U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden speaks at a town hall in Southwest Portland.(Emily Goodykoontz/Staff)

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden told a packed audience in Southwest Portland on Saturday he will continue his investigation into financial links between Russia and the National Rifle Association that may have influenced the 2016 presidential election.

Oregon’s senior senator told the crowd at the standing-room-only town hall that his drive to “follow the money” aims to uncover any truth behind allegations that Russia donated money to the NRA to help President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Wyden said he’s found evidence that occurred.

“I believe that the NRA was a Russian asset in the run-up to the 2016 election,” Wyden told the crowd was crammed into the school’s auditorium.

The investigation, launched in 2018 by Wyden and the Senate Finance Committee, resulted in a report on NRA administrators’ Russian ties in September.

Wyden, a Democrat, had urged the Federal Election Commission to investigate, but the Republican-dominated commission shot down the investigation in August.

The NRA is tax-exempt and Wyden said it has violated tax laws by using its resources for personal gain of its administrators and political affiliates such as Trump.

Wyden fielded a wide array of other questions from the audience, ranging from the impeachment process to questions about the climate crisis, Big Pharma, Social Security and health care.

He said the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s political dealings that began in September is gaining unquestionable momentum. The impeachment inquiry began in response to whistleblower allegations that Trump used a quid pro quo power play to try to secure a Ukrainian investigation into political opponent Joe Biden.

“The president and members of Congress take an oath to uphold the constitution and not downplay the facts,” Wyden said. “I think we are reaching that moment when it is going to be harder and harder for a senator to downplay the fact when all of the, for example, nonpartisan professional diplomats come in and speak the truth to the American people on national TV.”

Among the many possible questions that were not asked by the crowd: Wyden’s thoughts on former European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s recent reversal in testimony regarding his involvement in the scandal. The Portland hotelier, who is friendly with Wyden and has donated nearly $10,000 to his campaigns over the years, has become embroiled at the center of the scandal.

“I have known Mr. Sondland for a number of years,” Wyden had previously told The Oregonian. “I’ve worked with him as a Portland community leader. Although we have disagreed about several issues, it would be deeply disappointing if he was aware of presidential wrongdoing and chose to conceal it.”

In a move that contradicted his previous testimony, on Tuesday, Sondland submitted three new pages of testimony. Sondland says he now remembers that he, at one point, told a Ukrainian government official that the country risked losing American military aid if it did not publicly commit to the investigation.

“This has all been further evidence that those who get caught up in Donald Trump orbit so often have a very bad ending,” Wyden said.