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New York attorney general sues to shut down NRA, alleging widespread fraud New York attorney general sues to shut down NRA, alleging widespread fraud
(32 minutes later)
Letitia James alleges top executives used NRA as ‘personal piggy bank’ and diverted money to pay for trips to the Bahamas and private jetsLetitia James alleges top executives used NRA as ‘personal piggy bank’ and diverted money to pay for trips to the Bahamas and private jets
New York’s attorney general has sued to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA), alleging that senior leaders used the powerful gun lobby group as their “personal piggy bank” and illegally diverted millions of dollars from its charitable work.New York’s attorney general has sued to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA), alleging that senior leaders used the powerful gun lobby group as their “personal piggy bank” and illegally diverted millions of dollars from its charitable work.
Attorney general Letitia James alleged that NRA leaders diverted funds to pay for family trips to the Bahamas and private jets, which contributed to a $64m reduction in the balance sheet in three years, turning a surplus into a deficit. She called for the organization’s leader, Wayne LaPierre, to be removed from his post.Attorney general Letitia James alleged that NRA leaders diverted funds to pay for family trips to the Bahamas and private jets, which contributed to a $64m reduction in the balance sheet in three years, turning a surplus into a deficit. She called for the organization’s leader, Wayne LaPierre, to be removed from his post.
“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 said at a press conference on Thursday.“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 said at a press conference on Thursday.
LaPierre and three other current and former senior members of the organization are named in the lawsuit, along with the organization as a whole. James asked New York’s court to force the executives to repay NRA members based on the findings in her investigation. The NRA “has operated as a breeding ground for greed, abuse and brazen illegality,” she said, adding: “No one is above the law.”
NRA leadership are also accused of awarding contracts to close associates and family and giving no-show contracts to former employees “in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty”. LaPierre and three other current and former senior members of the organization are named in the 164-page lawsuit, along with the organization as a whole. James asked New York’s court to force the executives to repay NRA members based on the findings in her investigation.
The NRA has been registered as a not-for-profit in New York since 1871. Under state law, charitable organizations are required to file financial reports to the state and to use their assets to serve the interests of their membership.The NRA has been registered as a not-for-profit in New York since 1871. Under state law, charitable organizations are required to file financial reports to the state and to use their assets to serve the interests of their membership.
“As today’s complaint lays out, we’ve found the NRA instead fostered a culture of non-compliance and disregard for internal controls that led to the waste and lost of millions of assets and contributed to the NRA’s current deteriorated financial state,” James said.“As today’s complaint lays out, we’ve found the NRA instead fostered a culture of non-compliance and disregard for internal controls that led to the waste and lost of millions of assets and contributed to the NRA’s current deteriorated financial state,” James said.
The three other named defendants are the NRA’s former treasurer and chief financial officer, Wilson “Woody” Phillips, former chief of staff an executive director of general operations, Joshua Powell, and corporate secretary and general counsel, John Frazer. James said the executives “looted” the NRA’s assets for their own benefit. NRA leadership are also accused of awarding contracts to close associates and family and giving no-show contracts to former employees “in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty”.
In the lawsuit, prosecutors allege LaPierre and has family visited the Bahamas by private airplane on at least eight occasions at a cost of more than $500,000 to the NRA. On those trips, they were allegedly gifted the use of a 107ft yacht owned by an NRA vendor. NRA President Carolyn Meadows said the lawsuit was a “baseless, premeditated attack” on the organization. She cast it as a politicized attack by a Democratic state attorney general on conservatives and the constitution’s second amendment, which enshrines the right to bear arms.
“You could have set your watch by it: the investigation was going to reach its crescendo as we move into the 2020 election cycle,” Meadows said. “It’s a transparent attempt to score political points and attack the leading voice in opposition to the leftist agenda. This has been a power grab by a political opportunist – a desperate move that is part of a rank political vendetta.”
Meadows also said the NRA had filed a counter lawsuit against the attorney general.
In the lawsuit, prosecutors allege LaPierre and has family visited the Bahamas by private airplane on at least eight occasions at a cost of more than $500,000 to the NRA. On those trips, they were allegedly gifted the use of a 107ft yacht, named Illusions, owned by an NRA vendor.
LaPierre testified that he considered the use of the yacht as “a safe place to do [business], and [] didn’t consider it a gift.”
“Efforts to question or challenge LaPierre’s leadership were quashed or ignored,” the complaint alleges.“Efforts to question or challenge LaPierre’s leadership were quashed or ignored,” the complaint alleges.
The Guardian has contacted the NRA for comment. The three other named defendants are the NRA’s former treasurer and chief financial officer, Wilson “Woody” Phillips; the former chief of staff an executive director of general operations, Joshua Powell; and corporate secretary and general counsel, John Frazer. James said the executives “looted” the NRA’s assets for their own benefit.
More details soon … Phillips served as the NRA’s treasurer from 1992 to 2018. Just before his retirement, Phillips allegedly entered into an independent consulting agreement with the NRA, which agreed to pay him $30,000 per month for five years. There is no evidence this was reviewed or approved by the group’s audit committee, according to the complaint.
Powell was hired in 2016 and LaPierre testified that by the end of 2018, it had become obvious Powell was unpopular with employees and “abusive” to some. In that year, Powell’s salary was $800,000 a year, he received a housing allowance and was promoted to the role of senior strategist, according to the complaint, which said he terminated in January for “misappropriating funds”.
Around June 2018, the NRA settled a potential sexual discrimination claim about Powell’s conduct for $89,000, according to the suit.
Frazer first worked at the NRA in 1993, then left in 2013 to work in private practice for roughly a year and a half. He obtained his law degree in 2008 and returned to the NRA as general counsel in January 2017. His salary was increased that September to $360,000, according to the complaint, which notes that there is no indication he had “relevant legal experience” for the position.
Central to the complaint is the NRA’s leader for nearly 30 years, LaPierre.
LaPierre was re-elected by the NRA’s board in 2019, despite criticism from members and leaders that there was corruption in the organization. Insiders had described an organization beset by warring factions and excessive spending by leadership.
The complaint alleges NRA leadership worked to conceal the nature and scope of whistleblower complaints in the organization. LaPierre specifically is accused of taking actions to “intimidate, punish, and expel anyone at a senior level who raised concerns about his conduct”.
From May 2015 to April 2019, the NRA incurred over $1m in private flight expenses when LaPierre was not a passenger, according to the complaint, which said these expenses were not authorized or consented by the NRA board.
From 2013 to 2017, the NRA reimbursed LaPierre more than $65,000 for Christmas gifts stores including Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.
James, the attorney general, has previously called the NRA a “terrorist organization” and opened an investigation into the group shortly after being elected to her post in November 2018.
In calling for the organization to be dissolved, prosecutors cited previous investigations by past New York attorney generals which forced two groups to shutter: Trump’s charitable foundation and a Brooklyn group which provided help to people with developmental disabilities.
In May 2019, Donald Trump tweeted that James and New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, were “illegally using the state’s legal apparatus to take down and destroy this very important organization”.