Donald Trump Claims NRA Is Illegally ‘Under Siege’ By Democrats
President Donald Trump said that the National Rifle Association is “under siege” by Democrats after New York’s attorney general opened an inquiry into the gun rights lobbying organization. According to CNN, the president also called for the group to “get its act together” as an internal leadership battle is playing out within the group.
“The NRA is under siege by Cuomo and the New York State A.G., who are illegally using the State’s legal apparatus to take down and destroy this very important organization, & others,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “It must get its act together quickly, stop the internal fighting, & get back to GREATNESS – FAST!”
New York Attorney General Letitia James opened a general investigation into the NRA which requires the group to retain its internal documents for review. James didn’t say what the probe would examine, but she has said in the past that she would look into the group’s tax-exempt status when she was running for election in the state. She said that if elected, she would investigate to ensure that the non-profit is complying with the rules that govern organizations of this sort.
Trump continued his tirade, criticizing the state and calling for the NRA to leave for greener pastures.
“….People are fleeing New York State because of high taxes and yes, even oppression of sorts. They didn’t even put up a fight against SALT – could have won. So much litigation,” he added in a second tweet. “The NRA should leave and fight from the outside of this very difficult to deal with (unfair) State!”
Trump says Cuomo, Letitia James trying to 'destroy' NRA https://t.co/nk1ZWvsdsi pic.twitter.com/SgaNGExjVK
— New York Post (@nypost) April 29, 2019
All this comes as the NRA’s outgoing president Oliver North and chief executive officer Wayne LaPierre have been battling for control of the group. North has accused LaPierre of financial misconduct, saying that he had used $200,000 of the NRA’s funding to make clothing purchases. LaPierre claims that North is extorting him and pressuring him to resign. North announced that he wouldn’t be serving a second term as the NRA’s president.
It’s possible that James plans to look into the kind of dealings that LaPierre is accused of participating in, and the organization says that it intends to comply with the request.
Trump spoke at the annual NRA with a rally-like, hour-long speech where he claimed that the 2015 Bataclan shooting in Paris wouldn’t have happened if more people had carried guns into the concert. He also cheered laws that allow teachers to carry guns into classrooms and said that gun ownership makes communities safer, according to CNN.
