As the N.R.A. continues to implode...

[Flatpoint High]

About time!! I had forgotten about this case it has been stalled for so long.

NYS HAS ALREADY SPARED TEH NRA, BUT STILL A GREAT IDEA

“Corporate Death Penalty”.png (364.12 KiB) Viewed 40423 times

[MN-Skeptic]

Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski

BREAKING: Longtime NRA leader Wayne LaPierre resigns. Good riddance.

NRA Leader Wayne LaPierre Resigns: Report

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre will resign from the organization effective January 31st Fox News reported Friday.

LaPierre cited health concerns as the reason for his departure.

"With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA," LaPierre said in a Press Release. "I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever."

NRA President Charles Cotton said during the board meeting Friday in Irving, Texas, that he accepted LaPierre’s resignation. Andrew Arulanandam, the NRA’s executive and head of general operations, will serve as interim CEO and executive vice president of the NRA.

[Rolodex]

"Health concerns..."

I guess he'll still have to go to the trial next week.

Let's place our bets on who will lead next (the worst person you can think of):

Maria Butina
Ted Nugent
Elmer Rhodes oops he's in prison
Ammon Bundy
Kyle Rittenhouse


Who ya got?

[Volkonski]

His wife, Susan LaPierre. Keep it in the family.

[neonzx]

How big is the golden parachute he is leaving with?

[Dave from down under]

Vlad Putin - might as well make it official

[raison de arizona]

Clint Eastwood.

[Flatpoint High]

Charelton Heston' shade

[neonzx]

Charelton Heston' shade

Cold dead hands?

[Flatpoint High]

Charelton Heston' shade

Cold dead hands?

yeppers

[Dave from down under]

I can see bankruptcy in its future

There is only one person who can ensure that outcome

Donnie J Trump!!!

[Ben-Prime]

Actually DJT Jr would possibly be a good idea from the organization's perspective.

[northland10]

How big is the golden parachute he is leaving with?

Way bigger than he deserves especially since he was using a non-profit's funds to live high on the hog already. The greater the amount, the more silence from the NRA.

[Volkonski]

Former NRA chief of staff admits wrongdoing before corruption trial
Joshua Powell, one of five defendants in lawsuit including former CEO Wayne LaPierre, has agreed to pay $100,000

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... tion-trial

A former chief of staff to Wayne LaPierre – who resigned as the National Rifle Association’s chief executive on Friday – has agreed to a $100,000 settlement in connection with a civil lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general’s office.

As part of the settlement announced on Saturday, Joshua Powell – one of five defendants in the lawsuit against the NRA, a gun-rights organization – admitted to wrongdoing in failing to fulfill his fiduciary responsibilities and misusing charitable funds.

“Joshua Powell’s admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre’s resignation confirm what we have alleged for years: the NRA and its senior leaders are financially corrupt,” a statement from the New York attorney general, Letitia James, said. “These are important victories in our case, and we look forward to ensuring the NRA and the defendants face justice for their actions.”

The New York attorney general’s office sued the NRA after alleging the organization’s senior management misused millions of dollars to fund the use of private jets, expensive meals and family trips to the Bahamas. The office has noted that the NRA, registered as a not-for-profit charity in New York, had legal obligations to use its funds for charitable purposes.

The NRA and its senior officials have repeatedly but unsuccessfully sought a dismissal of the lawsuit. They also tried but failed to secure a change in trial venue.

[Rolodex]

Found a live tweeter for this trial. Opening statements today.

[Kendra]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... bb00&ei=67

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

This story was published in partnership with The Trace, a nonprofit news organization covering guns in America.

At a meeting in June 2009, the treasurer of the National Rifle Association worked out a plan to conceal luxury expenses involving its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Trace and ProPublica. The recording was unknown to New York’s attorney general, who is pursuing the NRA and LaPierre over a range of alleged financial misdeeds. It shows, in real time, the NRA’s treasurer enlisting the group’s longtime public relations firm to obfuscate the extravagant costs.

[Rolodex]

And this trial is going on today, too. So much shadiness going on!

[RTH10260]

Secret Recording Shows NRA Treasurer Plotting to Conceal Extravagant Expenses Involving Wayne LaPierre
Audio obtained by The Trace and ProPublica reveals, in real time, the gun lobbying group enacting a plan that would conceal payments for fancy hotels, limousines and other luxury expenses connected to its longtime CEO for a decade.

by Mike Spies, The Trace
Jan. 11, 6 a.m. EST

At a meeting in June 2009, the treasurer of the National Rifle Association worked out a plan to conceal luxury expenses involving its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Trace and ProPublica. The recording was unknown to New York’s attorney general, who is pursuing the NRA and LaPierre over a range of alleged financial misdeeds. It shows, in real time, the NRA’s treasurer enlisting the group’s longtime public relations firm to obfuscate the extravagant costs.

Captured on tape is talk of LaPierre’s desire to avoid public disclosure of his use of private jets as well as concern about persistent spending at the Beverly Hills Hotel by a PR executive and close LaPierre adviser.

During the meeting, which took place in the Alexandria, Virginia, office of PR firm Ackerman McQueen, executives agreed that Ackerman would issue a Platinum American Express card to Tyler Schropp, the new head of the NRA’s nascent advancement division, which was responsible for bringing in high-dollar contributions from wealthy donors. Ackerman would then cover the card’s charges and bill them back to the NRA under nondescript invoices.

