The New York Attorney General’s Office has secured a victory against the National Rifle Association (NRA), requiring the organization to abide by the state’s not-for-profit laws and enact more than a dozen reforms.
The judgement follows a jury verdict which said the NRA failed to properly administer charitable funds and also broke New York state law.
Most recently, after a trial that ended this month, the jury found defendants liable for violating New York not-for-profit laws.
The judgement requires former NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre to pay $4.35 million to the organization and former Chief Financial Officer Wilson “Woody” Phillips to pay $2 million, plus nine percent interest per year, according a press release from the attorney general’s office.
“For decades, the NRA let self-interested and self-dealing insiders run the organization with complete disregard for the rule of law,” said Attorney General James in a statement.
Based on trial evidence presented by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), the court found the NRA must enact more than a dozen reforms.
The changes include hiring a compliance consultant subject to approval from the attorney general’s office and requiring the organization’s full board to elect members of the audit committee.
The NRA is also now required to remove and not reappoint current members of its audit committee who served on it from any time from 2014 through 2022, the Attorney General’s office said.
Other changes include reforms to how board members are elected and the requirement of an annual compliance report detailing travel expenses, contract procurements and other items for at least five years.
The organization is also required to “enhance the certification process for its annual regulatory filings,” the Attorney General’s office said, in addition to implementing protections for its Chief Compliance Officer so the official can do their job free of retaliation.
The state Attorney General’s office is also requiring the NRA to provide online access to board members of governance materials, regulatory filings and legal rulings to increase transparency.
Despite the repeated claims of victory from the New York Attorney General’s office, the NRA said that because the latest judgement specifically targets former executives, that it actually isn’t paying any fines related to the proceedings.
“The NRA pays no fines or penalties under today’s judgment,” the organization said.
“Instead, the judgment entitles the NRA to collect millions of dollars from former executives found to have breached their duties,” the organization added in a statement.
In August of 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the NRA. In January 2021, the NRA filed for bankruptcy and tried to reorganize in Texas. In May of that year, a federal bankruptcy court rejected the organization’s bankruptcy petition, stating that it wasn’t filed in good faith.
In January 2024, longtime NRA leader Wayne LaPierre announced his retirement from his job as Executive Vice President and CEO of the organization, a role that he had held for more than 30 years.