It looks like the federal government is turning up the heat on National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre, 70. The NRA boss’s organization has been under threat of dissolution since New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) filed a civil lawsuit in early August, but LaPierre also reportedly faces potential criminal legal peril. The Wall Street Journal, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reported on Monday that the IRS is investigating LaPierre for potential criminal tax fraud. James’s lawsuit accused LaPierre of using a “poison pill contract” to ensure he would receive an income for life from the NRA worth more than $17 million and of consolidating power within the organization by nefarious means. He used his position to “intimidate, punish, and expel anyone at a senior level who raised concerns about his conduct,” resulting in the diverting of “millions of dollars away from the charitable mission, imposing substantial reductions in its expenditures for core program services, including gun safety, education, training, member services and public affairs.” LaPierre’s personal expenditures while serving as the head of a nonprofit organization were allegedly lavish. (Skip) As the Wall Street Journal noted, James said at the press conference announcing the lawsuit that she was, indeed, referring the case to the IRS. P. Kent Correll, a LaPierre lawyer, and William A. Brewer III, an outside attorney for the NRA, both told the newspaper that they were not aware of an IRS inquiry. Correll said comment would be “premature”; Brewer said that the NRA would cooperate with “any appropriate requests for assistance.”  [full article]