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NRA Fights To Declare Bankruptcy As NY AG Lawsuit Threatens To Dissolve Organization | Rachel Maddow - YouTube
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there was the 39 000 shopping spree
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on really nice suits uh there was the
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200 000 spent on private jet
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vacations uh there was a stay on a 108
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foot yacht that came with a private chef
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and a jet boat and a couple of jet skis
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actually a couple of nice long stays on
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that yacht tens of thousands of dollars
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spent on hair and makeup for the ceo's
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wife
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all things that were paid for by the
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unwitting members
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of a non-profit organization members who
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apparently had no idea that that's the
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kind of stuff their membership dues
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were being spent on last year the
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attorney general in the state of new
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york leticia james
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sued the national rifle association
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because the nra is technically a
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non-profit
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it's chartered to operate within her
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jurisdiction in the state of new york
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and these kinds of spending details the
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private jets and the hair and the makeup
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and the vacations
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those were the basis of her lawsuit
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attorney general tish james basically
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charges in her suit that the people in
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charge of the nra
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used the money the nra collected from
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its members as a private piggy bank to
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pay for lavish vacations and travel and
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personal privileges for themselves
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and their family members and it's one
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thing to live your life that way on your
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own dime
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to spend your own money on yachts and
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private jets and safaris and stuff
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but if you're spending the money of a
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non-profit organization on that stuff
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it may well be fraudulent and illegal
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so attorney general tish james of new
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york sued to
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dissolve the entire organization she
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sued to dissolve the nra
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for its leader's alleged financial
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misconduct the nra denies any
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allegations of financial mismanagement
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they called the lawsuit
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brought by tisch james baseless but they
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also reacted to it in some unexpected
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ways
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given the nature of the allegations in
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the lawsuit right the lavish
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spending allegations it was weird that
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in the immediate wake of this lawsuit
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being brought by attorney general chase
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james
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the nra earlier this year filed for
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bankruptcy
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bankruptcy that's a weird thing to do
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when you apparently have 39
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000 to spend on fine luxury suits for
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your
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company's executives on the same day
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they filed for bankruptcy it got even
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weirder the nra told its supporters
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that their declaration of bankruptcy was
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actually coming at a time when quote the
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nra is in its strongest financial
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condition in years
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again that's a weird thing to say on the
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same day you've officially declared
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bankruptcy in a court of law
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why are you telling a court that you're
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totally out of money while at the same
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time you're telling all support all your
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supporters we have never been richer
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but the nra asked a court to please
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allow them to declare bankruptcy
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they said their intention was to
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reincorporate the nra as a new entity
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not in new york anymore but in the state
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of texas far away from attorney general
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tis james in the state of new york
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all those circumstances suggest that
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this oddly timed bankruptcy application
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by the nra
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was not really about the com the
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organization going bankrupt at all
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but instead may have been devised as a
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way to dodge that lawsuit to
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dodge accountability from the new york
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attorney general who was trying after
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all to dissolve their entire
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organization
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one neat trick when you file for
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bankruptcy is that it essentially puts a
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pause on any other ongoing litigation
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that may be pending against you
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that may be what the nra was banking on
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here the wall street journal pointed out
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at the time that at a minimum the nra's
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bankruptcy declaration would
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delay dis james's lawsuit against them
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they noted that organizations often file
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for bankruptcy in such circumstances to
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try to slow
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walk litigation we don't know for sure
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whether that's what the nra was doing
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but if that is what the nra was doing
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what they were trying to do here and if
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they get caught for trying to do that
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here
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that could get them in even more trouble
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the judge in this case that's deciding
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whether or not the nra will be allowed
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to declare bankruptcy
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they have the option of appointing a
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trustee
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to manage the nri's finances putting in
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an overseer
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an outsider to investigate the financial
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fraud allegations laid out by
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tisch james and to make all financial
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decisions going forward
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for the nra the judge also has the
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option of just
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saying no dismissing the bankruptcy
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application by the nra and that of
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course would clear the way for tis james
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to continue her litigation which again
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seeks to dissolve the organization
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the nra's bankruptcy trial started this
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week in federal bankruptcy court
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in texas the entire trial is expected to
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last about a week
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several top nra officials are expected
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to testify about the alleged spending
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abuses
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for the first time ever including the
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ceo wayne lapierre the guy who allegedly
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spent all that nra money
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on suits for himself and makeup for his
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wife and got the
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free stays on the fancy 108 108-foot
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yacht
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wayne lapierre was asked about the stays
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on the yacht today as part of a
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deposition that was filed with the court
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he asked why he needed to stay on that
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yacht as part of
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official nra business why he accepted
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that stay on a yacht
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from a yacht owner who was getting
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multi-million dollar contracts from the
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nra at the same time
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wayne lapierre told the court that he
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went and stayed on that yacht
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after the sandy hook shooting in 2012
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after 26 people most of them little boys
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and girls were murdered at school he
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said after sandy hook he thought
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his own life was in danger as the head
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of the nra and so he fled
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to the yacht for safety he said the
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yacht was quote
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quote the one place that i hoped i could
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feel safe
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i remember getting there going thank god
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i'm safe nobody can get me here
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as i mentioned the nra bankruptcy trial
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it's in federal bankruptcy court in
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in texas um the nra officials
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who are having to testify at that
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bankruptcy trial it's the first time
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any of them have had to try had to
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testify under oath and had to answer
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publicly
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for the ways they allegedly ripped off
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their members to the tune
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of tens and hundreds of millions of
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dollars um
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this is one of those stories we i think
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i feel like lawsuits and
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and legal cases get covered pretty well
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in this country i don't know if it's
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because this is a bankruptcy court it's
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not getting as much attention but
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this has huge ramifications for a really
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important political issue in this
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country
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and so far what we've learned has just
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been shocking
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