Following the first hearing of the Rifle National Association, the New York Attorney General By Letitia James (D) the bureau told a judge not to let the weapons group try to delay the proceedings seeking to dissolve them.
James Sheehan, the head of the Attorney General’s Charity Office, denounced that the delay requested by ANR of those efforts through their federal bankruptcy proceedings is a gamble.
“ANR’s apparent attempt to automatically suspend this action by filing a bankruptcy notice is exactly the kind of procedural abuse that the competitive exercise of jurisdiction by state and federal courts is meant to mitigate,” Sheehan wrote in -a letter on Wednesday.
Less than a week ago, on January 15, ANR announced that it was “DUMPING New York” by “using bankruptcy court protection” to re-establish itself as a non-profit organization in Texas. Federal bankruptcy proceedings are taking place quickly in the North Texas district, where a hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m., Central Time.
The gun 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 directors of “ubiquitous and systematic illegal behavior.”
Accusing that the leader of ANR Wayne LaPierre used the group as a “personal purse”, the process detailed his private jet trips to the tropics and African safaris with donor money. The Attorney General accused ANR directors of charging millions for their personal gain, filing false regulatory files, awarding non-disclosure contracts to loyalists, and retaliating against whistleblowers.
When ANR claimed to be leaving New York, James stressed that the pursuit of the group would not end.
“The financial status claimed by ANR has finally fulfilled its moral status: bankruptcy,” James wrote in a statement at the time. “While examining this filing, we will not allow the NRA to use this or any other tactic to evade liability and oversight of my office.”
James has made it clear that filing for bankruptcy with the NRA is at odds with their financial health.
“ANR has expressly stated that it is trying to leave New York, its state of establishment for almost 150 years, to escape the authority of the Court and the supervision of the Attorney General, whom it falsely accuses of” abuse of law and power regulation, “the five-page letter states.” ANR states that the filing of its bankruptcy is not financially motivated, claiming that the organization “is in the strongest financial condition in recent years”.
ANR has no offices in Texas, but has asserted its place through an affiliate, Sea Girt, LLC, the attorney general said.
Bankruptcy proceedings usually interrupt enforcement proceedings like these, but James says his action falls under two exceptions designed to protect the public from fraud and charitable abuse of its charitable status. This is how her office described this exception:
With regard to the pecuniary purpose test, none of the Attorney General’s claims involves any New York State interest in ANR’s assets, but instead seeks to enforce the law governing the state governing the administration of ANR as a non-profit charitable state. Requests for financial restitution of charitable assets are addressed only to individual defendants. Any money recovered by the Attorney General will be returned to the NRA or, at a judicial dissolution, used in accordance with the intention of the donor or with the instructions and approval of the Court for a purpose substantially similar to the NRA’s mission. With regard to the public policy test, the Attorney General does not judge private rights against NRAs, but enforces New York law to protect the public and indefinite charities as a class against fraud and misconduct by public charities.
If ANR fails to suspend the proceedings in New York, the group will go to court again on Thursday for a rejection request. Their lawyer did not immediately respond to an email requesting comments.
Read the NYAG letter below:
(Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images)
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