This comes after a dispute between the group's president, Oliver North, and chief executive officer, Wayne LaPierre, in which North accused LaPierre of financial misconduct, the Journal reported.
New York Attorney General Letitia James' office sent the NRA on Friday a document preservation order, according to the Journal. NPR was the first to report on the New York attorney general investigation.
The New York attorney general's probe centers on "related-party transactions between the NRA and its board members; unauthorized political activity; and potentially false or misleading disclosures in regulatory filings," a person familiar with language used in the order told the Journal.
A spokeswoman for James confirmed the investigation to the Journal and that subpoenas were issued, but declined further comment.
An outside attorney for the NRA told the newspaper that the organization "will fully cooperate with any inquiry into its finances."
"The NRA is prepared for this, and has full confidence in its accounting practices and commitment to good governance," William A. Brewer III said to the newspaper.
CNN has reached out to the New York attorney general's office and the NRA.
The Journal said New York investigators plan to look into alleged financial misconduct like the kind North recently raised in internal disputes.
In a letter to the NRA board Thursday, LaPierre claimed North was pressuring him to resign and attempting to extort him, the Journal reported Friday.
North sent the board his own letter, telling them he was forming a crisis committee to look into the NRA's finances, the newspaper noted.
He had previously accused LaPierre of charging over $200,000 in wardrobe purchases to a NRA vendor, according to the Journal.
North also raised other allegations to the board, including excessive travel expenses charged to a vendor and sexual harassment accusations against a senior NRA official, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
On Saturday, North informed members in a letter he will not be renominated president of the gun rights group.
The dispute between LaPierre and North had stemmed in part from the NRA's relationship with its contracted ad agency, Ackerman McQueen Inc., the Journal noted.
No comments:
Post a Comment