Watch NY AG Letitia James' devastating description of the NRA's “culture of misappropriation” led by Wayne LaPierre
Published
Citation From the August 6, 2020, edition of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show
LETITIA JAMES (NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL): It was the diversion of millions upon millions of dollars from the charitable mission of the NRA. It was this culture of misappropriation. This culture where individuals were using the NRA as their personal piggy bank. Wayne LaPierre, as the executive vice president, his council, his treasurer, and his chief of staff. These four individuals plus the NRA itself, a 76 member board and audit committee, a compensation committee, all of them turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to all that was happening. They doled out no show contracts, no bidding contracts.
They sought the loyalty of members of the committee. They sought to quiet those who were dissidents and they also ignored the complaints of whistleblowers. A number of whistleblowers who understand and recognize the financial impropriety that was happening within NRA to the point where the NRA today is operating in the deficit. And despite all of that Mr. Wayne LaPierre and the NRA would seek to engage in personal attacks as opposed to dealing with our complaint and the facts that we laid bare. And the fact is, is that it was a not-for-profit organized under the state of New York and that they attempted to violate the law, evade the jurisdiction and evade certain protocols that should have been in place. And it's unfortunate that they failed to ensure these financial controls.