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On Thursday, McClatchy dropped a heckuva scoop: The FBI is investigating whether Russia illegally funneled campaign funds to the NRA as part of the country’s effort to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The NRA spent more than any other outside group to elect Donald Trump and other Republicans, shelling out $55 million (and maybe in excess of $70 million, according to two sources McClatchy spoke with, when undisclosed spending on online ads and grassroots outreach are factored in). Federal investigators want to know if the gun group illegally got some of those funds via a Kremlin-connected oligarch named Alexander Torshin.

Details regarding links between the NRA and powerful Russian interests have been dribbling out for months. In November, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein ratcheted up the intrigue when she sent a letter to the White House requesting any documents connected to the 2016 campaign, Torshin, the NRA, and a slew of conservative power brokers.

The NRA has largely avoided commenting on the matter, though last summer, NRA TV personality Grant Stinchfield denied any illegal ties between the group and Russia. Here’s what’s known about Moscow’s courtship of the NRA, and the NRA’s subsequent role as a venue for Russian overtures to the Trump campaign.

2011

G. Kline Preston, a conservative lawyer in Nashville with business connections to Russia, introduces then-NRA president David Keene to Torshin, a powerful senator in Russia and close to President Vladimir Putin. Torshin, who styles himself as a gun enthusiast, is a lifetime NRA member. Around this time, Torshin’s young female aide, Maria Butina, createsRight to Bear Arms, a Russian version of the NRA and the first group of its kind in the country.
Fall 2013

Butina and Torshin host Keene and other American gun rights advocates at the Right to Bear Arms annual meeting in Moscow. Two hundred people take part in the event, the Washington Post will note, which includes a fashion show featuring clothes that have tailor-made pockets meant to conceal handguns. Around the same time, Spanish authorities build a case against Torshin for allegedly laundering money through Spanish banks and properties for the Russian mob. (Torshin has denied any connections to organized crime.)

April 2014
Butina and Torshin attend the NRA’s annual meeting in Indianapolis, where Butina is treated as a VIP. She presents a plaque to then-NRA president Jim Porter, and appears at one of the group’s events as a guest of David Keene. She is also asked to address attendees at the Ring of Freedom dinner, a special banquet that honors individuals who make high-dollar contributions to the NRA.
December 2015
Torshin is appointed as a deputy governor of the Russian central bank. Meanwhile, the Right to Bear Arms hosts NRA figures in Russia for a second time. Those making the trip include Keene; NRA board member Pete Brownell (who is now serving as NRA president); Joe Gregory, head of the NRA program for donors who give $1 million or more; and NRA benefactor Dr. Arnold Goldschlager and his daughter, NRA Women’s Leadership Forum executive committee member Hilary Goldschalger. Also along for the junket is then-Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke, a controversial gun rights icon. While in Russia, Brownell and Keene are photographed with Dmitry Rogozin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia who is also an NRA supporter.
May 2016
Paul Erickson, a veteran Republican operative and NRA member with access to both the group’s leaders and officials in the Russian government, emails Rick Dearborn, a Trump campaign advisor. Erickson is looking to facilitate a “first contact” meeting between the campaign and Torshin at the upcoming spring convention in Louisville, Kentucky, where Trump will be featured as a speaker and receive the NRA’s early endorsement for president. Erickson writes, “The Kremlin believes that the only possibility of a true reset in this relationship would be with a new Republican in the White House.” The meeting never takes place. But at the convention, which occurs later in the month, Torshin shares a dinner table with Donald Trump Jr.

November 2016

Butina, now a graduate student at American University, in Washington, D.C., hosts a birthday party attended by Erickson and Trump campaign aides. At the event, she claims that she was involved in communications between Russia and the campaign, according to the Daily Beast.
2017-18

The investigation into Russian election meddling gathers steam, following revelations of multiple contacts between Trump campaign staffers and Russian officials, and of a wide-ranging Russian effort to sow discord and boost the candidacy of the Republican nominee. If the NRA used Russian money to help finance its efforts in support of Donald Trump, it would be a violation of American election laws and likely cause serious reputational damage to a group that claims to defend American freedom.