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The former head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, told a New York judge on Monday that the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the gun rights group\u2019s finances would be \u201cequivalent to putting a knife straight through the heart of the organization and twisting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
LaPierre\u2019s forceful opposition to the court-appointed oversight mechanism came on the final day of arguments in the second phase<\/a> of a civil case that New York Attorney General Letitia James brought against the NRA.<\/p>\n Following the trial\u2019s first phase earlier this year, a jury found LaPierre and another deputy liable for misspending millions of dollars<\/a> on personal expenses. James is seeking an independent monitor to oversee the group\u2019s finances and compliance with whistle-blower policies. She is also seeking to bar LaPierre, the organization\u2019s mouthpiece for decades, from returning to the NRA.<\/p>\n In brief testimony Monday, LaPierre described the appointment of a monitor as an existential threat to the group because it would send a message to prospective members and donors that the NRA was \u201cbeing surveilled by this attorney general in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n If the monitor is appointed, he said, \u201cGeneral James will have achieved her objective to fulfill that campaign promise of, in effect, dissolving the NRA for a lack of money and a lack of members.\u201d<\/p>\n LaPierre also told the judge that a ban on his involvement in the NRA would violate his First Amendment rights by preventing him from \u201cbeing a voice for this organization in terms of its political advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n In her closing statements, an attorney for the NRA, Sarah Rogers, said the group had no plans to rehire LaPierre, even as she described him as a \u201cvisionary leader who commanded a lot of respect and deference.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the group has implemented strong internal controls that made the appointment of a monitor unnecessary.<\/p>\n LaPierre served as the group\u2019s CEO and executive vice president for more than three decades. He resigned in January on the eve of the first phase of the trial.<\/p>\n Those proceedings cast a spotlight on the leadership, culture and financing of the organization, with state lawyers accusing LaPierre of siphoning millions of dollars from the organization to fund his lavish lifestyle, including trips on private jets and other personal gifts.<\/p>\n The jury ordered LaPierre to repay almost $4.4 million to the organization, while the NRA\u2019s retired finance chief, Wilson \u201cWoody\u201d Phillips<\/a>, was ordered to pay back $2 million.<\/p>\n The second phase of the proceeding is a bench trial, meaning there is no jury and the judge will hand down the verdict. The decision is expected to come as soon as Monday.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Jeffrey Tenenbaum, a lawyer testifying for the state<\/a> as an expert in nonprofit law, said the NRA had made some strides toward transparency but could backslide without the appointment of an independent monitor. He described the organization\u2019s policy manual as \u201ca dumpster fire.\u201d<\/p>\n State attorneys note that LaPierre hasn\u2019t been reprimanded by the organization. Although the NRA has touted a change a leadership, several LaPierre loyalists remain in its upper echelons. The NRA has lost more than 1.3 million members since 2018, according to an expert witness called by the group.<\/p>\n James sued the NRA and its executives in 2020 under her authority to investigate not-for-profits registered in the state. She originally sought to have the entire organization dissolved, but the judge ruled in 2022<\/a> that the allegations did not warrant a \u201ccorporate death penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor years, Wayne LaPierre used charitable dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle, spending millions on luxury travel, expensive clothes, insider contracts, and other perks for himself and his family,\u201d James said in a statement. \u201cLaPierre and senior leaders at the NRA blatantly abused their positions and broke the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOrdered to repay millions<\/h2>\n