As my colleague Ashley Reese wrote last April, the National Rifle Association is “a broke bitch.” The organization’s money troubles, reporters have unearthed, seem rooted in the fact that the NRA is less an organization that exists to advocate for the rights of gun enthusiasts and more one designed to make its executives extremely wealthy.
On Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who famously called the gun lobbying group a “terrorist organization” during her campaign, filed a lawsuit attempting to end the group entirely. The suit alleges that the corruption among the group’s leadership has made it unable to operate within the basic confines of a nonprofit.
“For years of self-dealing and illegal conduct that violate New York’s charities law and undermine its own mission,” James said at a press conference. “The NRA’s influence has been so powerful the organization’s influence has gone unchecked for decades while its executives funneled millions into their own pockets.”
The NRA quickly responded by filing its own suit against James’s office, accusing her of engaging in politically motivated actions, along with the election cycle, to undermine the Trump administration. As NRA president, Carolyn Meadows, told the Times, “You could have set your watch by it: the investigation was going to reach its crescendo as we move into the 2020 election cycle.”
Regardless, kudos to James for pointing out that a nonprofit whose CEO chartered “at least eight” private flights to the Bahamas and negotiated use of a 107-foot yacht from a vendor, perhaps doesn’t quite fulfill the definition of a nonprofit! [New York Times]
Like all new podcasters, Michelle Obama is working hard to develop a relatable rapport with her audience. On a recent episode of her new show, the Michelle Obama Podcast, the former first lady told listeners that she, too, is suffering from a coronavirus-induced malaise. The “low-grade depression,” to borrow Obama’s words, was brought on by a conflux of factors: the coronavirus pandemic, the Americans public’s hesitancy to take basic public health precautions (*cough masks cough*) to help slow the spread, and the violence leading to a sustained protest movement over Black Lives Matter.
“Waking up to yet another story of a Black man or a Black person somehow being dehumanized, or hurt, or killed, or falsely accused of something,” Obama said. “That’s been disheartening.”
Obama will likely have greater trouble engaging with the country’s unemployment crisis. Since her husband left office, she has published a best-selling memoir, Becoming, now a documentary that’s part of an ongoing production deal with Netflix. [CNN]
- The GOP is reportedly hoping that Joe Biden picks Susan Rice as his VP, presumably so they can reprise the “Lock Her Up” slogan without having to think of something more creative or print new t-shirts. [Politico]
- Senate Republicans are still for some reason trying to send stimulus checks to dead people [Politico]
- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine canceled his Trump visit after testing positive for the coronavirus. [Axios]
- It seems like New York prosecutors are digging into Trump’s business practices… [New York Times]
- ICE has reportedly responded to the pandemic with increased violence to the immigrants in its detention centers. [Buzzfeed]
- Perhaps the coronavirus pandemic has helped Twitter and Facebook finally realize that it’s not a great idea to let the leader of the United States spout pseudo-science on their platform [Washington Post]
- Mike Pence real mad that Chief Justice John Roberts hasn’t been voting entirely along with the party’s far-right. [CBN]