In the dissolution lawsuit, NRA filed a specious defense and counterclaim, arguing that the New York AG’s investigation and lawsuit were politically motivated. Of course they are politically motivated, but how is that a legal defense? Every elected prosecutor takes politics into account in high-profile cases, the defense to those prosecutions is “I didn’t do it,” not “I’m guilty but the prosecutor came after me for the wrong reason.”
The New York AG homed in on that.
“Assistant Attorney General Monica Connell meanwhile told the court that the court would “set terrible precedent” if it allows the NRA’s counterclaims to proceed to discovery, essentially giving the targets of investigations carte blanche to “harry prosecutors.”
“Fraud and illegal conduct are not entitled to First Amendment protection,” Connell said.
“We have been very clear the First Amendment activities of the NRA are not the subject of this action at all,” she added. “It is the fraud, it is the theft, it is the waste, it is the related-party transactions, it is everything else.””
The judge bought the argument and is probably going to dismiss the counterclaims.
Earlier, NRA sued on that ground in federal court, but dismissed its suit, saying it would fight it in the state dissolution suit. After that it filed for bankruptcy, claiming that would let it “dump New York,” and lost there too.
This is one more in a long chain of legal disasters for NRA. One case after another going down in flames. The lawyers and NRA “leadership” are probably already planning how to present this latest one to the board as a victory.
NRA’s board has a number of attorneys. They can’t all have been bought off or corrupted. At least, we hope not. If only the honest ones would band together and stop the ruination of their organization!
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I have always known that lawyers have often been accused of lying, and of doing so with a straight face and a clear conscience. And I have suspected that the greater the suspension of belief required, the larger the payoff, I mean,the greater the salary required to ensure that the client maintains his or her lawyers full representation.
But in this case, it seems as if even a judge, trying to remain even handed, and unbiased, would have an extremely difficult time avoiding the tremendous stench coming from the pile of manure that the NRA leadership is trying to pass off as simply normal ways of doing business, in the real world that deals with multi million dollars passing through it’s coffers every year.
This from an organization that fired the 2nd in command, when it became obvious that he was the only one capable of running the organization if WLP were to somehow have to leave the NRA. Then they spend 8 million dollars to keep from having to pay said #2 2 million dollars in parting gifts, that were part of his severance contract? I never took the BAR exam, here in Michigan, but in the 1990s, I used to play music in bars, so I think that qualifies me to be the lawyer to tell them what they should have done here, instead of what they did, and could have saved them 6 million dollars, and I would only billed them half of that, still saving them 3 million dollars, which is more then they walked away with, which was a loss of 10 million and a look on their faces like the fools that they are.
I know that WLP organized this whole mess, along with his few buddies, but how in the, ok, world did we not see it ,and make it stop? Someone had to have seen it, and raised the alarm. I suppose that they just got tossed aside and either shouted down, or bought off, or threatened.
At this point, I would not be surprised at anything that happens with this case. if the NRA folds, as is a very strong possibility, I hope that the judge will give the money to the similar groups like the GOA, RKBA, and some of the others who are doing the same work that the NRA used to do. And while I don’t want to see any of the criminals hang, A very long prison term, plus large fines/restitution when appropriate would be good. the law firm Brewer and some of the other companies that took illicit money from the NRA should have to give some of it back. Just because the NRA wrote the checks doesn’t mean that the companies earned the money, or that they should get to keep it.
This legal action was not the fault of Letitia James, though a lot of the top members of the management of the NRA want to say it is. The only fault of this legal action lies at the crooked, illegal, and self serving management strategies that the upper management followed for at least the past 10 of so years. Ms. James will gain political power from this, perhaps, but only because Wayne LaPierre handed her the keys.
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There won’t be any money left to give to other groups. Brewer will get it all then bug out.
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