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Wayne LaPierre’s testimony comes near the end of his long tenure as head of one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States, and comes amid allegations that government officials used the National Rifle Association as a criminal organization in New York. may shed light on civil trials. “Personal piggy bank””
LaPierre has been the face of the gun rights movement for 30 years. resigned on Friday He became executive vice president and CEO of the NRA on January 31, days before his legal battle with New York Attorney General Letitia James. The trial began Monday in a Manhattan courtroom, and LaPierre watched as the jury was selected last week.
“I have been a card member of this organization for most of my adult life and will never stop fighting for the NRA and Second Amendment freedoms,” LaPierre said. Regulatory Commission statement Announces resignation. “My passion for our cause burns deeper than ever.”
The state attorney general filed a lawsuit In 2020, he announced that he was disbanding the NRA following allegations that it violated nonprofit organization laws, committed tax fraud, and accepted millions of dollars for personal use. Post to X “The end of the Wayne LaPierre era is an important victory for us,” he said Friday.
“While Mr. LaPierre’s resignation vindicates our claims against him, it does not absolve him or the NRA of responsibility,” the post continued.
On the same day the NRA announced that Mr. LaPierre, 74, cited health reasons for his resignation, Mr. James’ office announced that the trial would continue and that opening statements would be made on Monday. The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Mr. Lapierre: “Excessive parts come to the fore.”
The suit names LaPierre, general counsel and secretary John Fraser, and former chief financial officer Wilson “Woody” Phillips.
On Friday, James announced that another defendant, former NRA chief of staff and operations director Josh Powell, had reached his next sentence. $100,000 settlement with her firm. As part of the agreement, Powell admitted to charges of misconduct.
“Joshua Powell’s admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre’s resignation confirm what we have been saying for years: The NRA and its executives are financially corrupt,” James said in a statement Friday. “I am doing so,” he said.
William A. Brewer III, a lawyer representing the NRA, did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on Mr. James’s argument that Mr. LaPierre’s resignation justified the complaint’s allegations of misconduct. In a Saturday statement to CNN, he said this means that “NYAG’s lawsuit will continue to bring disgruntled former employees, fired vendors, and other dropouts from the NRA’s past who are no longer affiliated with the association. “This is a clear sign that there is a heavy reliance on
“The NRA lives in the present, and its cases rely on something stronger: facts, evidence, and a demonstrated commitment to good governance,” he added.
Brewer did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on James’ claim that LaPierre’s resignation justifies the misconduct allegations in the complaint.
James’ lawsuit alleges that the NRA falsely reported annual returns to the IRS and the New York City Department of Charities, improperly recorded expenses, improperly reported wages and income taxes, and overcharged people for work they were not eligible for. He is accused of violating multiple laws, including payments.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil suit against the NRA and its executives begins trial on Monday.
Many of the accusations stem from the NRA being a nonprofit organization with strict state and federal rules governing its spending.
“For nearly 30 years, Wayne LaPierre has served as NRA’s chief executive officer, exploiting the organization for his own financial gain and the benefit of a close circle of NRA staff, board members, and vendors.” 2020 Year complaint Said.
The complaint alleges that current and former NRA leaders instilled a “culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight” that benefited themselves, their families, friends, and favored vendors, and that the organization was responsible for over $63 million in revenue over three years. He blames the company for losses of more than $1,000.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, former NRA President Carolyn Meadows called the New York lawsuit “a baseless attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to protect” in a statement to CNN. It was a planned attack.” This is a clear attempt to score political points and attack key voices opposing leftist policies. ”
The NRA said in a statement Friday that its board “has gone to great lengths to conduct a self-assessment, recommended the termination of disgraced ‘insiders’ and vendors who allegedly abused the association, and removed excesses from LaPierre.” “We have accepted redemption with interest regarding the suspicion of profit trading.” , as reported in public tax returns. ”
According to the complaint, James alleges that LaPierre and others spent NRA money on luxury trips, private jets, yacht tours, African safaris and other perks.
James Fishman, a law professor at Pace University, said that despite his resignation, “Mr. LaPierre will remain the center of attention during the trial, and his excesses will likely be the center of attention.”
James’ office said the NRA and its leadership have “sought to avoid responsibility” for the past three years for financial abuse and mismanagement, “blatantly violating New York state and federal laws and even NRA internal policies.” He claims that he has been “ignored”.
Despite several attempts by the NRA to dismantle the Manhattan case, either by moving it out of state or by filing an appeal claiming the case was politically motivated by James’ office. , the trial began.
Initially, the state attorney general Tried to completely disband the NRA However, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen blocked this move but allowed the lawsuit to proceed, with her office seeking a “less intrusive” remedy to address the damage done to the NRA and its members. He said he could handle it.
In 2021, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. Nuclear Regulation Authority Petition He claimed he filed for bankruptcy in “bad faith” to avoid a lawsuit by the James firm.
The lawsuit asks the court to order Mr. LaPierre and other executives to pay full compensation for “illicitly enriched” funds and salaries earned while employees. It also seeks to remove the defendants from NRA leadership and bar them from serving on the boards of New York nonprofit organizations.
For its first 100 years, the NRA was primarily bipartisan and supported some gun control measures.
In the 1970s, the group Lobbying against federal firearms regulationsmake strong allies. political conservativeespecially within that range republican party.
Although the NRA has been hampered institutionally by infighting and corruption allegations, it remains strong within the Republican Party, and its leaders remain almost completely aligned with the group’s positions.
CNN Contributor Stephen Gutowski, Founder and Editor zariroad.comThe magazine, which focuses on gun policy and politics, said LaPierre’s allies remain in control of the NRA.
“They’re staunch allies of Wayne, and have been for a long time, and I’m not sure they’re going to change anything philosophically about how the organization approaches things, but it’s really up to them to judge. Is difficult. Now he’s gone,” he told CNN.
Fishman believes that “the self-dealing culture will end because LaPierre’s followers will likely leave or be forced out.”
“Political culture is not going to change for a while, if ever,” he said. “For the NRA to grow, it needs a shake-up that is very different from the LaPierre administration.”
CNN contributor Jennifer Macia, a founding staff member at The Trace, a site focused on gun violence, said she believes LaPierre would not have resigned unless he was forced to.
The NRA claimed Friday that “Mr. LaPierre has resigned for health reasons,” and that the group would “continue to defend” himself against the charges at trial.
“Wayne LaPierre has spent the last few years fighting off coup attempts from within the NRA,” Mascia said. “It would make sense for the organization to come to some kind of agreement for him to resign and distance himself, given the possibility of a guilty verdict. This is a jury in New York.”
But she added, “This is not going to be a corporate death penalty for the NRA.”
CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian and Emma Tucker contributed to this report.