MANHATTAN (CN) — Lawyers for the National Rifle Association said that the group “cleaned up its act” long before the New York attorney general launched a probe into the gun rights nonprofit over misappropriated funds.
“This organization is not perfect, news flash,” defense attorney Bill Fleming said Tuesday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James agrees. In a 169-page complaint filed in New York Supreme Court in 2020, she accuses the NRA’s longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre of spending donor dollars on travel and personal goods while the group’s leadership did nothing to stop him.
LaPierre was seated in the front row of the Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday as his lawyer delivered an opening statement on his behalf.
Addressing the freshly assembled jury, attorney Kent Correll ran through his client’s list of accolades as the NRA’s front man, which painted him as a longtime political science enthusiast and a man of the people passionate about constitutional debate.
“People call him Wayne,” Correll said. “No one calls him Mr. LaPierre.”
Correll tried to justify LaPierre’s gaudy travel, much of which the attorney general claims was done on the NRA’s dime. He said LaPierre was told he “must fly private” for safety and convenience, and that LaPierre paid back the NRA with interest for any unnecessary expenses.
James claims the NRA spent $11 million on flights and luxury travel for LaPierre and his inner circle.
Correll also brought up James’ accusation that LaPierre was “gifted the use of a 107-foot yacht” owned by NRA vendor David McKenzie.
“If someone invited me on a yacht, I would probably go,” Correll said. “When Mr. LaPierre was invited to go on someone’s yacht… he didn’t think ‘this is a gift, this is something I need to disclose.’ He thought this was a nice invitation.”
As Correll spoke, LaPierre occasionally nodded along. The 74-year-old won’t be the NRA chief for much longer — this past Friday, the NRA announced that LaPierre would be stepping down at the end of the month, citing health concerns as a reason for his resignation.
Correll told the jury Tuesday that LaPierre led the NRA diligently “until his health made it impossible for him to continue.”
“He held on for as long as he could, but he was ultimately told by his doctor that he had to stop,” he said.
It remains unclear what health issues LaPierre faces. Correll didn’t elaborate when questioned by Insider reporter Laura Italiano at the courthouse last week.
NRA attorney Sarah Rogers lauded LaPierre as a “valuable and visionary leader” of the group during his 31-year tenure.
“But he was not always a meticulous corporate executive,” she added.
Still, Rogers told the court that James’ accusations against LaPierre are “complete fiction.” She said that, after some controversies in the 1990s, the NRA has since “cleaned up its act.”
“The NRA is also accused of retaliating against whistleblowers,” Rogers added, calling the claim “not only not true, but it’s the opposite of the truth and is offensive.”
The state’s first witness told another story. Roscoe “Rocky” Marshall, a former NRA board member who called on LaPierre to resign in 2021, took the stand after Tuesday’s lunch break. Marshall testified he initially planned to help defend the NRA from what he was told was a “political attack from the New York AG’s office.”
“After reading the complaint… I became very concerned because the charges were so detailed and so very specific,” Marshall said.
Marshall said that he tried raising concerns with his fellow board members and NRA higher-ups, but was met with hostility every step of the way.
“It was not received well,” he said. “I received some hate mail from a couple of board members.”
As he attempted to learn more about the attorney general's accusations, Marshall said the board turned against him and he was shut out from getting the information he needed. Eventually, he said he filed an ethics complaint within the organization that, to the best of his knowledge, was never addressed.
Despite believing in its mission, Marshall said he hasn’t donated to the NRA in the past several years.
“I felt like the money was not being used to support the mission,” he said.
His feelings about LaPierre haven’t changed since 2021.
“I do believe that Wayne worked hard," Marshall said. “But then a lot of other things happened along with that that were not appropriate. Mr. LaPierre should not be reappointed to any role in the National Rifle Association.”
James’ lawsuit accuses the NRA, LaPierre and other former and current executives of violating a number of state nonprofit laws. If a jury sides with James, a second bench trial under Judge Joel Cohen will determine damages and other penalties.
“My mom used to say the proof is in the pudding,” Marshall said of James’ complaint. “There’s a lot of pudding here, a lot of pudding.”
The trial started Monday, when the attorney general’s office delivered opening statements. Proceedings are expected to span six weeks.
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