The National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit Monday against its charitable arm, the NRA Foundation, claiming trademark infringement and unfair competition.
The NRA alleged that about $160 million the foundation raised alongside the NRA was misused in violation of “the law of charitable trusts.”
In the federal court filing, the NRA says it sued with the goal of stopping the foundation from “passing itself off to donors and the public as the NRA or an authorized NRA affiliate and misappropriating the many millions of dollars that NRA supporters contributed.”
“The Foundation has been seized by a disgruntled faction of former NRA directors who lost control of the NRA’s Board following revelations of financial improprieties, mismanagement, and breaches of fiduciary duty and member trust,” attorneys for the NRA wrote, adding that the faction seeks to reclaim power through the foundation after having been “booted out of power by the NRA’s members.”
The suit dives into internal turmoil within the association, saying the foundation has personal “beef” with the NRA and is driven by a “clique of former NRA leaders who are bitter” about having lost control following “a series of scandals.”
A jury in a civil corruption trial found in February 2024 that former NRA leader Wayne LaPierre diverted millions of dollars from the association to live luxuriously while the NRA failed to manage its finances. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed that suit in 2020. LaPierre stepped down from his role atop the NRA in January 2024, days before the civil trial was set to begin.
A judge later issued a 10-year ban on LaPierre’s NRA membership but declined to appoint an independent monitor to oversee the group, one of the remedies James sought after the association was found liable.
In Monday’s lawsuit, the NRA alleges that the “current legal dispute was sparked by the unlawful attempt of the Foundation’s current leaders to undermine the NRA and establish the Foundation as a competitor to the NRA using funds that the NRA raised and donors contributed to support NRA Charitable Activities.”
The suit goes on to claim that the foundation’s executive director “has stated that the Foundation intends to cut off or substantially reduce its financial support of the NRA, to sue the NRA, to take control of certain NRA programs, and to undermine the NRA’s finances and financial stability.”
“On information and belief, the Foundation’s leadership intends to withdraw grant and other funding of the NRA except for grants required by the terms of express restrictions, to undertake fundraising activities in competition with the NRA, and to conduct its own programmatic activities in competition with those of the NRA,” attorneys wrote.
The suit asks that a federal judge in Washington, D.C., stop the foundation from engaging in what it calls unfair competition with the NRA, including by promoting or advertising the foundation’s association with the NRA or under the NRA’s logo. The lawsuit also wants the judge to stop the foundation from engaging in conduct that would lead people to believe that its activities are “sponsored, endorsed, or authorized by, or associated or connected with” the NRA.
The NRA Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
