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| New York attorney general sues to dissolve NRA | New York attorney general sues to dissolve NRA |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| New York's attorney general has announced a lawsuit aimed at dissolving the powerful National Rifle Association over alleged financial mismanagement. | |
| Letitia James said the NRA had diverted millions of dollars to leaders including its head, Wayne LaPierre, for their personal use. | |
| "For these years of misconduct we are seeking an order to dissolve the NRA entirely," she said. | |
| The NRA described the lawsuit as a "baseless, premeditated attack". | |
| What did the Attorney General say? | |
| Ms James said that the four named defendants - Mr LaPierre, Wilson Phillips, Joshua Powell and John Frazer "instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement and negligent oversight at the NRA that was illegal, oppressive and fraudulent". | |
| The attorney general outlined a litany of charges against the defendants, but accused Mr LaPierre, long the face of the powerful gun lobby group, of being the "central figure" behind the organisation's wrongdoings. | |
| One example of misconduct alleged in the lawsuit states that Mr LaPierre visited the Bahamas more than eight times by private plane using funds intended for the NRA, for a total cost of $500,000 (£380,225). | |
| The corruption "is so broad", Ms James said, that total dissolution of the organisation is necessary. | |
| Responding to questions, Ms James, a Democrat, rejected the notion that the charges against the NRA - closely tied to the Republican party - were at all influenced by her own politics. | |
| "We followed the facts and the law," she said. "We've come to the conclusion that the NRA unfortunately was serving as a personal piggy bank to four individual defendants." | |
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