Just coming down the wire, Reuters reporter Jan Wolfe says that the National Rifle Association has “filed a petition for bankruptcy.” Thoughts and prayers. In a “Letter from Wayne,” meaning NRA top dog Wayne LaPierre, the beleaguered and dubious NRA chief said that the bankruptcy is “a restructuring plan that positions us for the long-term and ensures our continued success as the nation’s leading advocate for constitutional freedom—free from the toxic political environment of New York.”
Thoughts and prayers, buddy. Wayne must be talking about all of the New York-based investigations into his truly sketchy management of NRA monies over the past few years. Things like LaPierre and his wife’s interest in using NRA money in order to potentially purchase a $6 million “luxury mansion” in Westlake, Texas. This filing has been coming for some time as the gun-loving NRA has reportedly been bleeding tens of millions of dollars for years now. Reports of cut backs to free water and coffee for employees at their Virginia headquarters goes back to 2018.
Thoughts and prayers, guys.
The Trump administration has not marked the great ascent of the NRA as leadership and others had hoped. Internal strife surrounding the misuse and mismanagement of the nonprofit’s funds has been one of the ugly revelations over the past couple of years. Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, it quietly came out that the NRA had already been laying off dozens of employees, weekly, for many months—possibly hoping not to alarm anyone into paying attention to how dire their financial situation had become.
As the year has progressed, the only stories coming out about the NRA unconnected to their financial troubles were connected to the abject hypocrisy of the organization itself. After decades of painting the idea of background checks as an attack on personal privacy, it turned out the company was selling off their memberships’ personal data to Trump’s pay-to-play friends.
In LaPierre’s letter to membership, he makes it clear that the hope here is to reset the clock, get out from under the investigations into possibly criminal and fraudulent financial practices in New York, and begin again in Texas. “We are DUMPING [sic] New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas.”
If karma exists, the NRA has earned this.
