The US Department of Justice filed an objection with the Texas bankruptcy court hearing the case of the National Rifle Association, claiming that the bankruptcy filing is a ploy by the NRA to avoid the repercussions of the mismanagement and self-dealing of the organization’s leadership.

CBS News reports that Lisa Lambert, assistant U.S. Trustee in the DOJ’s Trustee Office argued in court that Wayne Lapierre, the longtime leader and executive vice president of the supposedly non-profit group, used the group’s money for personal gain, as did a number of other officers and board members.

The NRA, in its ever paranoid fashion, declared the group’s legal troubles in New York and the resistance to their bankruptcy filing to be part of an ongoing attack on the association.  “Your honor, we have natural enemies,” NRA’s lawyer Greg Garman said. “This Department of Justice may not see eye to eye with the National Rifle Association, but so be it, we have done the right thing.”

Lambert is urging the court to outright reject the NRA’s bankruptcy claim, a claim if upheld would allow the organization to dissolve its incorporation in New York State and then reorganize in Texas, thereby nullifying the current investigations into the organization’s finances being undertaken by the New York Attorney General.

If the court does not dismiss the case, Lambert wants the court to appoint an independent investigator, called an examiner, to conduct an audit into the organization’s books.

Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, has launched a civil investigation into Lapierre and four other NRA executives, alleging they directed NRA funds to fund their lifestyles and line their pockets.  The investigation can end in penalties for Lapierre and the others, as well as the NRA, and prevent the individuals from ever serving with a non-profit organization in the future.

Lapierre and the NRA deny any mismanagement, and they say the group’s finances merit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.  The NRA has filed a reorganization plan with the court, which would allow Lapierre to remain in charge of the organization and its finances.