New York Attorney General James has filed a lawsuit against the powerful gun lobby NRA – with the aim of disbanding the group. Officials had embezzled funds for years.
The press conference was big and announced mysteriously: It was about an important national matter, promised Attorney General Letitia James. And then she kept her promise: “My office has filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association. To dissolve it.”
After years of self-enrichment and illegal behavior. The lobby group violated the New York donation law and its own mission. Over the years, the heads of the arms lobby group inflicted damage amounting to the equivalent of 54 million euros. Among other things, four management members are said to have misappropriated funds and given orders to family members and friends.
“They have used millions and millions of dollars in the organization personally. Luxury travel for themselves and their families, private jets, expensive meals,” said Attorney General James.
NRA has a quarter of a billion dollars annually
The NRA’s annual budget of membership fees and donations is approximately a quarter of a billion dollars. James stated: The lobby group chairman Wayne LaPierre and other senior members of the association were all guilty of self-enrichment and mismanagement. LaPierre is said to have spent more than half a million dollars on eight trips to the Bahamas and luxury safaris. And nobody complained:
“The influence of the NRA has been so powerful that the organization has not been vetted for decades while senior executives poured millions into their own pockets.”
What is the National Rifle Association?
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is the most powerful voice in the gun lobby in the United States. The Arms Association was founded in New York in November 1871 by two American Civil War veterans to promote riflemen. Today, the organization claims to have around five million members. Its headquarters are in Fairfax, Virginia, near Washington. Since the organization is an important party donor, it can put considerable pressure on politicians. She is traditionally close to the Republicans.
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Simultaneously indictment in Washington
In Washington, too, charges were brought against the NRA and a foundation registered there at the same time. On suspicion that the organization misused millions of dollars in foundation funds.
The New York Public Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating the organization for a year and a half. It is registered in New York, although its headquarters are in Virginia. The NRA is the largest and oldest gun lobby organization in the United States. Their goal: to promote training in guns and sport shooting. The conservative organization has great political influence. She has been using it for years to ensure that despite numerous mass shootings with many dead, the gun laws in the USA are not touched.
NRA President Carolyn Meadows described the lawsuit on Twitter as a politically motivated move just before the November elections. The NRA is a loyal supporter of President Trump and his Republican Party. He described the lawsuit as – literally – “a terrible thing”. And advised: The NRA should move its headquarters to Texas and lead a “long and beautiful life”.
NDR Info reported on this topic on August 6, 2020 at 7.15 p.m.
