LaPierre & @NRA leaders "instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight...evaded internal controls to allow themselves, their families, favored board members, employees & vendors" to benefit financially
@TishJames@NRA 3/ As for LaPierre the indictment is pretty stark: he abused his position as a fiduciary to @NRA to obtain millions of dollars in personal benefits in the form of undisclosed, excessive compensation, which includes in-kind benefits and reimbursements from the NRA & its vendors
@TishJames@NRA 4/ Millions of $ in @NRA funds ➡️ into LaPierre's pockets:
For example: LaPierre has flown exclusively by private charter for over a decade, costing @NRA $10,000,000+
Asked *why* he, his wife, and other family members had to only fly private, LaPierre answers: "security"
@TishJames@NRA 5/ LaPierre used same explanation when asked about use of 108-foot "Illusions" yacht (owned by @NRA contractor)
LaPierre testified he used yacht as “a security retreat" but then admitted no security staff accompanied him on these trips, nor did they perform any security checks
@TishJames@NRA 6/ In April 2021, LaPierre finally admitted the use of the consultants "Illusions" yacht constituted a gift from an NRA contractor in excess of $250 requiring disclosure under NRA policy. It also constituted a private benefit to LaPierre in violation of NRA policy. Oops.
@TishJames@NRA 7/ LaPierre was reimbursed for lavish gifts to friends & favored employees.
2013 - 2017, LaPierre was reimbursed $1.2 million+ in expenses & gifts in excess of the $25 limit permitted by IRS for business gifts.
The reimbursement should've been reported as W2 income to Wayne
@TishJames@NRA 8/ LaPierre & favored employees stayed in luxury hotels in violation of NRA policy that employees "incur the lowest practical & reasonable expense” when traveling
ie LaPierre expensed $12,332.75 for niece’s 8-night stay at Four Seasons in Dallas, TX. Nightly rate: $1,350
@TishJames@NRA 9/ LaPierre hid a lot of these lavish expenses by convincing favored @NRA contractors (with whom he had longstanding friendships) to pass through his spending to @NRA
He would charge spending to the vendor....the vendor would then bill @NRA...
@TishJames@NRA 10/ Under umbrella of “Pass-through Expenses,” @NRA paid for millions in entertainment & travel incurred by NRA executives and associates— without scrutiny from within the organization
- meals at upscale restaurants
- cigar bar
- NASCAR, country music events & medical visits
@TishJames@NRA 11/ LaPierre made sweetheart deals with board members, vendors, and favored employees (many of which occurred w/o oversight or knowledge of the Board)
These excessive payments were made in exchange for little, if any, services & non-disclosure/non-disparagement agreements
@TishJames@NRA 12/ The outgoing Treasurer for @NRA received a contract in which NRA agreed to pay Phillips $30,000 per month for 5 years for consulting services (yep, that's 30k, not 3k)
This individual provided no actual consulting services to the NRA under this agreement
@TishJames@NRA 13/ Then there's all this weird stuff with LaPierre's personal assistant & his travel consultant
Assistant diverted $41,820.37 from @NRA & she still works there at $250k/y salary
Travel consultant got paid $13.5 million over a 6 year period (and was charging crazy $ for years)
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1/ The White House’s withdrawal of David Chipman’s nomination to head ATF represents a significant setback for @POTUS's efforts to fight rising gun violence & firearm trafficking...
@POTUS 2/ However, Chipman's withdrawal is a boon for gun manufacturers that continue to profit from the weak enforcement of existing gun laws & have spent millions maligning this dedicated public servant.
@POTUS 3/ Remember when their Congressional representatives argued we shouldn't enforce any gun laws?
(Yes, they actually want to see more crime because they profit from it)
So of course TX just enacted a law that allows most Texans who legally own a firearm to carry it openly in public without obtaining a permit or training
That's right, no training required
2/ Gun rights advocates call it constitutional carry
1869: “Every person shall have the right to keep and bear arms…under such regulations as the legislature may prescribe” Tex. Const of 1869, art. I, § 13
So did TX laws...
3/ Texas used to regulate gun ownership....1874: Texas's “An Act to Regulate the Keeping and Bearing of Deadly Weapons” prohibited the carrying of “any pistol, dirk, dagger, slung-shot, sword-cane, spear, brass-knuckles, bowie-knife, or any other kind of knife.”
1/ This AM, @Smith_WessonInc, one of the world's largest manufacturers of firearms, released first quarter fiscal 2022 financial results, bragging that it made $274.6 M in net sales.
I compared that number to the *cost of gun violence* during that period. Look at what I found..
@Smith_WessonInc 2/ Using data from @GunDeaths, I pulled the number of gun deaths and injuries from May 1, 2021 - July 31, 2021.
As @Smith_WessonInc was making $274.6 million by flooding our communities with *even more* firearms, we experienced:
1/ @fred_guttenberg tweeted this cartoon of kids saying, "I wish the adults were as passionate about stopping school shootings as they are about stopping us from wearing masks."
But is there a connection between governors rejecting Covid science & gun safety measures....
15/ In late 2020, @NRA *finally admitted* in federal disclosures that its senior leadership, including LaPierre, spent charitable assets to benefit themselves personally.
@NRA 16/ NY Attorney General @TishJames alleges that even these disclosures "are incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, and the result of an uneven and opaque process that raises serious questions about the scope and method relied upon to calculate the disclosed transactions"
@NRA@TishJames 17/ And turns out @NRA continued to perpetuate this corruption EVEN AFTER NY Attorney General commenced this action in August 2020 ⬇️
@SenAngusKing@davidchipman Politico reports @SenAngusKing is "under pressure to buck a pick seen as resistant to gun rights in a state where hunting and gun rights are part of many voters’ DNA"
Supporting background checks ensures PROHIBITED PURCHASERS don't buy a gun what does that have to do w/ hunting?
@SenAngusKing@davidchipman Politico lists policies @DavidChipman supports (as ATF director he would be enforcing *existing laws* not making new ones, obvi).
Majority of gun owners actually back all of this; it's *gun industry* that doesn't b/c it shrinks the market and makes it harder for them to make $