The attorney general of New York took action Thursday to dissolve the National Rifle Association following an 18-month investigation that found evidence the powerful gun rights group is “fraught with fraud and abuse.”

Attorney General Letitia James claims…she found financial misconduct in the millions of dollars and that it contributed to a loss of more than $64 million over a three-year period.

The suit alleges that top NRA executives misused charitable funds for personal gain, awarded contracts to friends and family members, and provided contracts to former employees to ensure loyalty.

The NRA said in a statement that the legal action was political, calling it blah, blah, blah.

They used all the predictable rightwing and conservative boilerplate. As will their attorneys. More good money thrown after bad; hard-earned buck$ mostly earned by members. Though no doubt there is a surplus of corporate gifties in the kitty.

I’ve had many friends who have been members of the NRA over the years. Me, too, more than once. They used to have the best education program on gun handling and safety in the country. Dunno if that still exists in useful form, anymore.

But, corruption begets little or no benefit to members or any target demographic. As mis-leadership moved further and further to the Right, the treasury moved more often into the pockets and lifestyle of the rich and famous executives of the organization. I presume one of the options before the court as this action nears an end will be throwing the crooks out; reforming activities to something more closely resembling a historic model. Who knows?

The execs made the NRA a political organization. Now, the process of sorting out the good from the bad will be as political as anything else can be in the GOUSA.