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STATE’S AG
BRINGS SUIT
TO SHUT NRA
James: LaPierre, 3 Other Execs
Caused Non-Profit To Lose $64M
ALBANY – State Attorney General Letitia James today filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the NRA, the National Rifle Association.
“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 declared at a press conference in New York City.
“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 INDEPENDENT: Who Is Letitia James?
James charged the organization with illegal conduct “because of their diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no-show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty,” according to a press release from the attorney general’s office.
The lawsuit collides with another Upstate initiative: Sportsman and allies in a number of counties, including Otsego, are seeking “Second Amendment sanctuaries,” where the state’s SAFE Act, passed after the Newtown school massacre in 2012, would not be enforced.
The suit charges the NRA as a whole, as well as Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and other current and former officials with “failing to manage the NRA’s funds and failing to follow numerous state and federal laws,” causing the non-profit to lose $64 million in three years.”
In the complaint, James alleges LaPierre and three other defendants failed to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the NRA and used millions of NRA reserves for personal use, including trips to the Bahamas, private jets, expensive meals, and other private travel.
In addition to shutting down the NRA, the attorney general seeks to recoup millions and stop the defendants from again serving on non-profit boards.