Gabby Giffords’ Gun-Control Group Files Lawsuit Against The NRA For Illegal Donations To Republican Campaigns

Giffords, a gun-control nonprofit created by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Arizona) has filed a federal lawsuit against the National Rifle Association, claiming it illegally used offshore companies to contribute as much as $35 million in campaign contributions to Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump. 

Giffords is accusing the NRA of creating companies in order to avoid financing laws to donate millions to various Republican candidates. The lawsuit claims that the NRA and the shell company they created were, “functionally indistinguishable.”

Giffords is a retired member of Congress, who was shot in the head at point-blank range in 2011 during a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona that killed six and left 13 others injured. The non-profit, Giffords, was created in response to this shooting, as well as the other mass shootings that have wreaked havoc across the country in recent years. In 2018, the first series of complaints to the Federal Election Commission was filed, claiming the NRA had a secret donation funnel set up.

Among the Republicans facing legal backlash for receiving money from the NRA’s shell company are Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Matthew Rosendale (R-Montana), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Tom Cotton (R- Arkansas), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Cory Gardner (R-Colorado).

If the NRA funded Republican candidates’ campaigns to further its political agenda that would illegal. The Giffords lawsuit claims the campaign contributions were, “in excess of the contribution limits, in violation of the source restrictions, and without the disclosure required under federal law.”

The NRA is fervently denying the accusations. “Another premeditated abuse of the public by our adversaries… who will stop at nothing in their pursuit of their anti-freedom agenda,” the group said in a statement.