The attorney general said that the boss Wayne LaPierre and three other senior officials had used the money from the lobby as “their own piggy bank”.
The State of New York announced on Thursday that it was complaints of financial fraud against the lobby’s pro-gun NRA and its influential boss, Wayne LaPierre, with the goal of the dissolution of the powerful conservative group.
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The attorney general of New York Letitia James said that Wayne LaPierre and three other senior officials from the lobby have used the contributions and donations of the members for years as “their own piggy bank”, spending tens of millions of dollars in violation of the laws governing non-profit organizations.
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The four leaders “wholesale plundering of property” of the group, said Letitia James, to such an extent that this lobby, which has injected millions of dollars into election campaigns and republican over the years, including that of Donald Trump in 2016, is now virtually insolvent.
In a press release, the NRA has accused the prosecutor of wanting to “score points” on the political level” in three months of the american presidential election. It stated that a court action had been initiated to oppose the complaint. “We are ready to fight. We are waiting for you,” responded Wayne LaPierre. “The NRA is well-managed, financially solvent financially, and committed to maintain good governance,” he added, calling the complaint an “attack against democracy and freedom”.
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For decades, the lobby and defends the views of millions of gun owners in the United States, in strongly opposing any regulation of the arms market. His influence is considerable, and the organization does not skimp on the means to support candidates who defend the same positions at the time of elections, both at national and local level.
millions of dollars should be re-injected by the NRA in view of the elections presidential, legislative and senatorial elections of November 3. The son of president Donald Trump, Eric, and Donald Jr., are members of the organization and regularly participate in its events. Asked about the complaint on Thursday, the billionaire republican has been estimated that it was a “terrible thing”.
luxury Vacation to the Bahamas
Wayne LaPierre is the head of the NRA for nearly three decades as executive vice president. According to the prosecutor of New York, the officer has illegally used the funds of the NRA to regularly take his family to the Bahamas for a luxury holiday. He also said Letitia James, accepted gifts and expensive trips from suppliers to the lobby, and was given 17 million dollars for his retirement without the consent of the board of directors of the organization.
According to the complaint, many of the facts alleged against Wayne LaPierre has been made possible by the three other accused, that he had himself recruited : the former treasurer Wilson Phillips, the legal director John Frazer and the ex-head of human resources Joshua Powell. They would have helped to conceal the various payments.
“the influence of the NRA is that the organization has escaped the checks for decades, while its senior executives put millions of dollars into the pockets,” said the attorney general of New York. “The NRA is full of fraud and abuse, and this is why we are looking today at the dissolve, because no organization is above the law”, she added. She has denied any political motivation, but conceded that the State had forced the dissolution of only two other lobbying organizations in recent years, one of which was the Trump Foundation.
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It is “an attack without foundation, premeditated against our organization and the freedoms guaranteed by the second amendment as it fights to defend”, said the president of the lobby Carolyn Meadows, in reference to the amendment of the u.s. Constitution, which according to the interpretation of many Americans guarantees the right to the possession and carrying of firearms.
