[ad_1]
The National Rifle Association filed for bankruptcy on Friday.
In a letter to members, Wayne LaPierre, the leader of the notorious gun lobby group, wrote: “The plan is to streamline costs and expenses, deal with ongoing litigation in a coordinated and structured manner, and achieve many financial and strategic benefits. ”
The group will apparently move from the “toxic political environment of New York”, where it is now registered as a nonprofit, to Texas. Its headquarters are located in Fairfax, Virginia. For his part, LaPierre described the bankruptcy filing and reincorporation into the Lone Star State as a “restructuring plan”.
The virulently pro-gun organization has been plagued by infighting within its executive ranks and legal woes over the past year and was prosecuted for fraud by New York Attorney General Letitia James in August. The attorney general alleges that senior executives have used millions of NRA funds for personal purchases like private jets and are seeking to dissolve the organization. The NRA retaliated. Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine also sued the charitable arm of the NRA for misuse of donations.
James responded to Friday’s news in a statement: “The financial situation claimed by the NRA has finally reached its moral status: bankrupt.”
LaPierre wrote on Friday that Texas “appreciates the contributions of the NRA,” where it has 400,000 members.
LaPierre has vigorously attempted to portray the “voluntary Chapter 11 procedures” as a positive development, despite years of bad financial news.
The organization’s bankruptcy court petition listed assets and liabilities of up to $ 500 million each, Bloomberg reports. The NRA laid off dozens of employees and cut the wages of dozens more in May 2020 because the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on its in-person fundraising efforts. In a 2018 filing, the organization wrote that regulatory challenges, especially in New York City, could make it “unable to exist.” In the same file, the NRA revealed that it exceeded its budget by $ 46 million.
“You know our opponents are going to try to grab this news and distort the truth,” LaPierre wrote on Friday. “Don’t believe what you read about our enemies. The NRA is not “bankrupt” or “bankrupt”. The NRA is not insolvent. We are as strong financially as we have been years ago. “
[ad_2]
Source link