| Dear Katy, A new Senate report makes it clear: The NRA is not just a toxic and deadly force in American politics, it is also a corrupt organization that doesn't deserve IRS tax-exempt status. The report found that the NRA paid for a trip to Moscow to solicit private business opportunities for some of its leaders.1 Using organizational funds for personal gain like this is a clear violation of the rules governing nonprofit organizations. So not only is the NRA trying to partner with the Kremlin to pervert American democracy, it is breaking the law to do so. This is not the first time the NRA has faced questions about its tax-exempt status – but it should be the last. Democratic senators are calling on the IRS to investigate, and we need to demand that the IRS revoke the NRA's tax-exempt status. Tell the IRS: Revoke the NRA's tax-exempt status. Click here to sign the petition. The NRA is a den of self-dealing and corruption. One past investigation found that the NRA was so intertwined with its for-profit public relations firm that it was hard to figure out where one stopped and the other began. Former NRA President Oliver North and other top leaders received millions in payouts from the ad firm. The organization is rife with sweetheart deals, shady financial arrangements and misuse of funds. One former IRS official said, the "litany of red flags is just extraordinary."2 On top of it all, Russia may have used the NRA to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections. The NRA spent at least $55 million in the 2016 election cycle to advance not only its "guns everywhere" agenda, but right-wing Republican extremism more broadly, including at least $30 million that was directly focused on electing racist, misogynistic and xenophobic Trump. There is some evidence that Russian funds made up some of that record NRA spending.3 Senate Democrats recently released a report detailing the ties between the NRA and Moscow. It confirms what we already knew: the NRA, working with Russian agents Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin, helped the Kremlin extend its influence over far-right conservative circles in the United States. But it also shows that NRA officials traveled to Moscow to boost their private gun businesses and used nonprofit funds to do it.4 The NRA has a long history of racism and reactionary, xenophobic and violent rhetoric. There is more and more evidence that it is corrupt and violates nonprofit laws, as well. It's long past time for the IRS to step in, investigate and revoke the NRA's nonprofit status. Tell the IRS: Revoke the NRA's tax-exempt status. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/nra-irs?t=9&akid=34510%2E12967895%2EsgOqzF Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Catherine Kim, "A new Senate report is the latest threat to NRA's tax-exempt status — and maybe its survival," Vox, Sept. 28, 2019.
- Sebastian Murdoch, "NRA Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Over Shady Business Practices, Report Says," HuffPost, April 19, 2019.
- Peter Stone and Greg Gordon, "FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump," McClatchy DC Bureau, Jan. 18, 2018.
- Kim, "A new Senate report is the latest threat to NRA's tax-exempt status — and maybe its survival."
Photos: Getty Images: Trump: Mandel Ngan, Putin: Mikhail Svetlov |
No comments:
Post a Comment