{"id":113809,"date":"2021-01-28T17:45:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T22:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=113809"},"modified":"2021-01-31T10:57:55","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T15:57:55","slug":"inside-the-nras-strategy-to-escape-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-nras-strategy-to-escape-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the NRA\u2019s Strategy to Escape Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Finside-the-nras-strategy-to-escape-disaster%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=113809&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Letitia-James-768x537-1.jpeg\" width=\"640\" height=\"448\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The National Rifle Association&#8217;s\u00a0bankruptcy in Texas may throw a wrench into\u00a0New York attorney general Letitia James&#8217;s (D.) push to shut down the group and seize its assets.<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">William Brewer, the NRA&#8217;s leading outside counsel, said a federal bankruptcy judge\u00a0will\u00a0have the final say over what happens to the Second Amendment group&#8217;s assets.\u00a0<\/span>James is pursuing a case in state court to <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/legal-experts-skeptical-of-ny-ags-attempt-to-dissolve-nra\/\">dissolve the NRA<\/a> and reallocate\u00a0its assets to other nonprofits over\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/2020-election\/new-york-ag-moves-to-dissolve-the-national-rifle-association\/\">accusations<\/a>\u00a0of financial impropriety.<b>\u00a0<\/b>James will now have to take an extra step in federal court to achieve her goal, according to Brewer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"posts-content__category-widget md:hidden -ml-4 -mr-4 my-8 px-4 py-6 bg-gray-100\">\n<h4 class=\"mt-0 text-red-600 font-medium font-sans uppercase\">Recent Stories in The Courts<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"list-none p-0 \">\n<li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/inside-the-nras-strategy-to-escape-disaster\/\"><strong>Inside the NRA&#8217;s Strategy to Escape Disaster<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/supreme-court-puts-an-end-to-corruption-cases-against-trump\/\"><strong>Supreme Court Puts An End To Corruption Cases Against Trump<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/biden-lgbt-rights-order-charges-into-culture-war\/\"><strong>Biden LGBT Rights Order Charges Into Culture War<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">&#8220;In order to dissolve the association, the NRA believes that James would have to seek that relief from the bankruptcy court,&#8221; Brewer told the\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Washington Free Beacon<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">James successfully blocked a recent attempt by the NRA to move the case from a\u00a0Manhattan court to one in Albany. James&#8217;s office declined to comment on the\u00a0looming bankruptcy. It directed the\u00a0<\/span><i>Free Beacon<\/i>\u00a0to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ag.ny.gov\/press-release\/2021\/court-orders-attorney-general-james-lawsuit-against-nra-continue-manhattan-court\">statement<\/a>\u00a0in which the attorney general said, &#8220;The NRA does not get to dictate if and where they will answer for their actions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Brewer disputed James&#8217;s assertion, saying the NRA is confident it would win on the merits in a New York court and there would be no attempt &#8220;to try to stop that case or move it out of New York courts.&#8221; Brewer said the NRA is solvent and using bankruptcy primarily to reorganize itself\u2014with the same leadership and program offerings\u2014in a state where officials are less likely to target the group for its political beliefs. The success or failure of the NRA&#8217;s<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>legal strategy will determine what the leading Second Amendment advocacy group looks like in the future\u2014or if it even exists at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Experts said\u00a0bankruptcy protections may\u00a0complicate the issue for James, but successfully blocking her in the long term<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>could prove difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Sidney Scheinberg, a bankruptcy lawyer in Texas, said the move was &#8220;highly unusual&#8221; but also &#8220;clever.&#8221; Texas has strong bankruptcy protections and a more favorable political atmosphere than New York, making it an optimal destination for the NRA, according to Scheinberg.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">&#8220;It&#8217;s an aggressive move,&#8221; Scheinberg said. &#8220;It may or may not work. If anything, I think they will get a more balanced playing field here in Texas.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Matthew\u00a0Bruckner,\u00a0a bankruptcy expert at Howard University, said a bankruptcy judge is unlikely to move NRA assets to Texas if it conflicts with what the judge in the New York case rules. He\u00a0called it a legal &#8220;Hail Mary&#8221; that carries risks. A bankruptcy judge could not only\u00a0appoint a trustee to replace NRA management but demand an independent audit to probe\u2014at the NRA&#8217;s expense\u2014how the group ended up in bankruptcy.<strong><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The NRA may be forced to\u00a0pursue the same claims of financial impropriety\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0spurred James&#8217;s lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">&#8220;This seems to create real risks for the NRA,&#8221; Bruckner said. &#8220;There are real risks to the organization, to the officers and directors.&#8221;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Brewer said the accusations being pursued by James should not trigger a trustee appointment because they are &#8220;old news&#8221; that the organization dealt with appropriately by filing suit in 2019 against a top vendor accused of mismanagement and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/nra-irs-disclosure-990\/2020\/11\/25\/50521108-2d34-11eb-9c71-ccf2c0b8d571_story.html\">requiring<\/a> some NRA leaders such as Wayne LaPierre to repay money\u00a0spent on personal expenses last year.\u00a0James claims NRA leaders spent millions more on personal expenses including luxury suits, private flights, and lavish vacations. Brewer said the attorney general has created a &#8220;false narrative&#8221; about the group&#8217;s oversight that will not stand up in any court.<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">&#8220;That&#8217;s always a possibility when you go into bankruptcy &#8230; [but] the NRA is well managed by its board,&#8221; Brewer said of a potential trustee appointment. &#8220;If you&#8217;re doing something sneaky, don&#8217;t go into bankruptcy. Don&#8217;t do it. But the NRA doesn&#8217;t have that fear.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Brewer said the bankruptcy filing and relocation<span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u2014which will include a new physical office for leadership in Texas\u2014<\/span>demonstrates financial prudence and the proper stewardship of member dues.\u00a0The move allows the NRA to avoid what it sees as political persecution from New York&#8217;s anti-gun politicians\u00a0while also becoming more efficient in operations and in dealing with its other legal concerns\u2014particularly civil suits stemming from its management of expenses. While standing by earlier assertions that the NRA is in a strong financial position, Brewer said the group would take advantage of bankruptcy to\u00a0shed old contracts that &#8220;no longer serve a useful purpose&#8221; after &#8220;paying them out fairly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">&#8220;The Bankruptcy Code enables you to streamline operations,&#8221; Brewer said. &#8220;Bankruptcy enables you to get a timeout, get everybody recognizing that the path forward is to settle all of this litigation\u00a0in an organized and efficient way.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The next hearing in the bankruptcy case is scheduled for Feb. 10.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/inside-the-nras-strategy-to-escape-disaster\/\">Inside the NRA&#8217;s Strategy to Escape Disaster<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\">Washington Free Beacon<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The National Rifle Association&#8217;s\u00a0bankruptcy in Texas may throw a wrench into\u00a0New York attorney general Letitia James&#8217;s (D.) push to shut down the group and seize its assets. William Brewer, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1892254,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4164,4161,4152,4155,4158],"class_list":["post-113809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-disaster","tag-escape","tag-inside","tag-nras","tag-strategy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1892254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}