New York Attorney General Letitia James is trying to invalidate the NRA’s January 15th bankruptcy filing. She is framing it as a desperate move to escape her lawsuit against the organization.
The NRA is “fleeing or seeking an end run around a pending regulatory enforcement action in New York,” argues James, citing NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre’s recent assurances that the organization is “in its strongest financial condition in years.”
James’s lawsuit, filed last year, seeks to dissolve the NRA based on allegations that its top executives misused charity funds. LaPierre and others have been accused of using up to $63 million in donations for personal benefit.
Ackerman McQueen Inc. has also challenged the NRA’s bankruptcy claim
Ackerman McQueen is an ad agency that has been in a legal battle with the NRA since 2019. The NRA “did not file this bankruptcy for a legitimate goal of reorganization,” said the group’s lawyers. “The NRA’s acts and omissions mandate the dismissal of this bankruptcy on the grounds that the filing was made in bad faith.”
William A Brewer III, a lawyer representing the NRA, has described these attacks as “another transparent move in a partisan crusade to shut down the NRA.”
The NRA “welcomes the opportunity to litigate these contrived claims and the motives which led to their filing,” he added.
In addition, the bankruptcy claim will enable the NRA to consolidate a series of lawsuits and relocate from New York, where it first incorporated as a nonprofit in 1871, to Texas – a “state that values the contributions of the NRA…and will join us as a partner in upholding constitutional freedom,” explains LaPierre.
Phillip Journey, an NRA board member and Kansas judge, has complicated the situation. He asked the bankruptcy judge to launch an independent investigation to determine the validity of the claims outlined in James’s lawsuit. David Dell’Aquila, a major NRA donor who filed a class-action lawsuit accusing NRA leaders of fraud, has demanded that a court-appointed trustee take charge of the organization if its bankruptcy judge refuses to abandon the case.
It is likely the judge will have to grant one of the two requests.
In the meantime, the NRA has teamed up with 16 GOP Attorneys General. They filed a counter-suit that portrays James’s suit as politically motivated and thus inappropriate.
Author’s Note: New York is doing everything it can to destroy the NRA, especially now that Democrats control the White House. And the NRA is doing its best to escape this political harassment by moving to Texas.
This is not just a simple lawsuit but a full-blown attack on the NRA by liberal politicians.
Sources:
New York Calls for NRA Bankruptcy Dismissal, Cites Bad Faith
NRA Foe Seeks Dismissal of Bankruptcy, Citing Bad Faith
NRA Bankruptcy Control is Getting Dicey for Entrenched Leadership