Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Senate Democrats have told National Rifle Association executives to turn over documents as they dig deeper into serious allegations of self-dealing that could threaten the organization’s nonprofit status. The Washington Post reports three members of the Senate Committee on Finance have set a May 16 deadline for documents from NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, former NRA President Oliver North, and the group’s PR firm, Ackerman McQueen. The NRA has been thrown into turmoil after LaPierre claimed North tried to extort him by threatening to give a “devastating account” of the NRA’s financial status unless LaPierre stepped down from his post. The senators, whose committee has jurisdiction over tax-exempt organizations, have asked for all supporting evidence for the financial-misconduct allegations. William Brewer III, the NRA’s outside counsel, vowed that the organization will “cooperate with all appropriate information requests.”