New York State Attorney General Letitia James is trying to dismantle the National Rifle Association (NRA) due to its culture of “self-dealing and illegal conduct” that violate state law.
In what was billed as a “major national announcement” on Thursday, James said, “Just 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 York’s charities law and undermine its own mission.”
Watch the announcement below:
#BREAKING: New York Attorney General Letitia James files lawsuit to dissolve NRA: "My office filed a lawsuit to dissolve the organization in its entirety." pic.twitter.com/FcJtVAS2XN
— The Hill (@thehill) August 6, 2020
#BREAKING: #NYAG Letitia James: "This lawsuit specifically charges the NRA as a whole in addition to 4 additional defendants:" Wayne LaPierre, Wilson Woody Phillips, Joshua Powell, and John Frazer. pic.twitter.com/QNu8W7Kbgk
— The Hill (@thehill) August 6, 2020
“This lawsuit specifically charges the NRA as a whole in addition to four individual defendants,” James added.
The defendants include the NRA’s 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 “failing to manage the NRA’s funds and failing to follow numerous state and federal laws.”
She claimed their actions “contributed to the loss of 64 million dollars” over the course of three years.
Specifically, she alleged that the NRA allocated “millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership.”
She also said the organization’s leadership had a history of “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.”
Her announcement comes more than a year after James launched an investigation into the NRA’s finances. At the time, the organization’s outside lawyer William Brewer said it would “fully cooperate with any inquiry into its finances.”
“The NRA is prepared for this, and has full confidence in its accounting practices and commitment to good governance,” he added.
James said that the investigation revealed that the NRA “fostered a culture of non-compliance and disregard for internal controls that led to the waste and loss of millions in assets.” She also said the agency “repeatedly” ignored internal polices.
NY AG Letitia James says the NRA "fostered a culture of noncompliance and disregard for internal controls that led to the waste and loss of millions in assets" https://t.co/yHU8ulrU7v pic.twitter.com/nVrkfcKfTk
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 6, 2020
And she charged that the NRA’s audit committee was “negligent in its duty to ensure appropriate, competent, and judicious stewardship of assets by NRA leadership.”
