NRA’s future at stake as Texas bankruptcy judge hears closing arguments

A Texas bankruptcy judge heard closing arguments Monday in a trial that could determine whether the NRA continues to exist.

Judge Harlin Hale has said he will rule within a week on whether to allow the NRA’s audacious bankruptcy filing in the Lone Star State to proceed. The NRA openly admits it is in good financial shape and that it filed for bankruptcy in Dallas to dodge a lawsuit filed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James alleging the advocacy group misused millions of its members’ money.

“This case was filed with the utmost bad faith,” Assistant Attorney General Gerrit Pronske said.

The 11-day virtual trial revealed “incompetence and gross mismanagement” at the highest levels of the once-powerful gun rights group, Pronske added.

James seeks the dissolution of the NRA for violating state nonprofit laws.

Hale has heard extensive evidence that NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre ran the advocacy group as his own personal fiefdom. Senior officials described a “Wayne says” culture that resulted in no one daring to question the gun nut.

LaPierre took luxury trips on a rich friend’s yachts — dubbed Illusions and the Grand Illusion — despite the friend also having a lucrative contract with the NRA. LaPierre used the yachts as a refuge when public outrage surged over school shootings.

Pronske described the yacht trips as “straight out of ‘The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’” and a clear violation of conflict of interest rules surrounding the NRA’s non-profit status.

Indeed, the trial has revealed LaPierre is a coddled executive living the high life, surrounded by security. He’s not, evidence showed, a resourceful, gun-toting man’s man well versed in the art of self defense.

Videos showed LaPierre couldn’t deliver a kill shot to a suffering elephant after three tries during a luxury hunting trip in Botswana. He’s outfitted with pricey upscale suits. His wife allegedly had a traveling “glam squad.”

LaPierre said he implemented a “course correction” in recent years at the NRA.

“We have the right to live. We have the right to exert our First and Second Amendment rights,” NRA attorney Greg Garman said.

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