NY AG Blasts Wayne LaPierre’s Re-Election to NRA

The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced on Saturday that Wayne LaPierre was re-elected as executive vice president and CEO. On Sunday, New York Attorney General Letitia James tore into the NRA after it reelected its longtime leader, citing her ongoing financial abuse lawsuit against the pro-gun rights group.

LaPierre, who has helmed the group for 30 years, has previously rebuffed James’ lawsuit, saying the AG “wants to close our doors.” After a judge in May dismissed the NRA’s petition to file for bankruptcy in Texas, allowing the New York AG’s lawsuit to go forward, LaPierre sent an email to the group’s approximately 5 million members assuring them that it remained “strong and secure.”

“Don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper: we are not going anywhere,” his statement read at the time.

The ongoing lawsuit alleges that NRA leadership used millions from the group’s reserves to fund lavish trips on private jets, meals, and other personal expenses, and that money was diverted to benefit NRA insiders and favored vendors. It also claims that LaPierre handpicked associates to “facilitate his misuse of charitable assets” and that the NRA board did not follow an appropriate process to determine “reasonable” compensation for NRA executives, including LaPierre.

Wayne LaPierre Re-Elected to Lead NRA Despite Dissension https://t.co/R6lfN7ezcq

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) October 4, 2021

LaPierre wrote in a May letter that the NRA is “committed to good governance” and that it “complies with board policies and accounting controls, displaced ‘insiders’ who abused the Association, and accepted reimbursements for costs voluntarily determined to be excess benefits.”

NRA Board Reelects Embattled EVP Wayne LaPierre Amidst Ongoing Corruption Scandal.

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New York AG says vote shows that “board governance is broken and that the rot runs deep at the NRA.”
https://t.co/KJPs8EGMZu

— Violence Policy Center (@VPCinfo) October 4, 2021

“The NRA’s decision to re-elect Wayne LaPierre and other top leaders yesterday despite the detailed evidence of repeated fraud and self-dealing we have laid out in our lawsuit and during the bankruptcy trial underscores that board governance is broken and that the rot runs deep at the NRA,” James, said in a statement. “For years, Mr. LaPierre and his lieutenants used the NRA and its donors as a breeding ground for personal gain and to live a lavish lifestyle, which is why they must be removed,” she added. “Our fight for transparency and accountability will continue because no one is above the law.”