National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre put the embattled gun rights group into bankruptcy in Texas to avoid being investigated ...
National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre put the embattled gun rights group into bankruptcy in Texas to avoid being investigated for suspected financial wrongdoings, a New York attorney general’s office lawyer argued in court on Monday.
Assistant Attorney General Monica Connell made the claim during the first day of trial before US Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale in Dallas.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is asking Hale to either replace LaPierre with a trustee, or throw out the pro-gun organization's bankruptcy case.
Wayne LaPierre has been accused of putting the NRA into bankruptcy to thwart an investigation into alleged financial misdeeds
A lawyer with the office of NY Attorney General Letitia James argued that a US bankruptcy court judge should toss NRA's case, or replace LaPierre with a trustee
NRA's legal team has denied the allegation that the group filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for unlawful purposes, reported Bloomberg.
Connell contended in her opening statements, delivered via video conference, that the NRA board was deceived into giving LaPierre the power to put the group into bankruptcy in January, five months after James filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the NRA and redistribute its $200million in assets.
James charged the organization with illegally diverting millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization 'for personal use by senior leadership.'
She claimed that LaPierre and three other top executives used tens of millions of dollars from NRA's coffers to pay for trips for themselves and their families to the Bahamas, all-expenses-paid African safaris, private jets, and expensive meals.
A lawyer for the NRA said that LaPierre, pictured above with then-President Donald Trump in 2017, has been invaluable to the organization because of his fundraising skills
The NRA countersued the New York AG in February, accusing James of 'weaponizing' her powers to pursue a 'blatant and malicious retaliation campaign' against the group because she dislikes what it stands for and previously referred to it as a 'terrorist organization.'
On Monday, Connell argued that LaPierre made the decision to put the NRA into bankruptcy largely by himself and without consulting the group's 76-person board.
'LaPierre’s only goal is to cling to the power that his position holds,' she told the court.
NRA lawyer Greg Garman countered by saying that LaPierre had acted appropriately when he filed for bankruptcy to thwart James' plan to gun the organization, reported Wall Street Journal.
'[LaPierre] is the greatest asset which the board demands to protect,' Garman said, alluding to the CEO's fundraising prowess that has been bringing $100million a year.
Garman argued that appointing a trustee to replace LaPierre would be a 'death sentence' to the 150-year-old gun-rights group.
NRA First Vice President Charles Cotton testified that he had no doubt that LaPierre was authorized to place the organization into bankruptcy.
No comments