The National Rifle Association (NRA) filed a countersuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday asserting that she lacks the authority to invoke New York state laws overseeing nonprofit organizations.
The countersuit, filed in the New York Supreme Court, counters a lawsuit brought by James against the gun-rights group in August. James’ suit seeks judicial approval to dissolve the NRA following the discovery of widespread fraud with the organization. The suit alleges that four former and current NRA officials had breached their fiduciary duties and illegally stolen funds—over $64 million—for personal use. It also alleges that the NRA Board of Directors failed to properly oversee the organization’s funds. Following months of NRA attempts to move or dismiss the suit, a New York judge allowed it to proceed.
The NRA’s Wednesday filing “responds to the contrived narrative by [James], and alleges that the case she filed is part of a crusade to silence a powerful political opponent and its commitment to Second Amendment advocacy,” said the NRA’s counsel in a statement to the Washington Examiner. On Twitter, the organization further alleged political motivation for James’ suit.
BREAKING: NRA Countersues @NewYorkStateAG Letitia James for Trying to Dissolve ‘Political Enemy’
— NRA (@NRA) February 24, 2021
The NRA’s countersuit accuses James of “weaponizing” her authority to pursue a “blatant and malicious retaliation campaign: James’s unconstitutional, retaliatory investigation found no evidence to support her audacious claims, yet she predictably concluded it by commencing this action and seeking a dissolution of the NRA,” says the countersuit. The NRA requested that the court dismiss James’s suit entirely.
In January, the NRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced its departure from its corporate domicile of New York, with plans to incorporate in Texas. Regarding the move, NRA President Carolyn Meadows commented that “the plan allows [the NRA] to go forward with a renewed focus on Second Amendment advocacy.”
