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The National Rifle Association filed a petition against New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday, demanding that their attorneys be present during a scheduled deposition of former NRA president Oliver North by attorneys from James’ office next week.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Melissa Crane rejected a temporary restraining order against the deposition during a hearing Friday, but scheduled another round of arguments for Monday morning.

The action is in response to a subpoena from the New York Attorney General’s Office sent to North, seeking the deposition and documents related to his time leading the gun-rights advocacy group.

That subpoena, according to court filings, is part of New York’s investigation, launched in April, into the NRA’s finances. That investigation is ongoing and has not, as of yet, produced any litigation or enforcement actions from the state.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a statement, criticized the NRA for attempting to intervene in her office’s deposition of North. 

“The NRA’s scare tactics simply won’t work here. Our investigation is proceeding with the same focus and fairness we apply to any case,” James said. “Whether its deposing NRA leaders or fact finding through other investigative tools, we will ensure that justice is served because no one is above the law.”

The NRA is represented by attorneys from Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, which has offices in New York and Dallas. William Brewer III, a founding partner of the firm, said they’re seeking to prevent North from disclosing any information that may be considered privileged.

”Naturally, the NRA seeks to prevent the disclosure of any confidential or privileged information,” Brewer said. “As the former president of the NRA, Lt. Col. North has been privy to attorney-client privileged information, which must be protected in the interest of the Association and its members. As such, we seek the court’s assistance in allowing us to be present during the interview of Lt. Col. North.”

The new conflict was set off late last week, when attorneys for the NRA asked that they be allowed to review any documents North was planning to share with the New York Attorney General’s Office. The NRA also asked that one of its attorneys be allowed to sit in on his deposition.

That’s because, as the NRA argued, the information and documents North may be planning to provide to the New York Attorney General’s Office may be privileged and, consequently, unavailable to be disclosed to James and her attorneys.

“By virtue of his positions as President and Board member at the NRA, North was afforded access to and learned of information, communications, and documents that are protected by the attorney-client privilege, the work product doctrine, and as trial preparation materials,” the petition filed Friday said. “He, however, is not the holder of the privileges.”

After making the request, attorneys for the NRA were sent nearly 900 pages of documents that North planned to provide to the New York Attorney General’s Office, according to court papers.

Attorneys for the group reviewed each document to see if they needed to make additional redactions, or if any should be withheld from the New York Attorney General’s Office on grounds of privilege. The review ended with several new redactions, and other concerns quickly arose for the gun lobby group.

“For example, the review identified a document that is wholly privileged on attorney-client privilege and work product grounds and needed to be withheld from the production in its entirety,” the NRA said.

Fearing a similar situation during North’s deposition, an attorney for the NRA wrote to the New York Attorney General’s Office on Thursday and asked to be present during the testimony.

The New York Attorney General’s Office wrote back late Thursday and said they would not allow attorneys for the NRA to be present for North’s deposition, which prompted the action filed Friday.

“The NRA will be severely prejudiced if it is not permitted to attend North’s examination in order to object to the disclosure of the NRA’s protected information by North,” court papers filed by the gun-rights group said. “Given that the NRA’s further review of North’s production to the NYAG yielded additional claims of privilege, the NRA has real concerns that, absent the presence of NRA’s counsel, North may divulge protected information during his testimony.”

The NRA isn’t seeking to quash the subpoena from James altogether, they’re asking for it to be modified so their attorneys can be present for North’s testimony. Given that the deposition is scheduled for Tuesday, attorneys for the group asked for expedited review of its claims.

North, who is represented by Brendan Sullivan from Williams & Connolly, is not on the petition, according to documents.