“It’s really the limo services and the hotels that I worry about,” William Winkler, Ackerman’s chief financial officer, said. “He’s going to need it for the hotels especially.”

The use of the Ackerman American Express card, according to a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ expert witness on nonprofits, skirted internal controls that existed to ensure proper disclosure and regulatory compliance and to prevent “fraud and abuse” at the nonprofit. As a result, outside of a tiny group of NRA insiders, everyone was in the dark about years of charges by Schropp — who is still the head of the nonprofit’s advancement division — for luxury accommodations, including regular sojourns to the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton. The NRA, in response, said the report was “rife with inadmissible factual narratives, impermissible interpretations and inferences, and improper factual and legal conclusions.”




https://www.propublica.org/article/nra- ... e-expenses

[Rolodex]

NRA trial continues. Up today, Ollie North, former president. When he was president, it was a volunteer, unpaid position. He needed money, so they had the consulting firm pay him ($2mm) and then he was an unpaid volunteer president. He was fine with that, apparently. Only later was he interested in NRA finances. But he's a witness for the AG.

[Rolodex]

Trial continues today. Not sure if LaPierre is attending due to his "fragile" health. His wife turns out to be just as greedy and grifty as he is.

[Volkonski]

NRA head confirms he used company funds for private trips, gifts in court testimony

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... press.coop

Wayne LaPierre, the head of the National Rifle Association (NRA), confirmed in court Friday that he used company funds for personal trips and gifts.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sued the NRA in 2020, alleging LaPierre and other company leaders diverted millions of dollars away from the company’s mission and used it for luxury personal benefits.

The suit originally attempted to completely dissolve the NRA, but the effort was later shut down. It also seeks to remove LaPierre from his position, where he has been the company’s public face for more than 30 years.

LaPierre, 74, announced he would resign at the end of January, citing health concerns.

In court Friday, the CEO claimed he had no knowledge of the total amounts of money the NRA was spending on private jets. Some money went toward chartering his family even when he wasn’t there, The New York Times reported.

LaPierre did not dispute the extent of the spending pointed out by Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Conley. Conley showed receipts of the NRA paying for his niece and her daughter’s private flights that cost $11,000 and $27,000.

He also testified that he had detailed knowledge of a luxury yacht named “Illusions” owned by NRA vendors where he and his family vacationed in the Bahamas, the Times reported. Other vacations included India, Abu Dhabi and another trip on a yacht called “Grant Illusion” to the Greek Isles.

The NRA and LaPierre have denied wrongdoing in James’s case.

Under LaPierre, the organization became one of the most influential lobbying groups in Washington, endorsing many Republican candidates and advocating for Second Amendment rights.

The lawsuit represents a series of troubles facing the organization, though. In recent years, fundraising and membership have dipped significantly.

The NRA has attempted to throw out the case multiple times. A New York appeals court ruled the case should continue because of the “ample evidence of malfeasance.”

Opening statements in the case began on Jan. 8 in Manhattan. LaPierre’s lawyer has asked for his testimony to be limited if he was feeling unwell, the Times reported.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Under LaPierre, the organization became one of the most influential lobbying groups in Washington, endorsing many Republican candidates and advocating for Second Amendment rights

Grifters all united under the banner of greed.

[Volkonski]

In Court, N.R.A. Questions Its Longtime Chief About His Luxury Spending
Wayne LaPierre was grilled by lawyers from a legal team he hired in testimony meant to show that the gun group has mended its ways.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/nyre ... press.coop

In a head-spinning day of court action on Monday, a lawyer for the National Rifle Association grilled its longtime chief, Wayne LaPierre, about his lavish spending.

Under rapid-fire questioning during his second day of testimony in a New York civil corruption trial, Mr. LaPierre admitted that much of his spending had not been authorized by the N.R.A.’s board and violated the group’s policies. But the legal fireworks appeared to be part of a strategy to the bolster the contention of Mr. LaPierre and the N.R.A. that they have reformed governance and that regulatory intervention is unnecessary.

Mr. LaPierre, 74, is a defendant in the lawsuit brought in 2020 by the New York attorney general, Letitia James. On the eve of the trial, he announced his resignation, which takes effect on Wednesday. The N.R.A. itself is also a defendant, as is John Frazer, its general counsel, as well as Wilson Phillips, a former finance chief.

The state has laid out many instances of Mr. LaPierre’s extravagant spending, including more than $250,000 on suits at one Beverly Hills boutique. There were also trips where Mr. LaPierre and his family were hosted by N.R.A. vendors with lucrative contracts on a luxury yacht called Illusions. And there was prodigious spending on charter flights; Mr. LaPierre didn’t dispute that some of the flights were solely for relatives. One family trip to the Bahamas cost the N.R.A. nearly $38,000.

The N.R.A. also sometimes paid more than $10,000 a session for hair and makeup for Mr. LaPierre’s wife, Susan, who used a stylist who had also worked on Hallmark movies.

Before questioning Mr. LaPierre, Sarah B. Rogers, one of the N.R.A.’s lawyers, asked the judge, Justice Joel M. Cohen of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, to give her broader latitude because Mr. LaPierre and the organization have variant interests. Any money recouped from Mr. LaPierre will be returned to the N.R.A.

[Rolodex]

More testimony today. Live tweets and articles.

[Rolodex]

Your daily update! Didn't expect to see Larry the Cable Guy in this story. Also, the NRA has asked for a directed verdict because they didn't know what was going on.