New York AG: Wayne LaPierre caught ‘with his hand in the cookie jar’

MANHATTAN (CN) — State attorney Monica Connell opened with a sweet analogy Thursday during closing arguments at the New York attorney general’s civil trial against the National Rifle Association.

“What happens when someone is caught in the act?” she asked a Manhattan jury. “When someone is caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar?”

The metaphorical cookie culprit is Wayne LaPierre, the longtime NRA chief executive, who the New York attorney general accusing of violating state nonprofit law by treating the NRA as his “personal piggy bank.” 

“They might try to minimize what they did,” Connell said, continuing her analogy. “They will say, ‘But it wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s a few cookies. What’s the harm?’”

That’s exactly what the defendants did in response to the state’s lawsuit, the attorney general claims. Despite Wayne LaPierre apparently repaying some of the cash and the NRA starting a course correction to address compliance issues, that “doesn’t mean you didn’t take the cookies,” Connell said.

Connell’s roughly two-hour presentation reiterated the state’s claims against LaPierre for his errant spending, executives Wilson “Woody” Phillips and John Frazer for helping cover up the expenses and the NRA itself for turning a blind eye to it all. 

Connell argued that the millions in NRA funds that LaPierre spent on private flights were — contrary to the defense’s claims — not necessary in supporting the NRA’s mission, particularly the more than $500,000 on trips to the Bahamas, according to one of her presentation slides.

Additionally, she chided the NRA for playing victim. Connell noted that LaPierre’s conduct was widely known, but he was never punished for his spending habits and resigned on his own fruition.

“They cannot walk away from this misconduct,” Connell said.

Earlier Thursday, the NRA’s counsel claimed in its closing argument that the organization was blind to LaPierre’s spending. The NRA’s lawyer Sarah Rogers says the state acknowledges this in its own complaint. 

“The government admits that the NRA is a victim,” Rogers said.

According to the attorney general’s complaint, LaPierre, Phillips and Frazier could be forced to pay back the NRA for any “excessive” charges billed to the organization. That’s proof, Rogers argued Thursday, that “there was misconduct against the NRA.”

“The essence of fraud is it’s a lie, and the victim didn’t know about it,” she said.

But LaPierre’s lawyer Kent Correll said Thursday that his client did nothing malicious. He argued LaPierre’s spending was for his safety and the betterment of the NRA as a whole. LaPierre flew private due to security issues, Correll argued, and took trips to Los Angeles to network with pro-gun celebrities.

“The organization was lucky to have him,” Correll said. “He’s a one-of-a-kind individual. You met him. He’s not the greedy, arrogant exploitative person the attorney general was making him out to be.”

Correll scolded the attorney general’s office for making LaPierre’s luxury yacht stays a focus of its case. At trial, LaPierre testified he used the yachts owned by NRA vendor David McKenzie while simultaneously paying McKenzie for TV production work for the NRA. 

But Correll said that’s not the devious conflict the attorney general claimed it to be, insisting Thursday that LaPierre stayed on the yachts for both friendship and safety.

“They fault him for accepting an invitation for staying on a boat during a time that his threat level was so high that he couldn’t go home,” Correll said.

Correll eventually directed some of his fury towards New York Attorney General Letitia James, herself. Towards the end of his closing, Correll attacked James for not attending the proceedings. 

“Where is Letitia James?” he asked. “I don't see her. If this case was so important, why wouldn't she be here?”

If James had been in the gallery, Correll added that he would have called her as his first witness to “ask her why she did this.”

After all, LaPierre didn’t care about money, Correll argued. LaPierre was a talented lobbyist prior to taking over the NRA. Correll said Thursday that if money was the goal, LaPierre would have simply stuck with that. 

“He wasn’t interested in building a big pile of money for himself,” Correll said. “If he wanted to make a fortune, he could’ve. He could've bought a yacht if he wanted one.”

Correll and the other attorneys praised the Manhattan jurors for their patience over the six-week trial. They'll start deliberating on Friday morning. Depending on their verdict, LaPierre and his co-defendants could owe the NRA millions. 

James initially hoped to remove LaPierre from his CEO post, but the 74-year-old beat her to the punch last month. Just days before the start of the trial, LaPierre resigned after more than 30 years at the helm, citing health reasons.

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