NRA Foundation Accused Of Misuse Of Funds

On the same day that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed suit to dissolve the NRA, DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed suit against the NRA Foundation and the NRA accusing them of the misuse of funds. The suit is filed in Superior Court, Civil Division, for the District of Columbia.

According to the complaint, Racine is alleging that the Foundation allowed its funds to be used to support wasteful spending at the NRA itself. Further, he alleges that the Foundation put the NRA’s interests ahead of its own, did not operate independently of the NRA, and allowed itself to be exploited through multi-million dollar loans to the NRA which have never been repaid.

From Attorney General Racine’s press release:

“Charitable organizations function as public trusts—and District law requires them to use their funds to benefit the public, not to support political campaigns, lobbying, or private interests,” said AG Racine. “With this lawsuit, we aim to recover donated funds that the NRA Foundation wasted. District nonprofits should be on notice that the Office of the Attorney General will file suit if we find evidence of illegal behavior.” 

The suit makes the following claims.

• The Foundation allowed charitable donations to be used for non-charitable purposes
• The Board failed to uphold their fiduciary duty
• Abandoning it charitable purpose through loans to the NRA
• Placing the interests of the NRA above that of the Foundation

The suit asks that a constructive trust, for the benefit of the Foundation, be placed over the Foundation’s assets loaned to the NRA so as to protect them. It goes on to ask that the Foundation’s governance policies be modified to insure its independence from the NRA, that a court-ordered monitor be appointed to oversee and monitor all of the Foundation’s finances and transactions, and that the Board of Trustees and Officers be required to take nonprofit charitable governance training.

While no acknowledgement is made of it, I would be highly surprised if officials in both the New York and District of Columbia’s Attorneys General offices didn’t cooperate and share information back and forth from their respective investigations.