N.Y. attorney general sues NRA, seeking its closure
Millions in restitution sought from four former and current leaders
NEW YORK >> New York’s attorney general issued an existential challenge to the National Rifle Association on Thursday, arguing in a lawsuit that years of runaway corruption and misspending demanded the dissolution of the nation’s most powerful gun rights lobby.
While the legal confrontation could take years to play out, it constitutes yet another deep blow to an organization whose legendary political clout has been diminished by infighting and financial distress.
The suit was swiftly followed by two others: The NRA struck back with a federal lawsuit against the office of the attorney general, Letitia James, claiming her action was politically motivated and violated the organization’s First Amendment rights. And the attorney general of Washington, D.C., filed suit against the NRA and its charitable foundation, alleging that the NRA misused millions of dollars of the foundation’s funds.
James — who has special jurisdiction over the NRA because it was chartered as a nonprofit in New York 148 years ago — also sued four current or former NRA leaders, seeking tens of millions of dollars
in restitution.
In addition to Wayne LaPierre, the longtime chief executive, they are John Frazer, the organization’s general counsel; Josh Powell, a former top lieutenant of LaPierre; and Wilson Phillips, a former chief financial officer.
While allegations of mismanagement and lavish spending by LaPierre and others have emerged from the NRA’s internecine warfare over the last year, the New York suit lays out a broad litany of new allegations of corruption and greed from executives who James said “looted” the NRA.
LaPierre is accused of raiding NRA funds to bankroll an extravagant lifestyle, even though he was already paid millions in direct compensation by the organization.
Over 6 1/2 years, the suit said, a personal travel consultant
for LaPierre was paid $13.5 million, largely on no-bid contracts. Private flights were chartered for LaPierre’s wife and his niece. He took frequent trips to the Bahamas on the NRA’s dime, often decamping to a 108foot yacht called “Illusions” that was owned by an NRA contractor and included a chef and four staterooms. He lavished gifts from Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman on his inner circle, and once put his niece up at a Four Seasons hotel for eight nights at a cost of more than $12,000, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit accuses the NRA and the executives of “violating numerous state and federal laws” by enriching themselves, as well as their friends, families and allies, and taking improper actions that cost the organization $64 million over three years. James is also seeking to oust LaPierre and Frazer, and to bar all four men from serving on nonprofit boards in New York again.
The lawsuit, which was filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, is a civil action, and it outlined a number of alleged tax violations. James said during a news conference that she was referring the matter to the Internal Revenue Service in addition to taking her own action, and did not rule out making a future criminal referral.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” she said. “If we uncover any criminal activity, we will refer it to the Manhattan district attorney. At this point in time, we’re moving forward, again, with civil enforcement.”
In a statement, LaPierre said: “This is an unconstitutional, premeditated attack aiming to dismantle and destroy the NRA — the fiercest defender of America’s freedom at the ballot box for decades. We’re ready for the fight. Bring it on.”
President Donald Trump, in comments Thursday, said, “That’s a very terrible thing that just happened,” adding that “the NRA should move to Texas and lead a very good and beautiful life.”
The NRA, however, cannot move its assets to another state amid the investigation, and even if it is dissolved, it would have to start over largely from scratch.
NRA officials have denounced James, a Democrat, since she referred to the group as a “terrorist organization” during her 2018 campaign and vowed to investigate it. As they have often done when under attack in the past, the NRA officials are likely to step up their fundraising efforts by stoking anger about the investigation among their more than 5 million members. “You could have set your watch by it: the investigation was going to reach its crescendo as we move into the 2020 election cycle,” the NRA’s president, Carolyn Meadows, said in a statement.
She also called the inquiry “a power grab by a political opportunist” and said “we not only will not shrink from this fight — we will confront it and prevail.”
The attorney general’s office previously presided over the dissolution of Trump’s scandal-marred charitable foundation, but the NRA is a far larger organization that is expected to put up a more prolonged fight.
The NRA has long wielded immense power in the nation’s politics. But amid its deepening troubles, it has taken an unusually low profile during this election season, though it said Thursday that it would spend tens of millions of dollars this year in battleground states.
James’ lawsuit is the culmination of an inquiry that began in February 2019 and played out amid revelations in the news media regarding the organization’s spending and governance practices.