On Tuesday, The New York Timesrevealed a new bombshell allegation against the National Rifle Association: since 2010, the group has reportedly transferred $206 million from its charitable foundation, to stave off increasingly serious financial losses.
The transfers are now under investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has sent letters to both the NRA and its foundation ordering them to preserve documents as part of the probe.
Both organizations deny they have done anything improper. But the revelations come on top of a long string of bad news for the powerful gun rights group.
In addition to declining membership and revenue under President Donald Trump, the NRA has faced a host of other accusations of self-enrichment, with several executives reportedly double-dipping and arranging personally beneficial vendor contracts with the organization's now-estranged advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen.
CEO Wayne LaPierre has also reportedly billed the NRA for $267,000 in personal expenses, including international flights, limousine rides, an Italian lake resort, and an intern's rent. This was detailed in documents allegedly leaked by former President Oliver North, who was ousted at the NRA's Indianapolis convention earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the group's legal woes are costing a fortune as well. The NRA is allegedly charging an outside counsel $97,000 a day as it fights a bevy of other investigations, as well as legal action by New York State against its "Carry Guard" gun owners' liability insurance plan. Last year, the NRA suggested in a lawsuit against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that this battle posed an existential threat to the organization.
The latest allegations against the NRA's use of charitable donations could potentially threaten its tax-exempt status in the state of New York.