As part of scrutiny by New York investigators in an ongoing probe into the National Rifle Association's tax-exempt status, documents indicate the gun lobby planned to buy a $6 million luxury mansion in the Dallas area last year for the use of CEO Wayne LaPierre, according to two people familiar with the records, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The NRA and its longtime ad firm, Ackerman McQueen, which are currently involved in a bitter legal battle, also are arguing over whose idea it was to buy the mansion, its proposed purpose, and the reason the agreement never went through.
The revelations the NRA was involved in discussions about the mansion also come as the nonprofit is dealing with the fallout from allegations of lavish spending by top executives.
Leaked documents show the NRA paid more than $500,000 for private jet trips for LaPierre – including one to the Bahamas with his wife after the Sandy Hook mass shooting – and numerous Italian designer suits.
If the NRA had bought a house for LaPierre, it would have had to justify to the IRS he needed it to do his job, or it would have had to report the purchase in its tax filing as part of LaPierre's compensation, attorney Douglas Varley, who is an expert on tax-exempt organizations, told the Post.
"Both of those strike me as extraordinarily high bars to get over," Varley said, adding the IRS could revoke the gun lobby's tax-exempt status on the grounds of "inurement," meaning the group's leadership is treating its assets as private property.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.