NRA board members received payments amid excessive spending allegations: report

Several National Rifle Association (NRA) board members collected a combined hundreds of thousands of dollars from the group over the past three years, The Washington Post reports.

About one-fourth of the 76-member board collected money, the Post reports, citing tax filings, state charitable reports and other correspondence. The board members are not paid as directors of the organization.

{mosads}Among the 18 known members who received NRA funds, a former professional football player got $400,000 for public outreach and firearms training, while a New Mexico writer received more than $28,000 to write articles for the organization’s publications and a third person sold ammunition from his private company to the NRA for an unknown amount.

The NRA disputed allegations of misspending in a statement to the Post. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said the number of financial relationships between directors and the organization is “small.”

But some members, including basketball Hall of Famer Karl Malone, expressed concern over the report.

“If these allegations are correct and 18 board members received pay, you’re damn right I am [concerned],” Malone told the Post. “If it’s correct, the members who pay their dues should be damn concerned, too.”

The report follows several other allegations of misspending among top NRA officials and an ongoing investigation into the organization by the New York attorney general.

NRA board members don’t have to donate or raise funds for the group, and they do not have term limits.

The report also comes as the group has expressed that it is facing financial hardships in a lawsuit against the state of New York.