Leaked NRA documents show bigger problems than outrageous sweetheart perks, accountants say

Wayne LaPierre.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A cache of internal National Rifle Association documents posted online last week listed some pretty eyebrow-raising expenses. CEO Wayne LaPierre — who earns more than $1.4 million a year — charged $275,000 at a Zegna men's clothing store in Beverley Hills, for example, and another $267,000 in personal expenses on trips to Budapest, the Bahamas, Florida, and an Italian lake resort. All these bills were channeled through the NRA's estranged longtime ad firm, Ackerman McQueen.

Recently ousted NRA President Oliver North reaped more than $1 million a year hosting a web-only show on Ackerman McQueen's NRATV, a channel with "minuscule web traffic" that is nonetheless the "signature product" in its $40 million annual haul from the NRA, The New York Times reports. Other NRA board members, executives, and friends also got fat consulting fees or other payments.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.