The National Rifle Association, which unsuccessfully filed for bankruptcy to escape New York's bid to shut it down, said the dismissal of that case nonetheless established that the state's attorney general cannot dissolve it for alleged corruption, Reuters reported. In a court filing, the gun rights group also renewed its demand for an injunction against both a shutdown and the removal of longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre by Letitia James, the state's Democratic attorney general. It said that despite dismissing its chapter 11 case in May, Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale’s decision "comprehensively undermine(s) James's false narrative of an organization rife with corruption that it is unable to reform itself." The NRA had filed for bankruptcy in January and said it would relocate to Texas after 150 years in New York, accusing James of suing for its dissolution the previous August because she disliked its politics. James has accused the NRA of diverting millions of dollars to LaPierre and other executives, in part to support lavish lifestyles. Judge Hale threw out the bankruptcy case after a 12-day trial. Citing testimony that the NRA's finances were the strongest in years, he called the case an improper end-run around James, and said LaPierre's decision to pursue it without telling many top NRA officials "nothing less than shocking."
