State investigates NRA spending committee

OLYMPIA – The Washington state Public Disclosure Commission has launched an investigation into a spending committee for the National Rifle Association.

The Seattle Times reported the probe involves the committee’s campaign-finance disclosure filings during the 2014 elections.

The committee – the National Rifle Association of Washingtonians Opposed to I-594 – argued against an initiative that expanded gun-purchase background checks to private transfers and sales. Voters approved the initiative.

The state commission said the committee made at least five campaign-disclosure filings that were later than the legal requirement.

Campaigns must report donations by the following Monday after they’re received. But the NRA committee’s disclosure reports were made weeks, and in some cases more than a month, after donations were received.

The filings involved about $350,000 transferred from the NRA to its local spending committee.