New York attorney general seeks to dissolve NRA in suit

[BumRushDaShow]

61. From what I saw somewhere this morning

their charitable arm is HQ'd in VA and the AG of D.C. is also working from their end as well. Plus you have this from the NYT piece that revealed some of the impetus behind the cases (originally published last December and updated as recently as today) -

Inside Wayne LaPierre’s Battle for the N.R.A.

By Danny Hakim

Published Dec. 18, 2019
Updated Aug. 6, 2020, 11:58 a.m. ET


/snip

And since April, the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, has been conducting a civil investigation of the N.R.A., which is chartered in New York. Now, veterans of the attorney general’s office and some within the N.R.A.’s inner circle believe James will weigh whether to seek a criminal referral related to LaPierre’s use of nonprofit funds for personal expenses.

/snip

I asked LaPierre if he worried about his own criminal exposure. “I actually don’t,” he said, citing the safe-harbor provision. He called Brewer’s work “the largest forensic audit that’s ever been done on the association” to “see if there was anything we needed to self-correct.” Tax experts I spoke with, however, noted that such provisions did not generally apply to personal expenses, and in any case would need to have been addressed before James opened the inquiry. The investigation is being led by the charities bureau of the attorney general’s office, which oversees all nonprofits. Such investigations are typically civil procedures, but the office can refer criminal findings to another agency, or be granted criminal jurisdiction by the governor.

“If the expenses incurred by Mr. LaPierre were not legitimate business expenses of the N.R.A., and if he conspired with others within or outside the N.R.A. to incur those expenses in a way that would conceal them, then criminal charges could not only be brought against Mr. LaPierre, but also the others who were involved in the scheme,” said Sean Delany, a former chief of the charities bureau. Daniel Kurtz, another former charities-bureau chief, said the N.R.A. would have to establish that such transactions were “fair, reasonable and in the corporation’s best interest,” adding, “They can assert that, but it’s preposterous.” Kurtz did see some hurdles for a criminal case, based on what was known, because LaPierre was not said to have diverted money directly into his own pocket. But the attorney general can go to court and seek to restructure an organization’s board, oust its management, recoup misspent funds or even pressure it to dissolve.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/magazine/wayne-lapierre-nra-guns.html

I.e., it's probably pretty obvious that LaPierre engaged in criminal activities but it would behoove to get all of the records over the long time that he has been in place, so that they can prove it (for criminal - "beyond the shadow of a doubt" vs "preponderance of the evidence" for civil), so he and the rest of them can be nailed hook, line, and sinker.