NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The 春色直播 Rifle Association and its ex-CEO were caught 鈥渨ith their hands in the cookie jar," a lawyer with the New York Attorney General鈥檚 Office said Thursday, at the conclusion of a civil trial accusing the gun rights group's executives of wildly misspending millions of dollars on private flights, vacations and other lavish perks.
Earlier in closing arguments to the Manhattan jury, an attorney for Wayne LaPierre, the powerful nonprofit advocacy organization's long-serving leader, had dismissed the case as a political witch hunt by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The NRA's lawyer, meanwhile, said it could not be held accountable for LaPierre's actions.
Assistant Attorney General Monica Connell countered that the NRA and its executives were doing everything they could to deny, deflect and soften the blow of the accusations.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to try to get you to think about anything except what happened to those cookies,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to blame anyone else but themselves.鈥
The case, which unfolded over a six-week trial, now heads to the jury, which is expected to begin deliberations Friday after receiving verdict instructions from the judge.
State lawyers said at the trial that LaPierre, who just days before the trial opened in early January, billed the NRA more than $11 million for private jet flights and spent more than $500,000 on eight trips to the Bahamas over a three-year span. They also say he authorized $135 million 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 108-foot (33-meter) yacht.
Testifying over multiple days, LaPierre claimed he the travel tickets, hotel stays, meals, yacht access and other luxury perks counted as gifts, even as he 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淗e was a visionary. He was a genius,鈥 Correll said, dismissing the state's allegations.
He also argued James had called the NRA a 鈥渢errorist organization鈥 and campaigned on a promise to destroy it.
鈥淭his is a story made up by a person with an agenda that wanted him off the field,鈥 said Correll, as he dinged James, a Democrat, for not even being present in court Thursday. 鈥淚f this case was so important, why wouldn鈥檛 she be here?鈥
But Connell, the state鈥檚 lawyer, countered that if LaPierre truly had concerns for his safety, he should have raised them with the NRA鈥檚 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.
鈥淲hen the fraud was discovered, it dug in. It turned over the rocks it was told not to overturn,鈥 Sarah Rogers said. 鈥淭he NRA left no stone unturned.鈥
鈥淚f this was a case about corruption,鈥 Rogers added, 鈥渋t wasn鈥檛 by the NRA.鈥
Connell argued that the NRA isn鈥檛 absolved of the misdeeds of its former executives. The organization allowed LaPierre to step down without any sanction, and many of the long-serving board members who enabled his actions still remain, she said.
鈥淪aying sorry now doesn鈥檛 mean they didn鈥檛 take the cookies,鈥 Connell said. "They cannot walk away from his conduct.鈥
Lawyers for LaPierre鈥檚 co-defendants argued that their clients had acted in the best interests of the NRA and didn't breach their duties to the organization, as James' office claimed.
鈥淭he man was doing his job, and he was doing it well," said William Fleming, a lawyer for NRA general counsel John Frazer, who James' office says made false statements and ignored whistleblower complaints against LaPierre.
Connell challenged that notion, saying Frazer, who attended law school at night while working at the NRA by day, simply wasn鈥檛 qualified to provide legal counsel for an organization of the NRA鈥檚 magnitude.
Mark Werbner, a lawyer for retired NRA finance chief Wilson Phillips, said his client had 鈥渁cted honorably鈥 even as James鈥檚 office has said Phillips, among other things, secured a deal worth more than $1 million that benefited his girlfriend.
鈥淭he state wants to put him in bankruptcy,鈥 Werbner said, referring to the state's request that the defendants be ordered to repay the NRA. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 deserve to be made penniless.鈥
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 riflery 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 nonprofits registered in the state. Her office argues that LaPierre dodged financial disclosure requirements while treating the NRA as his personal piggy bank.
During that time, according to state lawyers, LaPierre consolidated power and avoided scrutiny by hiring unqualified underlings, routing expenses through a vendor, doctoring invoices, and retaliating against board members and executives who questioned his spending.
Former NRA President , best known for his central role in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s, was among the prominent witnesses to take the stand. He testified he was ousted from the NRA after raising red flags.
Besides paying back the NRA, James' office also wants the defendants banned from serving in leadership positions at any charitable organizations conducting business in New York.
Another former NRA executive turned whistleblower, Joshua Powell, settled with James鈥 office last month, agreeing to testify at the trial, pay the NRA $100,000 and forgo further involvement with nonprofits.
The NRA, meanwhile, remains a political force. In recent years, the advocacy group has been , dwindling membership, board member infighting and lingering questions about LaPierre鈥檚 leadership.
___
Follow Philip Marcelo at .
