Cuomo hits back

Andrew Cuomo hits back at Trump over probe of NRA

The New York governor released a statement saying 'the only thing illegal is the gun lobby's insurance scheme.'

By NICK NIEDZWIADEK

Gov. Andrew Cuomo struck back at President Donald Trump on Monday in an escalating war of words over the New York attorney general's recently launched investigation of the National Rifle Association.

In a pair of morning tweets, Trump said the NRA was "under siege by Cuomo and the New York State A.G." and accused them of abusing their legal authority to target the group.

"So much litigation. The NRA should leave and fight from the outside of this very difficult to deal with (unfair) State!" Trump said in his follow-up tweet.

In response, Cuomo released a statement saying "the only thing illegal is the gun lobby's insurance scheme," and noting the incidence in mass gun violence over the past several years.

"You have done nothing but tweet about it," Cuomo said. "The scourge of gun violence is a national crisis plaguing our country and killing our children. It demands action. And action, Mr. President, requires true leadership."

Attorney General Tish James' office announced on Friday that it was investigating the NRA over allegations of self-dealing that potentially threaten the organization's nonprofit status. James often spoke of taking legal action against the Trump administration during her campaign last year.

“Attorney General Letitia James is focused on enforcing the rule of law," her office said in a statement. "In any case we pursue, we will follow the facts wherever they may lead. We wish the President would share our respect for the law.”

James previously drew the president’s ire in March, when her office subpoenaed a pair of banks tied to Trump’s real estate business.

The Cuomo administration is engaged in a legal battle with the NRA stemming from the Department of Financial Service's attempts to penalize companies that offered an NRA-backed insurance product that's illegal in the state.

The NRA itself has been roiled by internal tensions, leading its president, Oliver North, to resign over the weekend after losing a power struggle with longtime Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre, who was reelected to his position on Monday.

Trump also took a separate swipe at Cuomo, taunting him over the 2017 tax reform law’s $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions that the governor has condemned as an act of "economic civil war."

“... People are fleeing New York State because of high taxes and yes, even oppression of sorts,” Trump wrote. “They didn’t even put up a fight against SALT — could have won.”

New York was among a handful of states that filed a lawsuit last summer challenging the cap. The Trump administration in March argued the suit should be dismissed and characterized it as “classically political.”