By The opinion
Feb 24, 2024, 00:15 AM EST
The jury in the trial of a civil lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General’s Office against the National Rifle Association (NRA) concluded Friday that gun rights group mismanaged its charitable funds.
The NRA failed to stop its top executives, including veteran leader Wayne LaPierre, from diverting millions of dollars for lavish personal trips and other questionable expenses.
In its verdict, the jury determined that LaPierre should pay the powerful gun rights group $4.3 million dollars in damages for mismanagement and waste of charitable funds.
The panel also found that the group’s former chief financial officer, Wilson Phillips, should be repaid $2 million for breach of his fiduciary duties as an executive.
Shortly after the verdict was read, New York Attorney General Letitia James called the jury’s decision against the powerful National Rifle Association and its top executives a a “great victory” in a post on X.
“In a major victory, my office won our case against the NRA and its top leaders for years of corruption and greed,” James said. “Wayne LaPierre and a top NRA executive must pay $6.35 million for abusing the system and violating our laws.”
The verdict is the latest blow against the once impenetrable lobbying giant, which has been weakened in recent years by infighting, accusations of corruption and mismanagement, and a plummeting membership.
“A jury verdict in a high-profile trial in New York confirms what the National Rifle Association (NRA) maintained all along: that it was victimized by certain former suppliers and ‘insiders’ who abused the trust placed in them ”the NRA said in a statement.
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