Deepali Kalia
A federal judge dismissed NRA’s bankruptcy’s case on May 11, stating “Bankruptcy case was filed to gain an unfair advantage in litigation or to avoid a regulatory scheme.”
The powerful gun rights group now must face a New York state lawsuit which accuses it of corruption and financial abuses.
James, New York’s Chief law enforcement officer sued the NRA last august following allegations that the executives of the association spent millions of dollars on extravagant personal holidays, no show contracts etc. and pursued its dissolution.
She claimed that the “breadth and the depth of the corruption and the illegality” warranted its closure.
She also pursued similar action against the former President Donald Trump’s charitable foundation seeking its dissolution by stating that he used it to promote his own political interests.
Judge Harlin Hale, had to decide whether the association be allowed to set up in Texas instead of New York, where currently the state is suing for its dissolution.
Harlin Hale, however, dismissed the case stating that he found the case had not been filed in good faith.
Hale wrote, “The Court believes the NRA’s purpose in filing bankruptcy is less like a traditional bankruptcy case in which a debtor is faced with financial difficulties or a judgment that it cannot satisfy and more like cases in which courts have found bankruptcy was filed to gain an unfair advantage in litigation or to avoid a regulatory scheme.”
His judgment came after 11 days of arguments and testimony. NRA’s top executive Wayne La Pierre was grilled by the counsels representing the state of New York and NRA’s former advertising agency on filing bankruptcy without the knowledge or assent of most of its board members.
Taking cognizance of the this fact Judge Hale also added “Excluding so many people from the process of deciding to file for bankruptcy, including the vast majority of the board of directors, the chief financial officer, and the general counsel, is nothing less than shocking,”.
La Pierre though via NRA’s twitter released a statement that exhibited his zeal to continue the fight. He wrote, “Although we are disappointed in some aspects of the decision, there is no change in the overall direction of our Association, its programs, or its Second Amendment advocacy. Today is ultimately about our members — those who stand courageously with the NRA in defense of constitutional freedom. We remain an independent organization that can chart its own course, even as we remain in New York to confront our adversaries.”