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An outrageous show of government legal force with the aim of suppressing advocacy on issues of public concern. This is as much an assault on the First as on the Second Amendment. #CatoSCOTUS https://twitter.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1291397976200548353
Listen with care. Many of those praising @NewYorkStateAG's legal attack on @NRA are already talking about wanting to take down the org's influence. Even if James's office is smart enough to distance itself from such talk, it's an important clue. /2
Against crimes of non-profit insiders such as self-dealing, there are plenty of lesser but potent sanctions such as disgorgement and separation. Had NYAG James called for those, we wouldn't be here. Dissolution is a qualitatively different sanction, not just a "tougher" one. /3
For example, dissolution is hostile toward the interests of the group you might say is most directly harmed by the self-dealing, donors who wanted an effective 2A advocacy group and got cheated of that. /4
There's all the difference in the world between dropping a legal anvil on NRA insiders because you want to vindicate the interests of the org's donors, and demanding the group's dissolution precisely because you don't. /5
And that latter disregard for what the donors and members wanted and still want makes the question of political animus perfectly relevant. /6
