bendog said:
The NRA abandoned us responsible gunowners for the gun lobby decades ago.
LaPierre’s contract provided for an annual retirement package that would start at his final base salary — then more than $1 million — the total value of that package was more than $17 million, and it was secured without proper approval from the nonprofit’s board of directors.
The NRA paid $1.8 million to Associated Television International to rent a home owned by its proprietor, Hollywood producer David McKenzie. McKenzie’s attorney told The Trace that the property was used in conjunction with the production of Crime Strike, a crime re-enactment program that featured LaPierre.
The Wall Street Journal has identified McKenzie as the “principal stakeholder” in four companies that were paid more than $100 million by the NRA since 2011. Between 2013 and 2017, LaPierre took private jets to California to meet with McKenzie at least 20 times, usually staying at a historic Beverly Hills hotel.
LaPierre and his family flew by private charter to the Bahamas on at least eight occasions since 2015, costing the NRA more than $500,000. On several of those trips, LaPierre and his family used a 108-foot yacht named Illusions, which McKenzie owned. McKenzie also paid for LaPierre’s stays in the Bahamas to attend what the suit describes as “celebrity retreats.”
The NRA’s former marketing firm, Ackerman McQueen, would cover many out-of-pocket expenses for LaPierre and other executives, then bill the NRA, which would pay the costs without approval or supporting documentation. The arrangements included the NRA directing Ackerman to buy memberships at an exclusive cigar bar in Virginia, and Ackerman paying more than $250,000 to LaPierre’s personal travel consultant.
Ex-treasurer Woody Phillips, embezzled at least $1 million from his prior company before being hired by the NRA, according to former colleagues. And in 1995, LaPierre hired a personal assistant after she had been convicted of embezzling from a nonprofit where she worked in the 1980s. According to the suit, she had her corporate credit card suspended in the 2000s, after paying personal expenses with NRA funds. And in 2012, she billed the NRA for $18,000 for expenses related to her son’s wedding, which she never reimbursed.
Fancy Pants LaP fleeced the suckers shamelessly for years.
A major National Rifle Association donor sued the gun-rights organization this week for fraud, saying its leaders have misspent money over the last four years, ignoring the group’s core mission while paying for expensive clothing and trips for CEO Wayne LaPierre. He lists nearly $275,000 he says the NRA spent on clothes for Mr. LaPierre at a Beverly Hills store and more than $243,000 on “luxury travel” for him to destinations such as the Bahamas and Palm Beach, Florida.
The lawsuit is the latest headache for the gun-rights organization, which has been rocked this year by the departure of top staffers including President Oliver North and former top strategist Chris Cox, and parted ways with its longtime advertising agency after a public dispute over finances.
No word about whether Squinty hooked up with 'Squeaky' Gaetz while cavorting in the Bahamas.
apnews.com
