After the first federal bankruptcy court of the National Rifle Association, the Attorney General of New York By Letitia James (D) the office told a judge not to let the weapons group try to delay the proceedings to dissolve them.
James Sheehan, the head of the Attorney General’s Charities Office, denounced the NRA’s request to delay such efforts through its federal bankruptcy proceedings as a game.
“The ANR’s apparent attempt to suspend this action automatically by filing a bankruptcy suggestion notice is exactly the type of procedural abuse that the simultaneous exercise of jurisdiction by state and federal courts is designed to palliate, ”Sheehan wrote in a letter Wednesday.
Less than a week ago, on Jan. 15, the ANR announced it was “DUMPING New York” into “using bankruptcy court protection” to re-establish itself as a Texas nonprofit. Federal bankruptcy proceedings are advancing rapidly in the North Texas district, where a hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The armed group has been fighting for its life since the New York Attorney General filed a 163-page complaint accusing four of its current and former executives of “widespread and systematic illegal conduct.”
Alleging that leader of the ANR Wayne LaPierre used the group as a “personal piggy bank,” the lawsuit detailing his private jet trips to the African tropics and safaris with donor money. The Attorney General accused ANR executives of pocketing millions for their personal benefit, filing false regulatory statements, awarding non-presentation contracts to loyalists and retaliating against whistleblowers.
When the ANR stated that it was giving up leaving New York, James emphasized that his search for the group would not end.
“The claimed financial situation of the ANR has finally reached its moral condition: bankruptcy,” James wrote in a statement at the time. “As we review this submission, we will not allow the ANR to use this or any other tactic to evade accountability and oversight of my office.”
James made it clear that the NRA’s bankruptcy statement is at odds with his own financial health.
“The ANR has expressly stated that it wants to leave New York, its state of constitution for nearly 150 years, to escape the authority of this court and the supervision of the attorney general, whom it falsely accuses of a” abuse of legal rules and power regulations, “” states the five – page letter. “The ANR states that its bankruptcy statement is not financially motivated, alleging that the organization” is in its strongest financial position in years. “
The NRA has no offices in Texas, but has claimed headquarters through an affiliate, Sea Girt, LLC, the attorney general said.
Bankruptcy proceedings typically pause enforcement actions like these, but James says his action is under two exceptions designed to protect the public from fraud and abuse of his charitable status by a charity. This is how his office described this exception:
As for the proof of the pecuniary purpose, none of the Attorney General’s claims involves any interest on the part of the New York State in property owned by the ANR, but is intended to enforce state legislation governing the administration. of the ANR as a non-profit corporation state. Claims for financial restitution of charitable assets correspond only to individual defendants. The money recovered by the Attorney General will be returned to the ANR or, in the event of judicial dissolution, will be used in accordance with the intention of the donor or with the direction and approval of the court for a purpose substantially similar to the mission of the ANR. With regard to public policy evidence, the Attorney General does not award private rights against the ANR, but applies New York law designed to protect the public and helpless beneficiaries of charity as a class against fraud and fraud. misconduct of public charities.
If the ANR fails to stop the New York proceedings, the group will go to court again Thursday to ask for a motion. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email requesting comments.
Read the NYAG letter below:
(Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images)
Do you have any advice we should know? [email protected]