New York judge declines to appoint NRA monitor

(The Center Square) — A New York judge has shot down Attorney General Letitia James' bid for a court-appointed monitor to oversee the National Rifle Association but banned the group's former head from holding a paid position with the organization for a decade.

The split ruling by New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen, issued from the bench, blasted the NRA for a "lack of accountability" after it was found to have violated state nonprofit laws, but he ultimately determined that court oversight was not the solution to the NRA’s compliance issues.

Cohen called for financial oversight reforms to the organization — including changes to NRA’s audit committee and hiring a compliance consultant — and ordered the parties to negotiate them post-trial.

NRA officials celebrated the ruling, saying James' legal challenge was a veiled attempt to "put the organization out of business" and said the outcome of the two-part trial has the group "positioned for a bright future."

"The NRA is moving forward full speed ahead," Doug Hamlin, the NRA's executive vice president and CEO, said in a statement. "We have a mission to fulfill and elections to win up and down the ballot. This is a major step toward rebuilding the trust of the members, donors, industry, and our staff."

While the NRA was spared a court-appointed monitor, Cohen's ruling bans Wayne LaPierre, the embattled former head of the NRA, from holding a paid position with the organization for a decade.

State prosecutors accused LaPierre, who served as the NRA's CEO and executive vice president for more than three decades, of siphoning millions of dollars from the organization to fund a lavish lifestyle, including trips on private jets and other personal gifts. LaPierre stepped down from the post in January as the trial got underway.

A Manhattan jury previously ordered LaPierre to repay $4.4 million to the NRA during the first phase of the trial earlier this year, while Wilson “Woody” Phillips, the NRA's former finance chief, was ordered to pay back $2 million.

In his bench ruling, Cohen expressed concerns about "speech-chilling government intrusion" in the NRA's affairs but said those First Amendment concerns weren't relative to his employment by the organization.

"This relief is about the privilege, not the right, to serve as an officer or director of a New York not-for-profit," Cohen said.

The ruling caps a four-year legal battle between the NRA and James, a Democrat who filed the civil suit in 2020 in response to news stories questioning LaPierre’s spending as the organization's leader. James had asked the court to impose a lifetime ban on LaPierre serving in the organization.

“The NRA and its senior leaders broke the law, and funneled millions of dollars in cash and lavish perks to themselves, their families, and NRA insiders," James said in a statement. "After years of corruption, the NRA and its senior leaders are finally being held accountable.”