Schumer Urges The NRA Be Investigated For Bankruptcy Fraud

On Sunday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pressed the Justice Department to investigate the National Rifle Association for bankruptcy fraud. The New York Democrat believes that the NRA is financially solvent and that it sought bankruptcy to protect itself from a New York lawsuit.

Judge Harlin Hale rejected the NRA’s bankruptcy filing in May. He said the organization’s filing had been in bad faith, noting that this has not been a traditional bankruptcy case in which a debtor faces financial strains but rather that the NRA wanted to gain an unfair advantage in litigation.

Schumer also pointed to the fact that the organization spent millions of dollars on ads fundraising to undermine the importance of universal background checks. Additionally, he said it spent $250,000 on ads in West Virginia that encouraged people to contact Sen. Joe Manchin (D) and convince him to reject the confirmation of gun control lobbyist David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The NRA filed for bankruptcy protection in January, which was several months after New York Attorney General Leticia James (D) sued the organization. Her objective was to punish the top executives in the organization who used tens of millions of dollars for personal trips and no-show contracts for various associates, among other spending.

Following Schumer’s comments over the weekend, NRA counsel William A. Brewer III said that the New York Democrat was spreading a distorted narrative. He noted that while the bankruptcy filing was rejected in Texas, the court did not find that the NRA acted in necessarily bad faith. Instead, he said that the organization’s intentions have been to provide the best service to its members.