NRA Spends Big On Ads While Crying Poverty In NY Suit: Cuomo

NEW YORK, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo doesn't buy the National Rifle Association's grumblings that New York State officials may drive it into financial ruin.

The powerful gun-rights group sued Cuomo and the state Department of Financial Services, or DFS, in May over their efforts to undermine its "Carry Guard" insurance program, which offers liability protection for people who carry guns.

The NRA has argued the state's actions threaten its "corporate existence and its advocacy mission." But Cuomo, a Democrat, said the group's recent commitment to spend at least $1 million on ads supporting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh shows it is nowhere near destitution.

"It is the height of hypocrisy to cry poverty on one hand after being caught red-handed profiting off an illegal insurance scheme, all the while spending $1 million to push its radical anti-gun safety agenda in Washington," Cuomo said in a statement Thursday. "New York will continue to fight against the NRA and their meritless law suit every step of the way."

But a lawyer for the NRA, William A. Brewer III, said the "vibrant" organization is in "good financial standing." The attacks from New York, though, threaten its financial growth and "overall trajectory," he said.

"If left unchecked, the actions of Gov. Cuomo and DFS will frustrate the NRA’s ability to access certain financial services – hurting its financial position and impacting its ability to advocate for those it serves," Brewer, the NRA's lead counsel with the firm Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, said in a statement.

The NRA's lawsuit in Albany federal court accuses the state of violating its free speech rights by pushing companies to cut business ties with the organization. The NRA would be "unable to exist" if Cuomo's "viewpoint-based discrimination campaign" is ultimately successful," the suit says.

Lockton Cos. and Lockton Affinity, the company that adminsiters Carry Guard insurance, agreed to stop participating in the program in New York in a May consent order with DFS. The agency fined Lockton $7 million and said the insurance violated state law by covering people who could be charged with a crime involving a gun.

The order and other state actions have cost the NRA "tens of millions of dollars in damages," a court filing from last month says.

Amid the legal battle, the NRA's lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, launched a seven-figure ad campaign Tuesday pushing for Kavanaugh's confirmation based on his support for Second Amendment rights.

The NRA, which houses the Institute for Legislative Action in its Virginia headquarters, spent more than $76 million on "legislative programs" in 2016, according to its tax filing for that year.

Cuomo has been a vociferous critic of the NRA as he's worked to raise his national profile and sought a third term as governor. He said the new ad buy shows the group was "fraudulent in their papers."

"They must have had a very quick rebound in their financial health in the span of 48 hours," Cuomo told reporters Thursday. "I think it shows their duplicity and, once again, how they are loose with facts, and loose with the truth."

(Lead image: Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference on Thursday. Photo courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Office/Flickr)