New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit to prevent the National Rifle Association from interfering in her investigation of the gun group, a court filing shows.
James asked a state judge on Monday for an order that would allow longtime NRA imagemaker Ackerman McQueen to comply with a subpoena from her office without violating a non-disclosure agreement that the firm signed with the gun group.
Under the NDA, the NRA has demanded that it review documents that Ackerman McQueen intends to provide to James as per a subpoena it received from her office.
One court filing said that allowing that to occur would cause James’s investigation into allegations of financial wrongdoing at the non-profit to be “irreparably compromised.”
James’s office also said in the filing that Ackerman McQueen wants to comply with the subpoena, but does not want to risk a lawsuit from the NRA if it hands over relevant information absent a court order.
The two have been embroiled in multiple theaters of litigation since April, when the NRA sued the Oklahoma City-based ad vendor to force it to supply financial records documenting the pair’s relationship.
In a statement, James accused the NRA of trying to “slow down” her investigation.
“No one, including the NRA, has the right to interfere with a confidential law enforcement investigation,” she said.
NRA outside counsel William Brewer told TPM in a statement that the gun group wants a chance to “redact privileged information.”
“This is not a dispute about whether Attorney General James can access NRA-related documents,” Brewer said. “It’s a dispute about whether she can do so secretly, in a manner designed to circumvent the NRA’s clear legal rights – including the right to protect our members’ personal information from a political witch hunt.”
