The National Rifle Association is being sued by former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Gifford's nonprofit for allegedly violating campaign finance laws dating back to 2014.
The lawsuit claims the NRA used shell companies to fund Republican candidates running for federal office, including former President Donald Trump, in 2016. It says that they funneled "as much as $35 million in unlawful, excessive, and unreported in-kind campaign contributions."
Giffords Law Center senior staff, David Pucino, released a statement accusing the nation's largest gun activist group of acting above the law for a long time and doing so "flagrantly in the last several elections."
"This lawsuit demonstrates that the NRA broke the law by illegally coordinating with federal campaigns and funneling millions of dollars to candidates who supported their extremist, deadly agenda," Pucino said.
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In total, the NRA is being accused of coordinating with seven different campaigns. In addition, the organization allegedly violated federal campaign finance laws by siphoning money through various vendors.
The candidates who allegedly benefited from this are Republican Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and former president Trump.
The lawsuit claims a political media firm bought ads for both Hawley and the NRA in Missouri, and they ran in close proximity on Missouri radio stations during Hawley’s victory over former Sen. Claire McCaskill in 2018. The ad buys allegedly violated laws meant to prevent the collaboration of independent groups and political campaigns.
As for what the NRA thinks of these accusations, it shared that the lawsuit from Giffords is "misguided," the organization said in a statement to NPR.
The group said in a statement to NPR that the suit is "another premeditated abuse of the public by our adversaries — who will stop at nothing in their pursuit of their anti-freedom agenda. Suffice it to say, the NRA has full confidence in its political activities and remains eager to set the record straight."
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