There will be a change of guard at the National Rifle Association, though it’s an unplanned transition. Wayne LaPierre, who helmed the civil rights organization since the 1990s, has resigned, leaving his position as CEO and executive vice president on January 31. This move comes in the wake of the corruption trial he’s facing in New York, though he said his health was the primary reason for his departure (via WSJ):
Longtime NRA leader Wayne LaPierre steps down https://t.co/LHGmdaEmaG pic.twitter.com/PYeehCpk6j
— New York Post (@nypost) January 5, 2024
Woah! https://t.co/EFPZRuKus8
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) January 5, 2024
LaPierre has run the NRA since 1991 and helped turn it into an unflinching force for looser gun laws, with the ability to mobilize its millions of members against any gun restrictions. Under his leadership, the NRA became a powerful lobbying group, with its endorsements sought by many elected officials, particularly in the Republican Party. A surge in gun-related advertising by the NRA in 2016 is widely credited with aiding the election of President Donald Trump that year.
The NRA also became a major target for gun-control activists, particularly after mass shootings such as those at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and a high school in Parkland, Fla. LaPierre vociferously rejected any attempts to link gun access to such shootings and used the specter of more gun controls to raise money and stir his membership.
LaPierre had fended off prior efforts to force him out. He survived an internal coup attempt in the 1990s and in 2019 won a battle with then-NRA President Oliver North, a conservative folk hero and Reagan-era Iran-Contra figure, who had pushed LaPierre to resign over allegations that LaPierre used NRA funds for lavish personal expenses.
The face-off with North helped spark a probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who in 2020 sued the NRA, LaPierre and three of his top lieutenants—alleging that they had treated the nonprofit charity as a personal piggy bank under the lax oversight of a compromised board, in violation of state law.
James’s office has alleged that LaPierre spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in NRA charitable assets on private plane trips for himself and his family, vacationed several times in the Bahamas on the yacht of an NRA vendor, accepted other lavish gifts from NRA vendors, and arranged lucrative no-show or little-show financial deals with board members and former executives, among other allegations.
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While James is a political hack, some of these allegations were troubling to say the least, leading to the organization losing revenue and members in recent years. They’re still standing, however.
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UPDATE: Stephen Gutowski, formerly of The Washington Free Beacon and founder of The Reload, details more about LaPierre's exit:
Wayne LaPierre resigns as leader of NRA. @StephenGutowski discusses with CNN's @jaketapper pic.twitter.com/sndqNJioFT
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) January 5, 2024
Josh Powel, Wayne LaPierre's former chief of staff, agreed to a settlement with the New York AG today as well. He has to pay $100k and can't serve as a non-profit official again. He is also going to testify in the case against the NRA, which has accused him of corruption.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) January 6, 2024
Longtime NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre Resigns
— CNN News Central (@NewsCentralCNN) January 5, 2024
Firearms reporter @StephenGutowski tells @brikeilarcnn & @Boris_Sanchez -
"This is huge." pic.twitter.com/n33wP3LILk
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