DOJ Launches Probe of N.Y. AG Letitia James' Actions Against NRA

Attorney General Pam Bondi has issued subpoenas and impaneled a grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into multiple allegations against the state of New York, a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity told Newsmax.

Bondi is investigating whether Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James and the state sued the National Rifle Association solely to violate its First and Second Amendment rights.

The source said two subpoenas have been sent to James' office in Albany, and the grand jury investigation "began days ago." When James first ran for office in 2018, she referred to the NRA as a "terrorist organization" and vowed "to investigate their legitimacy." She filed a lawsuit against the gun rights group in 2020, seeking to dissolve the organization over allegations of fraud and abuse.

In February 2024, a New York jury found the NRA failed to properly administer charitable funds and violated state laws, determining that former Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre caused $5.4 million in damages and former Chief Financial Officer Woody Phillips caused $2 million in damages. The judgment held that LaPierre must pay $4.2 million and Phillips $2 million.

Bondi has convened a grand jury based upon a federal statute that the Trump administration sees as broadly written, though it has typically been used to investigate police officers accused of violating rights at the state or local level, the source stated.

One subpoena called for the production of all records and documents related to the 2020 lawsuit, the source said, adding investigators suspect this lawsuit might only have been brought to violate the NRA's First and Second Amendment rights without a rational basis.

A James spokesperson decried the DOJ's investigation as a "weaponization" of power.

"We were gratified to learn of the investigation into AG Letitia James because she also abuses her authority against the NRA," NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Doug Hamlin said in a statement Friday to Newsmax. "She maligns us because we advocate for our constitutional freedoms, calling us a 'terrorist organization.' She uses her powers as an elected official to try, in her words, to 'dissolve the organization in its entirety,' thus silencing the voice of millions of our members. That she now expresses concerns over 'weaponization' is the height of hypocrisy — an utter lack of self-awareness at the very least."

The move by Bondi is the latest in a series of actions by the Department of Justice against James and New York since President Donald Trump began his second term. In February, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the state's favorable illegal immigration policies. Also that month, Bondi announced a review of cases brought against Trump, including a civil fraud lawsuit by James that resulted in a $454 million judgment against the president for overvaluing properties. Trump has appealed that ruling and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

In May, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Albany opened a criminal investigation into allegations by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that James misrepresented a Norfolk, Virginia, property as her primary residence to secure favorable mortgage terms in 2023.