On February 6, Illinois Congressman Brad Schneider escalated attacks on the National Rifle Association’s tax exempt status, pushing for an IRS investigation on top of the probes currently under way by the Attorneys General of New York state and the District of Columbia.
According to the Bloomberg-financed journalists at The Trace . . .
Democratic Representative Brad Schneider of Illinois reiterated his call for an Internal Revenue Service investigation into the National Rifle Association, citing the Trace’s April 2019 investigation with The New Yorker. In a new report released on February 6, he compiled numerous allegations of self-dealing and financial misconduct at the gun rights nonprofit and concluded that “American taxpayers are subsidizing the NRA’s scheme.”
A member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Schneider last year requested documents from the NRA and its vendors as he sought more information on possible violations of its tax-exempt status. But he says the organization stonewalled his queries and blocked its former public relations firm, Ackerman McQueen, from cooperating.
That New Yorker article was an orchestrated hit job by Everytown but let’s skip that part for now.
What about Congressman Schneider’s own past dealings and influence over not-for-profits, specifically Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action?
Just a few weeks after the Parkland shooting, this letter went out from one of Chicagoland’s lead red-shirted moms.
And — what do you know? — just like that, a few days later . . .
As Megan Kivarkis’s email makes clear, the Congressman contacted Moms Demand Action and asked them to reach out to (taxpayer funded) public schools in order to set up a political event for him (in a campaign year), using Everytown’s resources (and school children as props) to push his gun control agenda.
The email that MDA sent out states that they were reaching out at the request of Rep. Schneider.
Schneider, on the other hand, portrayed the event as being organized by the Moms . . .
On Saturday, I had the chance to meet and speak with students from more than a dozen area schools at a workshop program organized by Moms Demand Action. These young people are incredible. Their passion and energy are changing the debate on gun safety and setting an example for their elected leaders.
Uh, Congressman, the Moms said you wanted them to organize it in their 3/9/18 email. So which is it?
Maybe this should be investigated further. Because if you’re able to use a not-for-profit’s time and resources to set up events for your own political purposes (what appears to be an in-kind campaign contribution), that’s a huge no-no in the 501c world.
This article originally appeared at Mom at Arms and is reprinted here with permission.