vullo. mr. cole? mr. cole: mr. chief justice, and may it please the court, government officials are free to urge people not to support political groups they oppose, but they cannot use their regulatory might to add "or else" to that request. respondent vullo did just that, not content to rely on the force of her ideas, she used the coercive power of her office. in february 2018 she told lloyds, the insurance underwriter, that she would go easy on its unrelated insurance violations if it aided her campaign to weaken the nra by halting all duties with the group. lloyds agreed. six weeks later she issued guidance letters and a press release directing the thousands of banks and insurance companies that she directly overseas to cut off their ties with the nra, not because of any alleged illegality, but because they promote guns. in the accompanying press release vullo's boss and codefendant, governor andrew cuomo, said he directed vullo to issue the guidance because doing business with the nra "sends the wrong message."