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https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-judge-throws-out-nra-bankruptcy-case-2021-5

A Texas judge is throwing out the National Rifle Association's bankruptcy filing, saying that the case was filed in "bad faith" in an effort to avoid litigation in New York.

Judge Harlin Hale's decision to throw out the case came after New York Attorney General Letitia James and others questioned the legitimacy of the bankruptcy filing. Law 360 first reported the ruling.

The NRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 15 after James filed a lawsuit to dissolve the gun rights organization, alleging it abused its legal status as a nonprofit. In its August filing, New York prosecutors accused the group of corruption and said its longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre "instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight."

While reports of financial troubles have dogged the NRA for years, its bankruptcy filings showed it was financially solvent and had assets worth roughly $50 million more than its debts. The organization tried to restructure in Texas, claiming New York had a corrupt regulatory environment.


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A Texas judge has thrown out the NRA's bankruptcy case, clearing the way for New York's attempts to dissolve the group
Kelly McLaughlin and Jacob Shamsian May 11, 2021, 4:22 PM

wayne lapierre
National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md. Associated Press/Alex Brandon
A Texas judge rejected the NRA's attempt to go bankrupt, siding with New York state prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the bankruptcy filing was an attempt to squirm out of other litigation.
In August, the New York Attorney General's office accused the NRA of corruption and negligent oversight.
See more stories on Insider's business page.

A Texas judge is throwing out the National Rifle Association's bankruptcy filing, saying that the case was filed in "bad faith" in an effort to avoid litigation in New York.

Judge Harlin Hale's decision to throw out the case came after New York Attorney General Letitia James and others questioned the legitimacy of the bankruptcy filing. Law 360 first reported the ruling.

The NRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 15 after James filed a lawsuit to dissolve the gun rights organization, alleging it abused its legal status as a nonprofit. In its August filing, New York prosecutors accused the group of corruption and said its longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre "instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight."

While reports of financial troubles have dogged the NRA for years, its bankruptcy filings showed it was financially solvent and had assets worth roughly $50 million more than its debts. The organization tried to restructure in Texas, claiming New York had a corrupt regulatory environment.


Prosecutors for James's office viewed the bankruptcy filing as an attempt to squirm out of the litigation. Hale's decision sides with those prosecutors, effectively giving a green light to James's office to continue its lawsuit.

"A judge has ruled in our favor and rejected the @NRA's attempt to claim bankruptcy and reorganize in Texas," James said in a tweet Tuesday. "The @NRA does not get to dictate if and where it will answer for its actions, and our case will continue in New York court. No one is above the law."

In court hearings, attorneys for the NRA have accused James of waging a political campaign against the organization. Closely aligned with Republican politicians, the NRA rallies its members to thwart gun safety laws typically supported by Democratic politicians. Research consistently shows that strict gun laws reduce gun violence. The NRA's attorneys said that Texas, controlled by Republicans, would offer a regulatory haven for the organization.

The Justice Department stepped into the dispute earlier in May, saying the "evidentiary record clearly and convincingly establishes" that LaPierre failed to provide proper oversight and manipulated personal expenses so that they looked like business expenses.

A Texas judge has thrown out the NRA's bankruptcy case, clearing the way for New York's attempts to dissolve the group
Kelly McLaughlin and Jacob Shamsian May 11, 2021, 4:22 PM

wayne lapierre
National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md. Associated Press/Alex Brandon
A Texas judge rejected the NRA's attempt to go bankrupt, siding with New York state prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the bankruptcy filing was an attempt to squirm out of other litigation.
In August, the New York Attorney General's office accused the NRA of corruption and negligent oversight.
See more stories on Insider's business page.

A Texas judge is throwing out the National Rifle Association's bankruptcy filing, saying that the case was filed in "bad faith" in an effort to avoid litigation in New York.

Judge Harlin Hale's decision to throw out the case came after New York Attorney General Letitia James and others questioned the legitimacy of the bankruptcy filing. Law 360 first reported the ruling.

The NRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 15 after James filed a lawsuit to dissolve the gun rights organization, alleging it abused its legal status as a nonprofit. In its August filing, New York prosecutors accused the group of corruption and said its longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre "instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight."

While reports of financial troubles have dogged the NRA for years, its bankruptcy filings showed it was financially solvent and had assets worth roughly $50 million more than its debts. The organization tried to restructure in Texas, claiming New York had a corrupt regulatory environment.


Prosecutors for James's office viewed the bankruptcy filing as an attempt to squirm out of the litigation. Hale's decision sides with those prosecutors, effectively giving a green light to James's office to continue its lawsuit.

"A judge has ruled in our favor and rejected the @NRA's attempt to claim bankruptcy and reorganize in Texas," James said in a tweet Tuesday. "The @NRA does not get to dictate if and where it will answer for its actions, and our case will continue in New York court. No one is above the law."

In court hearings, attorneys for the NRA have accused James of waging a political campaign against the organization. Closely aligned with Republican politicians, the NRA rallies its members to thwart gun safety laws typically supported by Democratic politicians. Research consistently shows that strict gun laws reduce gun violence. The NRA's attorneys said that Texas, controlled by Republicans, would offer a regulatory haven for the organization.

The Justice Department stepped into the dispute earlier in May, saying the "evidentiary record clearly and convincingly establishes" that LaPierre failed to provide proper oversight and manipulated personal expenses so that they looked like business expenses.


Hale's ruling permits the NRA to file for bankruptcy again, but he said that he would likely appoint a trustee to oversee the group if it does rather than leave LaPierre in control of the organization's finances.

