1 of 2 | Former longtime chief of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre enters the courtroom at State Supreme Court in New York City on Monday. LaPierre, 74, resigned as head of the NRA Friday on the eve of the trial. Photo by Louis Lanzano/UPI |
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Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A long-awaited civil trial brought by the state of New York against the National Rifle Association and senior management got underway Monday as former CEO Wayne LaPierre and others entered a New York City courtroom.
LaPierre, who resigned as the NRA's longtime chief executive Friday on the eve of the trial, was seen entering New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, along with NRA chief counsel John Frazer and others as they prepared to defend themselves and the powerful gun rights lobbying organization from financial misconduct charges brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
With Monday's scheduled opening arguments before Judge Joel Cohen, the NRA, LaPierre and others are facing a jury after more than three years of trying to delay or dismiss the charges against them.
Jury selection began last week, as LaPierre looked on.
James originally filed suit seeking to the dissolve the New York-based nonprofit in 2020, when she charged the NRA with illegal conduct related to the "diversion of millions of dollars" from its charitable mission for the personal use of senior leaders such as LaPierre, Frazer, Chief Financial Officer Wilson "Woody" Phillips and former Executive Director of General Operations Joshua Powell.
James charged them with failing to follow numerous state and federal laws, resulting in "the loss of more than $64 million in just three years for the NRA."
Their alleged misconduct includes awarding lucrative contracts to close associates and family as well as "no-show" contracts to former employees "in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty."
LaPierre, 74, is accused of using NRA funds as his "personal piggy bank" to pay for private jets, lavish vacations, and to pay friends and allies for jobs that didn't exist.
Powell was dropped as a defendant on Friday when he reached a settlement with the attorney general in which he agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and admitted to James' claims of wrongdoing.
"Joshua Powell's admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre's resignation confirm what we have alleged for years: the NRA and its senior leaders are financially corrupt," James said in a statement, noting that three years of legal maneuvering by the NRA had failed to circumvent the start of the trial.
Those moves included the NRA's declaration of bankruptcy in 2021 as well as four separate attempts by the group to have the case dismissed, with the final one coming last week. In that Jan. 3 ruling, New York's First Division court of appeals, essentially serving as the state's highest court, rejected the pro-gun group's claim that the probe violated its First Amendment rights.
