illinois Rep Brad Schneider
Courtesy schneider.house.gov

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.

congressman brad schneider
Courtesy Schneider For Congress Facebook page

 

This article originally appeared at Mom at Arms and is reprinted here with permission. 

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18 COMMENTS

  1. Just more ridiculousness from the left.

    Where is the IRS audit of the Clintons, the Bidens, Pelosi, or Diane Feinstein?

  3. I’d say lets audit Planned Parenthood first. Besides Obama already did this through the Lerner IRS.

    • +1

      I’d say the willful murder of 600K+ defenseless babies by their own mothers(!) each year is a bigger threat to child safety than a few wingnuts who snap and commit their own evils. It’s a bit hypocritical for a “mom” to demand action against someone’s right to own a gun while simultaneously demanding the right to kill her own child.

  4. Why are you printing this from 2 years ago? Is TTAG page going the way of your facebook page?!?

  5. One of the few things the Libertarians get correct is the Flat Tax. This would eliminate the need for an IRS Regulation Industrial Complex. Neal Boortz, a Libertarian, was really good on this. He supported something similar called the Fair Tax.

    • So did Steve Forbes when he ran his own campaign for President.

      If the IRS is dismantled, though, their own S.W.A.T. team won’t have anything to do. Oh wait…they can just transfer over and join the Dept of Education’s S.W.A.T. Because everyone knows the DOE needs an assault team for those pesky 8th graders who refuse to go to the principal’s office when told to do so. Problem solved.

    • Politicians will still figure out a way to skim a little off the top. My question is this: If 10% was good enough for a king in the Bible, why wouldn’t it be good enough for the USA? After all, we’re the greatest and wealthiest nation ever. And I say that with great pride! Heck, we could probably get by on a 5% tax if so much of it wasn’t wasted on things the govt. shouldn’t be doing.

  7. Guess all of the big issues facing Illinois have been tackled. I truly despise Illinois democrats. And most of the so-called republican tax suckers for that matter. I miss the days when I could make fun of friends living in NJ & California.

  8. Even though the New Yorker article was funded by Bloomie, they seem to have gotten their facts right. NRA execs haven’t explained a lot of its behavior. There’s self-dealing with Hammer being paid $100k÷ and given sweetheart home financing as a Florida lobbyist while being a board member. There’s weird spending, like paying for a luxury condo for an intern, private jet charters, and donations to Wayne’s wife’s non-gun related charity. There’s a decades long relationship with AMcQ, and the NRA picks pricey, disgraced lawyer Brewer as outside council, who happens to be a an in-law of AMcQ execs. There’s questionable charges that seem to have been laundered through AMcQ to show as innoculous charges to NRA. There’s the aborted purchase of a $6M TX mansion for Wayne (whoever thought that was a good idea). Who voted for executive salaries well in excess of similarly sized non-profits and for-profits, with little evidence of stellar performance? There’s the refusal to have an independent 3rd party audit, and the retaliation against the board members who requested it. What were the reasons for the AMcQ fallout? Relation to the “coup” involving Ollie and Cox, and their subsequent ouster? Wasting tens of millions on NRATV? It goes on and on. I’m an NRA instructor and benefactor member. I’m holding onto my membership in hopes that Wayne and cronies will resign, get tossed, or be imprisoned. In the meantime, my money is going to FPC, where it is put to work. Even if the NRA rights itself, FPC will still get some money because they get results.

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