Paul Erickson (activist)

Erickson's hometown is Vermillion, South Dakota. Erickson and some fellow College Republicans performed Fritzbusters at the 1984 Republican National Convention and later as a warm-up act for Ronald Reagan at some rallies during the 1984 United States presidential election. The campaign stopped running Fritzbusters after more than 100 students wearing Fritzbusters shirts heckled Mondale in September 1984. Erickson earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1988. == Political consulting ==

In addition to his political work while in college, Erickson worked in 1985 as the deputy campaign manager for Richard Viguerie’s unsuccessful campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. A biographer of Buchanan later said Erickson was "the best there was at the price Pat could afford." However, Lee Schoenbeck, a former Republican Watertown Representative to the South Dakota House of Representatives, has called him "the single biggest phony I’ve ever met in South Dakota politics." Casey Phillips, a South Dakota Republican political consultant, has said of Erickson, "He likes to put people in touch with people. He’s a person that’s at the center of relationships all over the place." == Business undertakings ==

Erickson worked as an executive producer of Red Scorpion (1988), an anticommunist action film produced by Jack Abramoff. Mobutu sought a visit to the United Nations to claim credit for this offer, but his visa request was ultimately denied due to his past human rights abuses. In November 2019, Erickson pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an effort to defraud investors in an oil development scheme. He was sentenced to seven years in federal prison on July 6, 2020, and granted a full presidential pardon on January 19, 2021, Donald Trump's last full day in office as president of the United States. == NRA and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign ==

Erickson has strong ties to both the National Rifle Association and the Russian gun rights community. After Trump won the presidential election in November 2016, Erickson said he was advising his transition team. Torshin has also been the subject of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into whether the Russian government attempted to illegally funnel money to the NRA in order to help Trump win the presidency. In July 2018 Butina was arrested by the FBI and charged with conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian Federation. In Butina's indictment, federal prosecutors said an unnamed American political operative, later identified as Erickson, had worked with Butina to arrange introductions to influential people inside the U.S. and to advance Russian interests. Butina pleaded guilty in December 2018, saying that she had engaged in a conspiracy against the United States with Erickson and Torshin. Meanwhile Erickson was under investigation by federal law enforcement agencies for the same offense. == Religious activities ==

Erickson served a term on the board of directors of the Institute for Lutheran Theology. In 1997 Erickson helped to organize a religious revival service on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Promise Keepers, an Evangelical Christian men's organization. == Personal life ==

Erickson has homes in New York, Los Angeles, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. ==See also==