NRA Secures New Documents in Bid to Revive Selective Enforcement Claims Against NY Officials
New documents obtained by the NRA show the state singled out its insurance products for sanctions while ignoring other policies with similar violations, the group's attorneys said.
December 23, 2019 at 04:38 PM
5 minute read
The National Rifle Association says it's obtained new information that proves state officials in New York acted deliberately, and unlawfully, to strangle the gun lobby group of its financial resources because of its positions on gun control measures.
New documents obtained by the NRA show the state singled out its insurance products for sanctions while ignoring other policies with similar violations, the group's attorneys said.
Evidence from those documents was included in a new version of the NRA's lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state Department of Financial Services and Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of that agency. The lawsuit was initially brought last year.
The NRA is represented in the litigation by attorneys from Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, which has offices in Dallas and New York. William Brewer, name partner of the firm, said Monday he expects the new information to make a difference in the case.
"The NRA has troubling new information that underscores the true motives of the State's actions," Brewer said.
"Our client is determined to bring this evidence to light—to expose the backroom meetings and communications that were essential to Defendant's scheme to silence and harm the NRA by any means necessary," he continued.
The new information was obtained from Lloyd's America Inc., an insurance marketplace affiliated with Lloyd's of London. It was offered to the NRA voluntarily by the company, but much of it had to be filed under seal per an agreement with Lloyd's.
The NRA claimed the new information provided them with evidence that Vullo, the former superintendent of DFS, chose to crack down on insurance products affiliated with gun groups.
The documents showed that, early last year, Vullo met with senior executives at Lloyd's America and Lloyd's of London. The NRA alleged in the new filing that Vullo, during that meeting, said the state wanted to use its power to weaken the gun group.
The meeting was arranged after last year's shooting in Parkland, Florida, where a gunman killed 17 people and injured others during a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
"In the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy, Vullo met with senior executives of Lloyd's and LAI, and presented Defendants' views on gun control and their desire to leverage their powers to combat the availability of firearms, including specifically by weakening the NRA," the filing said.
The NRA claimed Vullo and DFS told Lloyd's it could avoid liability for any alleged infractions related to other, similar insurance policies not affiliated with gun groups as long as it helped the agency's campaign against the NRA. Lloyd's agreed to the plan, the filing said.
"Against the specter of this bold abuse of her position, Lloyd's agreed that it would instruct its syndicates to cease underwriting firearm-related policies and would scale back its NRA-related Business," the filing said.
"In exchange, DFS would focus its forthcoming affinity-insurance enforcement action solely on those syndicates which served the NRA, and ignore other syndicates writing similar policies," it continued.
That's important, the NRA said, because it backs up their claims of selective enforcement. They've argued that officials in New York chose to impose sanctions on insurance products related to the NRA while ignoring others with similar statutory violations.
U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy of the Northern District of New York in May tossed the NRA's initial claims of selective enforcement, but said the group could bring them again if it developed a stronger case.
The information obtained through Lloyd's provided them with that ammunition, the NRA claimed in the new filing.
The NRA alleged that DFS made a similar agreement with Lockton Affinity, another insurance brokerage firm. The agency, according to the NRA, acknowledged that other products sold through Lockton were also unlawful under New York statute, but focused on the NRA.
"DFS verbally conveyed to Lockton that it was only interested in pursuing the NRA," the filing said. "Other programs exhibiting the same issues, DFS explained, could be quietly remediated by Lockton after consent order and penalty targeting NRA programs had been publicized."
The state has argued that the lawsuit is retaliation for an investigation by DFS into an NRA-affiliated product called Carry Guard, which previously offered coverage for legal fees, therapy and other costs associated with someone's use of a gun in New York.
The agency determined that the product violated state law and ultimately fined the insurers who sold it.
The New York Attorney General's Office is, separately, investigating the NRA's finances but has yet to file any litigation related to the probe.
Representatives for Cuomo and DFS did not immediately comment on the new filing Monday. Vullo could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
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