Investigative report says NRA's internal dealings are dubious enough to end its tax-exempt status

The National Rifle Association’s power and influence have taken a hit over the past couple of years. News stories over have pointed to big financial woes for the weapon fetishists, with reports of cutbacks that have even included the elimination of free coffee at NRA headquarters. It has been apparent that the leadership of the NRA is morally corrupt to most outside observers for some time; but the moral corruption seems to have included good old run-of-the-mill corruption and mismanagement as well. This is according to a new and thorough investigation by The Trace’s Mike Spies, published in the New Yorker. Through private correspondence and interviews with NRA employees, Spies paints a picture of a dirty-dealing, greedy, and potentially fraudulent nonprofit teetering on the dangerous edge of collapse.

The crux of the financial issues for the NRA is its problematic relationship with the public relations outfit Ackerman McQueen, which pays out million-dollar salaries to people such as NRA president Oliver North* and spokesperson Dana Loesch. Spies talked with Marcus Owens, former head of the IRS division that looks into tax-exempt enterprises such as the NRA, and showed him some of the documentation he has obtained. Unsurprisingly, Owens found that, with regard to the NRA’s tax situation, the “litany of red flags is just extraordinary. The materials reflect one of the broadest arrays of likely transgressions that I’ve ever seen. There is a tremendous range of what appears to be the misuse of assets for the benefit of certain vendors and people in control.” If this is true, the NRA would not qualify for its tax-exempt status. And the NRA without its tax-exempt status is not a viable entity whatsoever.

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2v8qtBA