A New York state jury on Friday began its deliberations in the civil corruption trial of the National Rifle Association and its former long-serving leader Wayne LaPierre.
Jurors started deliberating a day after a lawyer with the New York attorney general’s office said on Friday that the NRA and LaPierre were caught “with their hands in the cookie jar”, summarizing accusations that the gun rights group’s executives wildly misspent millions of dollars on private flights, vacations and other lavish perks.
An attorney for LaPierre, on the other hand, had dismissed the case as a political witch-hunt by the New York attorney general, Letitia James. And the NRA’s lawyer said it could not be held accountable for LaPierre’s actions.
The case unfolded over a six-week trial, during which New York state lawyers said that LaPierre – who announced his resignation just days before the proceeding opened in early January – billed the NRA more than $11m for private jet flights.
He also allegedly spent more than $500,000 on eight trips to the Bahamas over a three-year span.
State attorneys also say he authorized $135m in NRA contracts for a vendor whose owners showered him with free trips to the Bahamas, Greece, Dubai and India, and gave him access to a 108ft (33m) yacht.
Testifying over multiple days, LaPierre claimed he had not realized the travel tickets, hotel stays, meals, yacht access and other luxury perks counted as gifts, even as he conceded he wrongly expensed private flights for his family and accepted vacations from vendors doing business with the NRA without disclosing them.
During Thursday’s closing arguments, LaPierre’s lawyer P Kent Correll argued that LaPierre’s use of private flights was necessary for safety reasons, given his prominence in the contentious gun debate. The costly flights were not for personal gain – but to raise huge sums of money for the organization and gun rights causes broadly, he said.
“He was a visionary. He was a genius,” Correll said, dismissing the state’s allegations.
But Connell, the state’s lawyer, countered that if LaPierre truly had concerns for his safety, he should have raised them with the NRA’s board and received approval for the expenses.
The NRA’s lawyer, meanwhile, argued that the organization worked to address problems soon after they came to light through whistleblower complaints.
“When the fraud was discovered, it dug in. It turned over the rocks it was told not to overturn,” Sarah Rogers said. “The NRA left no stone unturned.”
The trial cast a spotlight on the leadership, culture and finances of the NRA, which was founded more than 150 years ago in New York City to promote rifle skills. The group has since grown into a political juggernaut that influences federal law and presidential elections.
James filed the lawsuit in 2020 under her authority to investigate non-profits registered in the state. Her office argues that LaPierre dodged financial disclosure requirements while treating the NRA as his personal piggy bank.
Attorneys for James are asking that LaPierre and others be forced to pay penalties and to reimburse the NRA for the money taken from the organization.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
