New York State Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the National Rifle Association.
Igor Volsky, the executive director of the gun safety organization Guns Down America, analyzed the lawsuit in a thread posted on Twitter.
Here are his observations:
1/ I just finished reading @NewYorkStateAG’s 169 page lawsuit against @NRA and I’m shocked beyond belief at the level of corruption, lawlessness, and self-dealing.
What follows is a THREAD that highlights the very worst abuses alleged by @TishJames.
Buckle in.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
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3/ According to the lawsuit, LaPierre spent *at least* $1.3 million chartering private flights between 2016 and 2018 for himself and his family members.
Turns out, he wasn’t even present on many of those flights!
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
5/ In October 2016, LaPierre authorized a private flight for his wife to fly alone from Madison, WI, to Kearney, NE.
Asked why she did not use a commercial airline, LaPierre testified “I think it was probably easier to fly private, more convenient.”
Cost of flight: $8,800.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
7/ @NRA rails against “Hollywood elite” & celebrities, but LaPierre testified he visits the Bahamas in December to attend a “celebrity retreat” organized by an individual who also happens to be a principal stakeholder in businesses that have business relationships with NRA!
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
9/ But don’t worry, LaPierre often visits the Bahamas in the summer as well! During these trips, he stays on a 108-foot yacht named Illusions.
It has 4 staterooms, a 16-foot jet boat, and 2 jet skis.
LaPierre described Illusions as “a big, big yacht” w/ a crew & a chef
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
11/ LaPierre testified he has never received a gift of value in excess of $250 from an @NRA contractor or employee of an NRA contractor.
But of course LaPierre’s use of the yacht constituted a gift from an NRA contractor in excess of $250 requiring disclosure under NRA policy.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
13/ @NRA uses a dedicated travel agency. But they’re not good enough for LaPierre. @NewYorkStateAG‘s lawsuit reveals LaPierre uses his own travel consultant — and pays them exorbitant fees (with @NRA membership dues of course).
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
15/ From August 2014 to January 2020, @NRA paid LaPierre’s Travel Consultant more than **$13.5 million**
In 2018, the NRA paid LaPierre’s Travel Consultant $2,630,531.71
In the first six months of 2019 alone, the NRA paid LaPierre’s Travel Consultant $1,007,597.80
I mean…
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
17/ Some of LaPierre’s personal expenses reimbursed by @NRA:
– $65,000 for Christmas gifts for his staff, donors, friends.
– $648.55 in gifts from Neiman Marcus to that highly paid travel consultant
– $1,590 in Christmas gifts to the co-founder of Ackerman
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
19/ Fancy hotel rooms for family members were also paid for by @NRA:
– $12,332.75 for his niece’s 8-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dallas, TX.
– In 2016 and 2017, LaPierre was reimbursed over $38,000 in expenses for his niece’s airfare & lodging
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
21/ LaPierre has a separate budget to pay consultants.
It won’t surprise you that a lot of these consultant contracts were processed & paid for without any written contracts in place…
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
23/ Spoiler: Phillips provided no actual consulting services to the NRA under this agreement.
The lawsuit concludes, “Payments made to Phillips under this agreement are ex gratia payments and a waste of charitable assets.”
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
25/ You won’t be surprised to learn that Powell not only disregarded his disclosure obligations under @NRA’s conflict-of interest policy, but took affirmative steps to hide the conflict from the NRA officer he was supposed to disclose it to.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
27/ Powell is a piece of work. In 2018, @NRA settled a sexual discrimination claim made against Powell’s for $89K
A couple months later, Powell was accused of sexual harassment
LaPierre didn’t launch an investigation or take any disciplinary action regarding Powell’s behavior.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
29/ At some point in the 2000s, LaPierre’s assistant was accused of diverting money from @NRA to use for personal expenses.
Her corporate card was taken away, BUT she continued to have access to and use of other NRA employees’ corporate credit cards!
(What could go wrong?)
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
31/ LaPierre’s Senior Assistant also loves black cars.
On a single day, she incurred over $1,100 in black car bills for her husband’s trips to and from airports.
On another occasion, she $1,300 in black car bills to transport him from New York to Washington D.C.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
33/ @NRA agreed to an arrangement w/ Ackerman McQueen whereby it paid invoices with minimal detail and little supporting documentation
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
35/ Ackerman billed @NRA for out of pocket expenses by submitting non particularized invoices that aggregated the expenses into a lump sum amount and provided no details on the nature or purpose of the expenses
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
37/ With respect to LaPierre, the false reporting exposed @NRA to tax and penalty liability and permitted him to file false personal tax returns with the IRS.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
39/ At @NRA conventions, Ackerman paid for LaPierre’s family to stay at a luxury private hotel, apart from the host hotel at which NRA employees & board members were staying.
These costs were billed to the NRA as pass-through expenses
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
41/ The Executive Director of Advancement also took part in the corruption, frequently staying at luxury hotels like the Four Seasons, the St. Regis, the Ritz Carlton, and the Beverly Hills Hotel.
He routinely stayed in suites costing over $1,500 a night.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
43/ LaPierre regularly directed @NRA to pay officers, directors, and former employees millions of dollars in “consulting” agreements without Board approval
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
45/ LaPierre testified that he was under the impression that it was a severance agreement, and that he authorized it out of concern that the former Executive Director might disparage the @NRA.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
47/ @NRA entered into a post-employment agreement with its Managing Director of Affinity and Licensing
The individual retired from @NRA in January 2016 but was still paid a full year’s salary, $630,000, AND paid by @NRA after his retirement:
$713,000 in 2017
$535,000 in 2018— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
49/ LaPierre testified that he did not know whether his post-employment contract was disclosed to @NRA the NRA Board
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
51/ LaPierre effectively dominates and controls @NRA Board as a whole through his control of business, patronage and special payment opportunities for board members.
He paid at least 5 board members for services that were (likely) never rendered
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020
52/ LaPierre effectively ousted former @NRA President Oliver North after he began to review @NRA’s expenses and business operations.
Board members who publicly expressed concern about @NRA’s actions were denied the committee assignments they requested and some resigned
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 7, 2020