NY AG James' Lawsuit to Dissolve NRA Could Reinvigorate Trump

When New York Attorney General Letitia James made it known last night that she had a major announcement this morning a lot of people were hoping for an indictment of President Trump.

Instead, James filed a civil suit against the NRA seeking its dissolution accusing it and its board members including Wayne LaPierre of misappropriating funds to enrich themselves. 

Now there have been allegations of financial mismanagement at the NRA going back to April 2019 which caused Oliver North not to seek re-election for its presidency as he was disgusted with the conduct of LaPierre and others. So James has legitimate grounds to sue.

But there is a political component to this and, unfortunately, a critical mass of The Left want the NRA shutdown not because of financial improprieties but object for what they stand. The same can be said for The Right. Almost immediately after James made her announcement there were conservatives who demanded Planned Parenthood be shut down.

Even if James' lawsuit against the NRA has legal merit, I believe there is a risk that this will invigorate President Trump, mobilize his base and convince wavering Republicans who object to Trump's response to COVID-19 and civil unrest to return to the fold. Trump will certainly argue that after they dissolve the NRA then they will dissolve the Second Amendment.

For many people, the NRA and the Second Amendment are one in the same.. In which case, the key for Joe Biden is to make a distinction between the NRA and The Second Amendment. After all, the Second Amendment came about in 1789 while the NRA wasn't founded until after the Civil War in 1871. Invariably, Biden will be asked about this lawsuit be it in an interview or on the debate stage with Trump. 

What Biden needs to say is the lawsuit has to do with financial irregularities which have disgusted conservatives like Oliver North, not the Second Amendment. Biden must give reassurance to wavering Republicans that no American President can unilaterally do away with the Second Amendment and as such the Second Amendment belongs to all of us and is not the exclusive property of the NRA. 

Of course, even if Biden does so this matter could still reinvigorate Trump if other more left-wing Democrats are emboldened to call for a repeal of the Second Amendment something which has been bandied about from time to time. The only silver lining to that is that Trump is bound to muddy his Second Amendment message by, gee I don't know, claiming that Biden is against God.