A courtroom showdown between the National Rifle Association and New York prosecutors is expected to get underway Monday, with the state arguing that top officials at the once-powerful lobbying group were corrupt and used money coming in from members as a “personal piggy bank.”
The civil corruption trial comes just days after the resignation of longtime leader Wayne LaPierre, who told NRA board members Friday he would be stepping down from the chief executive post he’s held for more than three decades.
LaPierre, who cited health reasons for his departure, is a key figure in the corruption case New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office is pursuing. Andrew Arulanandam will take over as interim chief executive at the NRA.
James, who filed a lawsuit in 2020 to dissolve the NRA on allegations that it violated nonprofit laws, committed tax fraud, and misused millions of dollars, wrote on X: “The end of the Wayne LaPierre era is an important victory in our case. LaPierre’s resignation validates our claims against him, but it will not insulate him or the NRA from accountability.”
The civil corruption trial alleges that LaPierre, NRA general counsel John Frazer, and former NRA finance chief Wilson Phillips took money from the nonprofit organization to spend on themselves, living a lavish life that included extravagant vacations and designer wardrobes.
James has tried to oust LaPierre, 74, from leading the NRA as well as bar him and the other defendants from serving on nonprofit boards in New York. Her office is also seeking financial compensation.
On the same day LaPierre resigned, James announced Joshua Powell, a former NRA chief of staff and executive director of general operations, reached a $100,000 settlement with her office, which included an admission of guilt.
“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.
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William Brewer III, an attorney representing the NRA, told news outlets that the statements from James’s office were “a telling sign that the NYAG’s case relies so heavily on disgruntled former employees, terminated vendors, and other castoffs from the NRA’s past who are no longer affiliated with the Association.”
“The NRA lives in the present, and its case relies on something much more powerful: facts, evidence, and a demonstrated commitment to good governance,” he said, adding that the organization had already “accepted reimbursement, with interest, for alleged excess.”