Associated Press/Evan Vucci
- The National Rifle Association is facing extraordinary legal bills that "pose an existential threat to the financial stability" of the organization, leaked letters say.
- Invoices from a lawyer that at one point topped $24 million "are draining NRA cash at mind boggling speed," according to an April 18 letter written in part by the former NRA president, Oliver North.
- North was forced out of the organization last month amid controversy and infighting.
- NRA officials disputed North’s claims in the documents, telling The Daily Beast that his views were "misinformed."
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The National Rifle Association has accumulated extraordinary legal bills that "pose an existential threat to the financial stability" of the organization, according to internal documents that were leaked online.
The documents, which were leaked anonymously but verified as authentic by The Daily Beast and The Wall Street Journal, reveal new details about the beleaguered organization’s finances.
The NRA has been under scrutiny for weeks, after its president Oliver North was forced out amid clashes with the longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre, who accused North of using financial impropriety allegations to extort him into resigning.
Associated Press/Michael Conroy
The leaked documents include a number of letters to the NRA’s board from North and another NRA official named Richard Childress. Among their chief concerns were the bills the NRA had racked up from an attorney named Bill Brewer, who billed the organization for roughly $24 million over a 13-month period, according to the invoices attached to one letter.
"The Brewer invoices are draining NRA cash at mindboggling speed," North and Childress wrote in the April 18 letter. "Invoices of this extraordinary magnitude deserve immediate attention, oversight, and a careful, competent and unbiased examination."
NRA officials disputed North’s claims in the documents, telling The Daily Beast that North’s views were "misinformed."
"The memo on the Brewer firm’s legal fees is inaccurate—it reflects a misinformed view of the firm, its billings, and its advocacy for the NRA," Charles Cotton, the chairman of the NRA’s Audit Committee, told the news outlet. "The board supports the work the firm is doing, the results achieved, and the value of its services. Importantly, this relationship has been reviewed, vetted and approved."
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Source: Business Insider – mmark@businessinsider.com (Michelle Mark)