Ms. James’s lawsuit is the culmination of an inquiry that began in February 2019 and played out amid revelations in the news media regarding the organization’s spending and governance practices.
The lawsuit alleges Mr. LaPierre spent hundreds of thousands of the organization’s dollars on private plane trips, visiting the Bahamas “by private air charter at least eight times” in three years, according to a summary of the suit. He and his family were often allegedly “gifted the use of a 107-foot yacht” by an N.R.A. vendor and he spent more than $3.6 million on travel consultants, including luxury black cars, over two years. He also is said to have secured a post-employment contract without board approval worth more than $17 million.
Among the numerous alleged violations laid out by Ms. James’s office, some related to false reporting of annual filings both to the state and the I.R.S. Her office also cited “improper expense documentation, improper wage reporting, improper income tax withholding” and failing to make required excise tax reporting and payment, among other issues.
The lawsuit also claims that testimony by the chairman of the N.R.A.’s audit committee indicated that he had little awareness of its governance role, no knowledge of state law concerned such committees and was unfamiliar with the committee’s own charter, which states that it oversees the organization’s financial integrity.
N.R.A. officials have conducted their own internal audit and defended many of their practices, though several top officials have been forced out amid an internal dispute over how it is run, including Oliver North, its former president, and Christopher Cox, the former top lobbyist.
The organization’s leadership believes Ms. James is part of a politically motived effort by New York officials to destroy the organization.
“Everybody knows we were singled out,” Mr. LaPierre said in an interview last year. “Everybody knows that it’s politics. Everybody knows why it’s really happening. And it’s wrong.”
