NRA owes $1.6 million in unpaid bills to vendor who runs NRATV

The National Rifle Association has a hefty bill that remains unpaid, despite making a huge haul in fundraising for the 2016 election.

According to Betsy Woodruff at the Daily Beast, the NRA owes $1.6 million to their vendor, Ackerman McQueen, they've used for advertising for years. The company is the one responsible for doing the media for NRATV, the group's streaming service for pro-gun television.

The two have had a long relationship and err on the side of quiet privacy, which Woodruff said on MSNBC, shows just how acrimonious the battle has become.

The unpaid bills are part of a lawsuit that could end not only the business partnership but also the entire existence of NRATV.

“AMc requests that the Court issue an injunctive order requiring the NRA to post the $3,000,000 letter of credit mandated by the parties' contract,” the court documents outline. “The alternative is that AMc will be compelled to discontinue all services to the NRA and lose the employees who perform those services forever, incurring costs for severance the NRA is unlikely to pay without litigation.”

The documents go on to allege that a "shut down of those services will give the NRA an opening to claim a breach by AMc — a situation orchestrated by the NRA."

NRATV is cited extensively throughout the filing, with claims that NRATV had problems and AMc is being "scapegoated" for problems that are "related to the NRA's own self-governance, AMc has always operated at the direction of the NRA CEO.”

In April, then-chief Oliver North was removed from his leadership position after he revealed huge examples of financial mismanagement. The group was also caught giving President Donald Trump 9,259 times the legal limit in campaign contributions in 2016.

The organization has been dealing with serious legal bills as well. Not only were the overwhelming donations for Trump a problem, but they also face a hefty fine as a result of the move. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened to use the state to punish companies that do business with the NRA, prompting another lawsuit the group must fund. Wednesday it was also revealed that the NRA's CFO has a history of embezzlement.

You can read the full report at the Daily Beast.