NRA legal troubles, Trump support drain finances

Used to making news on Capitol Hill as one of the most powerful lobbying groups, the National Rifle Association[1] is instead making waves in courtrooms, where its troubled finances and a lengthening list of legal entanglements are taking center stage. Heading into its annual meetings this week in Indianapolis[2], the NRA[3] has just sued its longtime public relations agency and finds itself snared in a legal fight with New York’s vehemently anti-gun Democrat-led government. The gun group’s finances are also under scrutiny in the press, with hefty expenditures and softening revenue leaving the NRA[4] running deficits for the past two years of public numbers and prompting gun control activists to anticipate a loss of clout for their nemesis. Add the battle with New York and the money the NRA[5] is preparing to spend to fight the state, and observers say the group is in nothing less than an existential conflict. “They can look and say the NRA[6] can be beaten, but it sure helps when the state of New York sucks away $30 million, doesn’t it?” said Don McDougall, an NRA[7] instructor from California. “The NRA[8] had no choice but to fight the state of New York, or they would have been out of business.” The NRA[9] said it collected $366.9 million but spent $412.8 million in 2016 as it worked hard to elect Donald Trump[10], showing a year-end deficit of $45.8 million. A year later, the group reported collecting $312 million and spending $329.8 million, showing a smaller deficit of $17.8 million. Brian Mittendorf, chairman of the Department of Accounting at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, said the group hasn’t been spending like it is in turmoil. He pointed out that the group’s financials have fluctuated in the past and both spending and revenue were up

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