#NRA files countersuit against New York AG Letitia James

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NRA CEO and EVP Wayne LaPierre; New York AG Letitia James
ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock; JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The National Rifle Association sued New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday — the same day she brought a case to break up the pro-gun group — claiming she has misused her office to go after the organization for political reasons.

“There can be no doubt that the James’s actions against the NRA are motivated and substantially caused by her hostility toward the NRA’s political advocacy,” the Albany Federal court lawsuit alleges.

James made a campaign promise to investigate the NRA’s legitimacy as a non-profit organization and carried that torch after she was elected for the AG post because she disagrees with its politics, the suit charges.

James “maligned” the group “without a single shred of evidence, nor any sincere belief, that the NRA was violating the New York Not-For-Profit Corporation Law, or any other law,” the court documents allege.

Once in office, James began “to deliver on her campaign promises to retaliate against the NRA for constitutionally protected speech on issues that James opposes,” the court documents allege.

The NRA alleges it was forewarned by former AG Eric Schneiderman about a possible investigation into the group, prompting the organization to undertake “a top-to-bottom compliance review of its operations and governance.”

And now its “finances are more robust than ever, and it operates to a high standard of compliance” with the law, the court papers claim.

This ruffled feathers with some connected to the NRA, who were “discontented with the principled path it had chosen” and it even prompted litigation against the NRA’s former advertising agency Ackerman McQueen, the court papers charge.

And when James then launched her investigation of the NRA in April 2019, three months after taking office, the NRA says it cooperated, providing documents and testimony from employees.

“Despite hopes that playing by the rules would procure a just outcome, the NRA has not been treated fairly by James’ office,” the suit says.

“James’s threatened, and actual, regulatory reprisals are a blatant and malicious retaliation campaign against the NRA and its constituents based on her disagreement with the content of their speech,” the lawsuit alleges. “This wrongful conduct threatens to destabilize the NRA and chill the speech of the NRA, its members, and other constituents.”

On Thursday, James brought a sweeping lawsuit seeking to shutter the NRA, claiming that top execs including CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre improperly used NRA funds to live lavish lifestyles.

“The NYAG’s actions are an affront to democracy and freedom,” LaPierre said in a statement. “This is an unconstitutional, premeditated attack aiming to dismantle and destroy the NRA – the fiercest defender of America’s freedom at the ballot box for decades.

“The NRA is well governed, financially solvent, and committed to good governance. We’re ready for the fight. Bring it on.”

A spokesperson for the AG’s office responded, “Our lawsuit speaks for itself.”