Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Washington on behalf of Giffords – a nonprofit firearms control advocacy group founded by former Democratic congressman Gabby Giffords – accusing the NRA of practices dating back to 2014 “to evade electoral funding rules. shell campaigns. secretly coordinate illegal advertising with at least seven federal candidates. “
Senator Josh Hawley and Montana House of Representatives Matt Rosendale are defendants in the lawsuit, but the lawsuit also accuses the NRA of “excessive and unrecorded contributions in kind” to aid the campaigns of Donald Trump and Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina. , Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and former Senator Corey Gardner of Colorado.
According to the lawsuit, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign received funding of up to $ 25 million (about € 21 million) through the scheme.
“The campaign finance law prohibits groups like the NRA from buying influence from elected officials by coordinating campaign spending for those candidates,” said Molly Danahy, a lawyer at Campaign Law Center.
“When special interests such as the NRA collude with candidates, this illegal coordination distorts our electoral process and deprives voters of their right to know who is paying to influence their vote,” Danahi added.
The NRA has already reacted to the lawsuit today, claiming it was “a deliberate abuse of the public by opponents,” adding that the organization “fully trusts its political activities.”
The campaign’s legal center said the Giffords organization first publicly made the allegations against the NRA public in 2018, when it filed a series of complaints with the FEC, but without repercussions.
The lawsuit now requires a court order prohibiting the NRA from breaking the law in future elections and asks the court to require the association to pay a fine equal to the amount allegedly spent illegally, of up to $ 35 million (about $ 30 million). …
