By Jonathan Stempel and Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The corruption trial of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Wayne LaPierre kicked off on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom, three days after his sudden resignation as the gun-rights group’s chief executive.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the NRA and its longtime leader in August 2020, saying the group diverted millions of dollars to fund luxuries for top officials, including travel expenses for LaPierre to several resorts.
James also accused NRA officials of failing to obtain board approval for conflicts of interest and insider transactions, obtaining no-show contracts for associates and retaliating against whistleblowers who suspected financial wrongdoing.
“People take money out of their pockets – hard-earned money – and they donate it to charities that they believe in,” Monica Connell, a lawyer with the attorney general’s office, said in her opening statement.
“They should be able to trust that the hard-earned money they donate is going to go to advance the mission of that charity.”
The attorney general said the misconduct violated state laws governing nonprofits, which she enforces.
The NRA, founded in 1871, has denied wrongdoing and said it has made reforms.
It has also accused James of targeting it for political purposes, and violating the First Amendment for trying to silence its speech.
The defense was expected to give its opening statement later on Monday.
The trial comes at a difficult time for the NRA, which has seen revenue slide 44% since 2016 and membership drop by nearly one-third since 2018.
The NRA cited health reasons for LaPierre’s resignation, and on Monday said the 74-year-old has chronic Lyme disease.
Longtime communications chief Andrew Arulanandam was named interim chief executive.
Since taking over in 1991, LaPierre – who has attended the trial since jury selection began on Jan.
2 – built the NRA into a political powerhouse that pressed Washington and statehouses to expand gun rights, even as mass shootings mounted nationwide.
Its efforts have been bolstered since 2008 by three major U.S.
Supreme Court decisions that expanded gun rights.
LAPIERRE EXPECTED TO TESTIFY
LaPierre is among three remaining individual defendants in James’ case, and is expected to testify. The other two defendants are secretary and general counsel John Frazer and former finance chief Wilson Phillips.
A fourth individual defendant, former NRA second-in-command Joshua Powell, settled on Friday, agreeing to reimburse $100,000 and admitting he improperly used NRA assets.
Powell was fired by the NRA in 2020.
He later accused the group of corruption and greed, and expressed support for some gun-control measures.
Former NRA President Oliver North, who left the group in a 2019 leadership dispute, is also due to testify.
The trial before Justice Joel Cohen of the state supreme court is expected to last six weeks.
Jurors will assess whether the individual defendants engaged in financial misconduct and how much they should repay the NRA.
Payments could be reduced if jurors were to blame the NRA for allowing any misconduct.
The jury will also recommend whether Frazer should be ousted, with the judge to decide later on removal.
LaPierre’s job security had also been in play before he resigned.
His resignation is effective on Jan.
31. The NRA said that after that date he will neither work nor consult for the group, and that he has no severance arrangements.
A state appeals court in late December let the case go to trial.
It said James’ probe appeared to uncover “ample evidence of malfeasance,” while the NRA had resisted a leadership overhaul that might have tackled some problems.
James had previously sought to close the NRA, but Cohen rejected that effort in March 2022.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Rosalba O’Brien, Peter Graff and Mark Porter)
