DALLAS (AP) 鈥� A federal judge dismissed the National Rifle Association鈥檚 bankruptcy case Tuesday, leaving the powerful gun-rights group to face a New York state lawsuit that accuses it of financial abuses and aims to put it out of business.
The judge was tasked with deciding whether the NRA should be allowed to incorporate in Texas instead of New York, where the state is suing in an effort to disband the group. Though headquartered in Virginia, the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state.
Judge Harlin Hale said in a written order that he was dismissing the case because he found the bankruptcy was not filed in good faith.
鈥淭he Court believes the NRA鈥檚 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," Hale wrote.
His decision followed 11 days of testimony and arguments. Lawyers for New York and the NRA鈥檚 former advertising agency grilled the group鈥檚 , Wayne LaPierre, who acknowledged putting the NRA into Chapter 11 bankruptcy of most of its board and other top officers.
鈥淓xcluding 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,鈥� the judge added.
Phillip Journey, an NRA board member and Kansas judge who had sought to have an examiner appointed to investigate the group鈥檚 leadership, was concise about Hale's judgment: 鈥�1 word, disappointed,鈥� he wrote in a text message.
LaPierre pledged in a statement to continue to fight for gun rights.
鈥淎lthough 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,鈥� LaPierre said via the NRA's Twitter account. 鈥淭oday is ultimately about our members 鈥� 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.鈥�
Lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that the case was an attempt by NRA leadership to escape accountability for using the group鈥檚 coffers as their personal piggybank. But the NRA鈥檚 attorneys said it was a legitimate effort to avoid a political attack by James, who is a Democrat.
LaPierre testified that he kept the bankruptcy largely secret to prevent leaks from the group鈥檚 76-member board, which is divided in its support for him.
The NRA in January, five months after James鈥� office following allegations that executives illegally diverted tens of millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts and other questionable expenditures.
James is New York's chief law enforcement officer and has regulatory power over nonprofit organizations incorporated in the state. She sued the NRA last August, saying at the time that the 鈥渂readth and the depth of the corruption and the illegality鈥� at the NRA justified its closure. James took similar action to force the closure of former President Donald Trump鈥檚 charitable foundation after alleging he used it to advance business and political interests.
During a news conference after the ruling, James said she read transcripts of LaPierre's testimony, which was 鈥渇illed with contradictions.鈥� She reiterated that she intends to see the NRA dissolved, which ultimately would be decided by a judge, not the attorney general. The discovery process in her lawsuit is ongoing, James said, and she expects a trial to happen sometime in 2022.
鈥淭here are individuals and officers who are using the NRA as their personal piggy bank and they need to be held accountable," James said.
Shannon Watts, who founded Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said in a serious of tweets that the bankruptcy dismissal 鈥渃omes at the worst possible time for the NRA: right as background checks are being debated in the Senate.鈥�
鈥淚t will be onerous if not impossible for the NRA to effectively oppose gun safety and lobby lawmakers while simultaneously fighting court battles and mounting debt,鈥� said Watts, whose organization is part of the Michael Bloomberg-backed Everytown for Gun Safety.
The NRA's financial standing has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, it of employees, canceled its national convention and scuttled fundraising. The NRA鈥檚 bankruptcy filing listed between $100 million and $500 million in assets and between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities. Still, the organization claimed in announcing the move that it was 鈥渋n its strongest financial condition in years.鈥�
___
Sisak reported from New York.
Jake Bleiberg And Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
