The name attorney of the firm representing the National Rifle Association in its suit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration is facing ethics questions in a separate NRA action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia over answers to a pro hac vice request.

William Brewer III of Brewer Attorneys & Counselors was ordered by U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady to appear in September to answer questions over declaring on his Virginia court application that he'd never faced disciplinary action. O'Grady noted in the order issued Tuesday that Brewer's statements appeared at odds with the Seventh Court of Appeals of Texas' March 26 opinion upholding a lower court's sanctions against Brewer.

The action in Virginia has direct ties to the NRA's suit against New York over its regulatory action toward insurers working with the gun rights organization. The New York suit alleges the Department of Financial Services is wielding its regulatory power in an attempt to squash free speech, in violation of the group's due process rights after DFS's investigation into an insurance policy called Carry Guard.