The NRA's fortunes go from bad to much, much worse. (photo: Sopa Images/Getty Images)
TOP: Wayne LaPierre
MIDDLE: Pierre with The Donald
BOTTOM: NRA fish in a barrel
14 July 19
The subpoenas add to the piling issues for the imploding organization.
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Friday, the DC attorney general formally issued subpoenas requesting
financial information from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its
charitable arm, the NRA Foundation — the latest in a long ling of piling
issues threatening to bring down the entire organization.
The subpoenas
are focused on whether or not the NRA breached DC’s nonprofit
regulations. “We are seeking documents from these two nonprofits
detailing, among other things, their financial records, payments to
vendors, and payments to officers and directors,” DC Attorney General
Karl Racine said.
If the NRA refuses to comply with Racine’s demand, or
if the DC attorney’s general office finds the NRA in breach of nonprofit
regulations, Racine’s office can bring court proceedings seeking to
dissolve the NRA in its entirety, or to place the organization in
receivership.
The NRA has replied that it will comply with Racine’s
request. “The NRA has full confidence in its accounting practices and
commitment to good governance,” NRA counsel William Brewer III said.
The subpoenas are the latest in a litany of
developments ratcheting concerns about the NRA’s financial future — and
the future of the organization itself.
To wit, Racine’s request also follows a similar
request in New York, where the NRA was first chartered in 1871. New York
Attorney General Letitia James requested similar documents pertaining
to the NRA’s tax-exempt status, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed
“insurance and financial services companies to review their relationship
with the organization,” the Washington Post reported.
The document demands come amidst a background of
roiling internal strife, and ongoing questions about the NRA’s
involvement in Russian interference efforts in 2016.
On the Russian front, Russian national Maria Butina
was jailed earlier this year for failing to disclose that she was
working as an undeclared Russian agent. While schmoozing with NRA
higher-ups — and while helping organize trips to Moscow to meet with
sanctioned Russian officials — Butina collaborated with a now-sanctioned
former Russian official to plot out how best to continue growing close
to the NRA. She is due to be released from prison later this year, and
will likely return immediately to Russia.
As a source familiar with congressional investigations
told ThinkProgress, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is planning to issue a formal
report on the NRA’s interactions with Russia over the coming weeks. The
questionable links between Russia and the NRA were first highlighted by ThinkProgress in late 2016.
Internally, the group is facing unprecedented stress.
For instance, after the NRA’s longtime advertising agency Ackerman
McQueen refused to comply with an internal audit, the NRA moved to end
the relationship entirely. As such, the NRA announced they would no
longer provide new programming on NRATV, a propaganda arm that Ackerman
McQueen had been operating.
On the executive level, things have hardly been better. Former NRA President Oliver North stepped down
a few months ago in a contentious ouster. Prior to his departure, North
alleged that NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre had engaged in a raft
of financial improprieties, including spending hundreds of thousands of
dollars on clothing and travel, among other expenses. LaPierre denied
the charges, and eventually forced North out of his position.
Along the way, the NRA’s top lobbyist, Chris Cox — who
had been accused of also trying to help extort LaPierre into resigning —
left the organization.
The NRA’s declining financial situation shows no sign of changing anytime soon. As The Trace reported, NRA membership revenue also dropped nearly a quarter between 2017 and 2018, and the company revealed it no longer offers free coffee for employees.
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