NRA must hire court-approved compliance consultant, says judgment in New York's civil suit
A civil lawsuit that sought the dissolution of the National Rifle Association has ended with a final judgment that reforms the group’s governance and requires court approval of deals to resolve a $5.4 million judgment against former CEO Wayne LaPierre. (Image from Shutterstock)
A civil lawsuit that sought the dissolution of the National Rifle Association has ended with a final judgment that reforms the group’s governance and requires court approval of deals to resolve a $5.4 million judgment against former CEO Wayne LaPierre.
Judge Joel Cohen of New York’s trial-level supreme court approved the judgment Dec. 11, according to Courthouse News Service and a Dec. 11 press release.
New York Attorney General Letitia James had alleged in the 2020 suit that the NRA misused charitable funds, and LaPierre used association money for personal travel, including trips to the Bahamas and to Africa for a safari.
LaPierre resigned on the eve of a January civil-fraud trial in which jurors found him liable for $5.4 million.
Cohen had a second trial on nonmonetary remedies in July. His final judgment requires reforms that increase leadership transparency and change how the NRA conducts board elections. The judgment also requires the hiring of a court-approved consultant to advise on compliance with the court’s directives and blocks audit-committee membership by anyone who served in that position from 2014 to 2022.
The audit-committee directive means that at least two current members will have to be replaced, according to Courthouse News Service.
NRA board member Jeff Knox, who was elected this year on a reform platform, told Courthouse News Service that he was particularly pleased that the court must approve settlements or compromises between LaPierre and the NRA for the more than $4 million that he still owes the organization. LaPierre formerly paid the NRA more than $1 million.
James said the judgment is another victory in her battle for reform.
“The NRA has been forced to clean house” as the result of her office’s efforts, James said in the press release. “For decades, the NRA let self-interested and self-dealing insiders run the organization with complete disregard for the rule of law.”
Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, which has represented the NRA since 2018, said in a statement the judgment “is tailored to compliance and governance measures in the NRA’s interest—many proposed by the NRA itself and several of which were already underway at the association.”
James’ efforts to obtain a “corporate death penalty” and a court-appointed monitor to oversee the NRA were both defeated, the law firm said in the statement.
“The NRA pays no fines or penalties under today’s judgment. Instead, the judgment entitles the NRA to collect millions of dollars from two former executives found to have breached their duties,” the statement said. “In sum, following over a month of trial proceedings, Justice Joel Cohen denied all invasive relief sought by the government.”
