Bolton's appearance in Russian gun rights video
March 22, 20185:01 AM ET
TIM MAK
Incoming White House national security adviser John Bolton recorded a video used by the Russian gun rights group The Right to Bear Arms in 2013 to encourage the Russian government to loosen gun laws ...
The Bolton video appears to be another plank in a bridge built by Russia to conservative political organizations inside the United States. It's unclear why Russian leaders wanted to curry favor with the NRA, but Torshin and Keene appeared to have developed close ties in the years prior to the 2016 election ...
Bolton is a curious pick for The Right to Bear Arms in its video effort to influence the Russian legislature. After all, he is one of the most hawkish, anti-Russia figures in Republican Party foreign policy circles. And yet the video recorded by Bolton was used by this obscure Russian gun rights group with ties to the Kremlin.
A source close to Bolton told NPR that he was originally asked to record the video by Keene, who served as NRA president from 2011 to 2013, and that he was informed the recording was for the Russian legislature. The source also said the former ambassador had never heard of The Right to Bear Arms until recent news coverage of the group ...
https://www.npr.org/2018/03/22/595897412/john-boltons-curious-appearance-in-a-russian-gun-rights-video