wavered in the fight to expand and protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Chris W. Cox Chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund. “Diane Black has a perfect record on Second Amendment issues and we enthusiastically endorse her candidacy.” Responded Black, “The NRA represents six million of the strongest defenders of the second amendment in our nation, and I am honored to have their support in my race for governor.” “As governor, I will always fight to protect the second amendment and defend the hundreds of thousands of gun owners in Tennessee,” she continued. Cox noted that Black is the only Tennessee gubernatorial candidate with an “A” rating and a “perfect record” on Second Amendment issues. Black is a firearm owner and a lifetime member of the NRA. In Congress, she cosponsored the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act, voted for the NRA-supported SHARE Act…

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Nathan Deal, Georgia Governor, Signs Bill Without Delta Tax Break After NRA Rift

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed Friday a tax-reform bill that eliminated a lucrative tax break for Delta Airlines over dropping its partnership with the National Rifle Association, but the airline insisted that there are no hard feelings. Delta CEO Ed Bastian called the Republican governor a “great friend” despite the signing of the $5 billion tax-cut legislation, which was shorn by the state Senate of a $50 million jet-fuel tax exemption last week in retaliation for Delta’s ending of its discount deal for NRA members.

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United Airlines Severs Ties with NRA, Continues to Contribute to Planned Parenthood: Watchdog

United Airlines cut ties with the National Rifle Association after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, but continues to donate to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. In a tweet on Saturday, the airline said it notified the NRA “that we will no longer be offering a discounted rate to their annual meeting” and asked to be removed from the gun-rights group’s website.

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Aggressive ‘NRA Boycott’ Expands and Organizes

Boycott NRA, a newly formed activist group, has launched a public petition calling for commercial concerns to cut ties with the National Rifle Association. The cause already has topped 30,000 signatures, and it is one of about a dozen similar petitions launched on Change.org, which provides a free online platform for public pleas and causes – to the tune of 1,000 petitions a day.

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NRA’s LaPierre Offers Free Armed Guard Training For All Schools in CPAC Speech

Public schools will get free help from the National Rifle Association (NRA), said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA executive vice president, speaking on the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. “Evil walks among us, and God help us if we don’t harden our schools and protect our kids,” said LaPierre, speaking to thousands of attendees at the annual gathering of thousands of conservative leaders, activists and journalists from across the country.

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Joe Carr Earns An ‘A’ Rating from Gun Rights Giant NRA, Questions Rival Shane Reeves’ ‘Aq’ Score

In a statement released on Thursday, Murfreesboro businessman Shane Reeves attacked former State Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-Lascassas) initial “question mark” rating from the National Rifle Association, contrasting it with his own “A” rating. Both men are vying for the Republican nomination in the January 25 special primary election in the 14th State Senate District. Former State Senator Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) resigned from the seat in November to accept a position with U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Trump administration. On Friday, Carr hit back. “Today I am pleased to announce that the NRA has scored my record and gave me an A, just as I expected,” Carr said in a statement. “My score is not qualified with a “q”, indicating it is based on responses to a questionnaire, but on my actual RECORD and RESULTS as a legislator. The mudslinging and misinformed attack from Shane Reeves, and his attempt to create an issue over the NRA delay in recording my score — through no fault of my own — is just another example of ‘his shoot first aim later’ approach in his campaign,” Carr continued. “Earlier this week Shane Reeves launched a mudslinging attack against Joe Carr concerning the National…

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Jeff Hartline Commentary: Constitutional Carry Seems To Be On NRA Priority List Everywhere But Tennessee

  For the past 146 years, the National Rifle Association has touted itself as the defender of the 2nd Amendment in America. Their efforts in education, mentoring and lobbying have produced good results nationwide. Their celebrity supporters have given credence to the mission to advance firearms ownership and to peel back laws that restrict the ability of law-abiding citizens to “keep and bear arms”. For their efforts and successes, we commend them. But we are curious about their efforts in the area of pushing states to adopt “permitless” legislation, also known as Constitutional Carry (CC). Constitutional Carry, also known in the past as “Vermont Carry” after the state that has allowed its citizens to keep and bear arms without a State “permit” since 1796, is a policy that essentially claims the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is a law-abiding citizen’s “permit”. This significant statement incorporated into our Constitution recognizes the God-given right of citizens to defend themselves against potential citizen threats but, most specifically, against a tyrannical government. In the past three decades, many states have acted on their own to reclaim this right for their citizens through the adoption of laws that allowed law-abiding citizens to arm themselves…

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