Yearslong legal battle between NRA and NY attorney general ends with final compliance judgment

MANHATTAN (CN) — A New York judge on Wednesday signed the final judgment in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ corruption case against the National Rifle Association, effectively marking the end of more than four years of litigation that James says prompted impactful change in the nation’s leading gun rights nonprofit.

In 2020, James sued several NRA executives, including the group’s longtime frontman Wayne LaPierre, accusing them of misappropriating donor funds to finance luxurious lifestyles.

The case went to trial earlier this year, where a Manhattan jury ruled that LaPierre owes the NRA roughly $4.4 million that he spent on first-class travel, Italian suits, insider contracts and other perks for himself and those in his inner circle. LaPierre — who resigned from his post as the NRA’s CEO and executive vice president on the eve of trial — was later slapped with a 10-year ban on rejoining the group’s leadership for his violations of state nonprofit law.

On Wednesday, New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen put a lid on the grueling proceedings by issuing a final judgment with a list of strategies to improve the NRA’s compliance and transparency. On the list is releasing an annual compliance report to NRA members, streamlining a more open election process for board members and hiring a court-approved compliance consultant.

Many of the remedies were mutually agreed upon by the state and the NRA — Cohen tasked them over the summer with finding as much common ground as possible for the nonprofit’s path forward. But there were some points of contention that the judge had to iron out himself.

One of them was the state’s request to ban certain scrutinized board members from serving on the NRA’s audit committee after years of unsuccessfully stopping LaPierre and other executives from exploiting the nonprofit’s finances.

Cohen agreed to that stipulation on Wednesday, meaning that at least two of the members on the five-person committee will have to be replaced.

“No individual who served on the audit committee at any time during the years 2014 to 2022 (the years during which the jury found violations of law occurred) shall be elected to the audit committee again,” Cohen wrote.

But Cohen’s judgment didn’t include anything about shrinking the overall size of the NRA’s board, which the attorney general had pushed for in an effort to limit the risk of corruption.

“I was a little disappointed that the judge didn’t really address the issue of reducing the size of the board at all,” NRA board member Jeff Knox told Courthouse News. “That was kind of a surprise.”

Knox, who was elected to the board earlier this year on a platform of reform and financial compliance, said that he was still pleased with the judgment as a whole and relieved to have the litigation in the rearview.

He was particularly encouraged by one of Cohen’s stipulations: that the court must approve of any settlement or compromise LaPierre attempts to make with the NRA for the more than $4 million he owes.

“That’s a significant twist that I’m pleased to see,” Knox said.

Knox said he was initially fearful that LaPierre — who, despite the jury verdict against him, still has many allies in the organization — would be able to cut a deal outside of court to avoid paying what he was ordered. Cohen’s judgment quelled that concern.

Fellow board member Phillip Journey thought that detail was important, too.

“I really like the fact that he’s not going to let them settle out of court with Wayne,” Journey told Courthouse News.

Executives at the NRA, which was at one point facing the prospect of total dissolution or an external monitorship, see Cohen’s judgment as a win for their side.

“The NYAG sought to shut us down, and then appoint outsiders to oversee management of this historic organization,” NRA President Bob Barr told Courthouse News. “Fortunately for freedom lovers everywhere, this politically motivated attempt failed. The NRA remains strong, safe and independent — continuing to protect freedoms.”

In a statement posted to X, James called the judgment “another big victory” against the NRA.

“Today, Wayne LaPierre and the NRA are once again being held accountable for their illegal abuse of trust and corruption. No one is above the law,” she wrote.

Numerous NRA board members have revealed that what the lawsuit exposed over the past four years — a culture of outcasting whistleblowers and mismanaging donor funds — has done severe damage to the organization. What they didn’t lose in membership, which has been bleeding for the past several years, they said they paid for in trust.

All the while, the NRA fielded usual attacks from those on the political left and center, who continue to criticize the organization for its relentless advocacy against common sense gun legislation.

Still, Journey says things are already starting to look up.

“We just had a positive membership month for the first time in four years,” he said. “That’s a wonderful thing.”

Follow @Uebey Follow @uebey.bsky.social