Yesterday we wrote about the directors and officers insurance coverage carried by the National Rifle Association. We’ve been getting conflicting reports as to whether that coverage remains in place. Now, based on a new report from the New York Times, that coverage has become even more important to the NRA’s current and former board members.
As you’re probably aware, New York State Attorney General Letitia James is conducting an investigation into the NRA. In addition, the District of Columbia is investigating the NRA’s affiliated charity, the NRA Foundation.
Last night the NY AG’s probe seems to have expanded.
With the gun debate intensifying in the wake of last weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, the National Rifle Association’s problems deepened Monday evening as the New York attorney general’s office issued a subpoena seeking documents from more than 90 current and former members of the organization’s board.
The subpoena is an escalation of a continuing investigation into the tax-exempt status of the N.R.A., which is chartered in New York, and engulfs the organization’s board of directors in the inquiry. The subpoena seeks financial records and other documents that would shed light on spending decisions made by the board.
It would appear that James is looking for documentation into the amount of oversight individual members of the board have exerted (or not) over NRA operations. Board members have a fiduciary duty to oversee the operations of the non-profit which is chartered in New York.
A week ago, David Codrea tweeted this:
I am away from internet and unable to verify but this is important if it pans out. A credible Source says a highly placed NRA exec has been offered immunity by the New York AG. @aarmark
— dcodrea (@dcodrea) July 31, 2019
That jibes with reports we’ve been hearing as well that at least one and maybe more current or former members have reached a deal with the New York AG.
The Times report says the NRA denied that their D&O coverage has been cancelled. That’s what the NRA’s Andrew Arulanandam told TTAG over the weekend, too. With the latest news of the NY AG’s widening fishing expedition, that coverage is more important than ever.