N.Y. AG files lawsuit to dissolve the NRA, alleging widespread corruption
The lawsuit argues the NRA has diverted money away from its mission as a New York-chartered nonprofit for the personal gain of its top management.
On Thursday (Aug. 6), New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA), arguing that the gun rights advocacy organization and its leaders have misused tens of millions of dollars in charitable funds.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, argues that the NRA has diverted money away from its mission as a New York-chartered nonprofit for the personal gain of its top management, including CEO Wayne LaPierre, General Counsel John Frazer, former Treasurer and CFO Wilson “Woody” Phillips, and former Chief of Staff Joshua Powell.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that, unfortunately, the NRA was serving as a personal piggy bank to the four individual defendants,” James said in a news conference, adding that her office’s investigation against the NRA began in February 2019.
James’ lawsuit alleges that LaPierre used millions of dollars of the NRA’s money on private air travel for himself and his family, along with other benefits such as free big-game hunts in Africa and South America provided by an NRA vendor.
The spending was not appropriately reported to the state or to the Internal Revenue Service, James argued.
N.Y. AG takes swift action against NRA
While the Attorney General’s Office has “a wide range of supervisory powers over charitable corporations,” according to the suit, James said the dissolution was the appropriate demand in this case because the “corruption is so broad.”
James also asked the court to remove LaPierre and Frazier from their jobs, permanently bar all four individual defendants from serving as officers, directors or trustees of any New York nonprofit and direct the four men to pay restitution “for the waste and misuse of its charitable assets, including the return of salary received while breaching their fiduciary duties to the NRA.”
The New York attorney general’s suit is the latest in a series of enforcement actions against the NRA in New York. In February, the New York Department of Financial Services accused the NRA of violating state insurance laws.
The NRA filed suit against James in her professional and individual capacities on Aug. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, arguing that she has undertaken a “blatant and malicious retaliation campaign” against the NRA due to political disagreement with the group’s views.
NRA responds
William A. Brewer III, counsel to the NRA and partner at the Dallas- and New York-based Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, asked the court to enter a judgment declaring that the NRA is operating in substantial compliance with New York nonprofit law.
In a statement, Brewer said the firm will “aggressively defend” the NRA and its members.
“The investigation reveals the NYAG has aligned herself with disgraced vendors and former partners who would support a contrived narrative for personal gain,” Brewer said. “The truth is, the transactions in question have been reviewed, vetted and approved – and every dollar spent by the NRA has been in furtherance of its mission to defend constitutional freedom. End of story.”
In response to questions at a press conference about whether the suit is politically motivated, James said the filing is based on the facts and isn’t related to her personal opinions about guns.
“We came to the conclusion that enough is enough and we needed to step in and dissolve the organization, as we did with the Trump Foundation,” she said. Former New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation alleging extensive misconduct in 2018, and the foundation’s dissolution was announced later the same year.
In a statement issued through her attorneys Thursday, NRA president Carolyn Meadows said the lawsuit is an attempt to score political points.
“This was a baseless, premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to defend,” Meadows said. “You could have set your watch by it: the investigation was going to reach its crescendo as we move into the 2020 election cycle. It’s a transparent attempt to score political points and attack the leading voice in opposition to the leftist agenda. This has been a power grab by a political opportunist—a desperate move that is part of a rank political vendetta. Our members won’t be intimidated or bullied in their defense of political and constitutional freedom.”
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