New York State Attorney General Letitia James is trying to dismantle the National Rifle Association (NRA) due to its culture of âself-dealing and illegal conductâ that violate state law.
In what was billed as a âmajor national announcementâ on Thursday, James said, âJust a few minutes ago, my office filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association to dissolve the organization in its entirety for years of self-dealing and illegal conduct that violate New Yorkâs charities law and undermine its own mission.â
Watch the announcement below:
âThis lawsuit specifically charges the NRA as a whole in addition to four individual defendants,â James added.
The defendants include the NRAâs Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre, former treasurer Wilson Woody Phillips, the former chief of staff Joshua Powell, and corporate secretary and general counsel John Frazer.
James said the four defendants are charged with âfailing to manage the NRAâs funds and failing to follow numerous state and federal laws.â
She claimed their actions âcontributed to the loss of 64 million dollarsâ over the course of three years.
Specifically, she alleged that the NRA allocated âmillions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership.â
She also said the organizationâs leadership had a history of âawarding 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.â
Her announcement comes more than a year after James launched an investigation into the NRAâs finances. At the time, the organizationâs outside lawyer William Brewer said it would âfully cooperate with any inquiry into its finances.â
âThe NRA is prepared for this, and has full confidence in its accounting practices and commitment to good governance,â he added.
James said that the investigation revealed that the NRA âfostered a culture of non-compliance and disregard for internal controls that led to the waste and loss of millions in assets.â She also said the agency ârepeatedlyâ ignored internal polices.
And she charged that the NRAâs audit committee was ânegligent in its duty to ensure appropriate, competent, and judicious stewardship of assets by NRA leadership.â
