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New York AG Letitia James Sues To Dissolve The NRA For "Fraud And Abuse"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 6, 2020
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 6, 2020
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New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Thursday that her office is suing the National Rife Association for "years of self-dealing and illegal conduct that violates New York's charities law and undermines its own mission."
“The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets,” James said at a press conference. “The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law.”
The NRA is incorporated as a not-for-profit in New York, and is overseen by the AG's Charities Bureau, which has been investigating the pro-gun rights organization for over a year.
James said her suit details how "the NRA diverted millions and millions of dollars away from its charitable mission for personal use by senior leadership to award contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family and appeared to dole out lucrative no-show contract to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty."
In addition to suing the NRA itself, James named four of its executives in the suit: the former treasurer, the former chief of staff, the top lawyer, and its longtime leader, Wayne LaPierre.
"LaPierre, together with his direct reports...instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight at the NRA. They overrode and evaded internal controls to allow themselves, their families, favored board members, employees and vendors to benefit through reimbursed expenses, related party transactions, excess compensation, side deals, and waste of charitable assets without regard to the NRA’s best interests," the 169-page complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, LaPierre expensed more than $100,000 for his golf club membership, hundreds of thousands of dollars for a trip to Africa, and $65,000 for Christmas gifts for his staff.
Here's one typical excerpt from the complaint:
In March 2019, LaPierre and his wife took a private flight from Washington D.C. to Orlando, FL, and stopped in North Platte, NE, on the way back to drop off his niece and grandniece. These flights cost $78,900. In April 2019, LaPierre and his wife took a private flight from Washington D.C. to Tulsa, OK, making additional stops in Omaha and North Platte, NE. These flights cost $49,535. The current Treasurer testified that he did not know of any NRA business purpose that would be served by private flights to or from North Platte, NE.
Last year the Washington Post obtained a copy of the NRA's financial report and revealed that the organization was over $10 million in debt
The NRA has not responded to a request for comment. In a series of tweets, the organization called the lawsuit the result of a "political vendetta" and vowed to fight it.
You can read the entire complaint here.
Last month, James released a report concerning the NYPD's behavior during the protests that roiled New York City during late May and early June. While the report made sweeping recommendations for police reform, it did not conclude whether the NYPD's well-documented response to the protests was appropriate or not, though the AG's office says another report on the NYPD is forthcoming.
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letitia james
attorney general
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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