LaPierre is dealing with several other headaches in addition to litigation from the New York Attorney General's office. In October, the Wall Street Journal reported he was under IRS investigation for possible criminal tax fraud. And in April, the Trace and the New Yorker published footage of him struggling to kill an elephant. The NRA said the publication of the video was intended to embarrass him.


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WLP needs to go. To jail wood be a good place for him to go



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NRA has been destroyed by WLP. He needs to face the music.


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is the appeal filed yet?


-OMotS



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Quote: ( unnamed) "been prtty deep in the cooler todaay "
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Originally Posted by jwp475

WLP needs to go. To jail wood be a good place for him to go
Gallows would be better with all his cohorts.


We may know the time Ben Carson lied, but does anyone know the time Hillary Clinton told the truth?

Immersing oneself in progressive lieberalism is no different than bathing in the sewage of Hell.
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NY sucks and is selectively out to get the NRA but WLP made it easy for them to do. That he still refuses to step down is an embarrassment.

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Originally Posted by MAC
NRA has been destroyed by WLP. He needs to face the music.



Yup.

I would like to see the NRA recover and regain it's original focus but the greed and corruption may run too deep.


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I can’t say that I’m disappointed with this in view of the NRA’s, so called, leadership.

The relocation should continue and be firmly set up in Texas.


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Originally Posted by jwp475

WLP needs to go. To jail wood be a good place for him to go
So theoretically this should end with a Trustee appointed to govern the NRA. And that Trustee would be accountable to the court, which means that Trustee would have to bring in a forensic accountant to review anything and everything connected to WLP over the past 30 years.

I suspect this will take a good year or two, but it SHOULD end with WLP going to jail.


Additionally, that Trustee has to act in the best interest of the organization, so maybe they can even return the NRA to a legit organization after this is all through??

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I still do not understand how WLP had that much power without the board and others. There should be checks and balances to keep organization liquid. He did whatever he wanted, with no regards for anyone else. Why can't he be held personally financialy accountable?

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Originally Posted by GunGeek
Additionally, that Trustee has to act in the best interest of the organization, so ....



I suspect they're going to ensure that practice diverges from theory in this case....

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Originally Posted by sidewinder72
I still do not understand how WLP had that much power without the board and others. There should be checks and balances to keep organization liquid. He did whatever he wanted, with no regards for anyone else. Why can't he be held personally financialy accountable?
That's what a Board of Directors is for. But if the Board of Directors are all getting their palms greased...well they just allow a little of this, a little of that, and over a couple of decades things are really changed.



https://lawandcrime.com/high-profil...inst-wayne-lapierre-to-dissolve-the-nra/

Quote
The lawsuit accuses LaPierre of using a “poison pill contract” to ensure he would receive an income for life from the NRA worth more than $17 million and consolidating power within the organization by nefarious means. He used his position to “intimidate, punish, and expel anyone at a senior level who raised concerns about his conduct,” resulting in the diverting of “millions of dollars away from the charitable mission, imposing substantial reductions in its expenditures for core program services, including gun safety, education, training, member services and public affairs.”


Regarding that contract... I got wind of this in 2004 when I was writing for the gun magazines. It was related to me by a former board member who said "WLP gets X-millions per year for the rest of his life when he retires. And he gets X million (MUCH more), if they fire him."
That's kinda how the conversation went...I don't remember the numbers. But the guy who said it was a former board member...then he introduced me to another former board member who confirmed the same thing.

Then they told me that WLP re-wrote the bylaws so the Neal Knox member takover could never happen again. Well that was easy enough to confirm, and yeah; it can't.

And then I met WLP in person. I pegged him as a Televangelist immediately...Biggest douchebag I've ever met.

So I called into a public board meeting once. And it was just a dog and pony show... All fluff and ZERO details; just as you'd expect from a televangelist.

I can't believe it has taken so long for WLP to get busted; he has been there 30 years I hope to God some board members get hammered on this, because they had to approve all this stuff, and there needs to be accountability there too.

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Originally Posted by 12344mag
Originally Posted by MAC
NRA has been destroyed by WLP. He needs to face the music.



Yup.

I would like to see the NRA recover and regain it's original focus but the greed and corruption may run too deep.

"Original focus" was this when they helped draft the 1934 gun control or compromising in 1968?

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Originally Posted by sidewinder72
I still do not understand how WLP had that much power without the board and others. There should be checks and balances to keep organization liquid. He did whatever he wanted, with no regards for anyone else. Why can't he be held personally financialy accountable?

If I remember right the deal was that WLP or the board hand select two candidates to run for each open position on the board and membership gets to vote between those two hand selected candidates. So no matter which one membership nominates they’ve already been selected by WLP and are beholden to him. So after all of these years in power most of the board is in debt to WLP and are his hand chosen people. Only the board can remove WLP...

I’m interested too to see if class action lawsuits and such are brought to go after WLP civilly. I would think they’re probably coming.

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TheLastLemming76 seems to have this right with regard to how the Board/WLP relationship was developed. It would not be the first time a non-profit corp did such a thing.

However, even the most solid (although egregious) cases of Board/CEO cooperative misbehavior can become subject to dismantling. There can come a time when their damaging behavior is more weighty than the protection of the organizational Bylaws.

That is now the case for the NRA. The members can - and should - force the needed changes. My prediction is that it will happen soon. Also my hope.


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So when New York changes its laws to avoid a Supreme Court decision, that’s “good faith”?


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