The National Rifle Association may have committed fraud by trying to declare bankruptcy earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday, pointing to the gun group’s heavy spending on advertisements.
The NRA’s attempt to declare bankruptcy was dismissed in May by a federal judge in Texas who said it was a bad-faith effort to weasel out of a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Now Schumer is calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether the NRA’s bankruptcy claim amounted to fraud or other offenses.
“The NRA said they were ‘bankrupt’ to escape the New York attorney general’s jurisdiction,” the New York Democrat said in a statement, “but it has been spending millions on ads, mailers, texts, TV and more to stop common-sense gun reforms like universal background checks and to hamper the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] just as gun violence spikes in cities across the country and here in New York.”
He pointed to the NRA’s “outrageous” spending on ads as potential ammunition for such a probe.
The country’s biggest pro-gun lobbying group announced a $2 million ad campaign against gun reforms in April, according to Schumer. More spending for mailers, TV spots and other ads is in the works, he said.
The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
James is seeking to dissolve the group, alleging senior leadership at the registered nonprofit illegally used tens of millions of NRA dollars for vacations, private jets, expensive meals and other luxury items.
