Grover Norquist Suspends Himself from NRA Board Amid Investigation into Allegations of Islamist Ties

The NRA announced Grover Norquist’s re-election to the NRA Board of Directors on April 11 — but on Tuesday, the organization confirmed that Norquist has “voluntarily suspended” himself from NRA board activities.

Breitbart News spoke with an NRA spokesman who said that Norquist has indeed distanced himself from the board. The spokesman confirmed that “Grover Norquist has voluntarily suspended activities with the NRA Board of Directors as he awaits the outcome of an investigation into allegations against him.”

Breitbart News has previously reported that those allegations were leveled by Glenn Beck and Center for Security Policy president Frank Gaffney, both of whom charged Norquist has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and other dangerous Islamic factions.

On February 19, Breitbart News reported that Norquist responded to Gaffney’s allegations by describing Gaffney as someone who “spins conspiracy theories.” Norquist appeared on The Glenn Beck Program in late March and defended himself against Becks’ allegations. When the hour-long segment was over, Beck said he believed Norquist was “lying.”

On Tuesday, Breitbart News received comments from Norquist himself, through his press secretary, which indicate Norquist had informed board members of his decision to “voluntarily suspend” himself prior to his re-election on April 11. NRA members did in fact re-elect Norquist and Norquist did in fact decide he would step away under the investigation ends.

This reporter asked how long he expected the investigation to last. Norquist said he had no idea.

Norquist addressed the accusations put forth by Gaffney, but said nothing about Beck’s charges:

Frank Gaffney has been peddling this conspiracy for 15 plus years. The press has found it beneath contempt. The American Conservative Union looked at it all and voted to condemn Gaffney. The Paul Weyrich meeting looked at it and voted to expel Gaffney. Everyone with a stomach strong enough to look in-depth at Gaffney’s collection of nonsense — including that Grover is supposed to be gay — has found it ridiculous. This would be the fourth national conservative group to investigate Gaffney’s charges, and the fourth group to point out that Gaffney’s conspiracy theory is without merit.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.