NRA, Wayne LaPierre go on Trial in New York Jan 8

The NRA, Wayne LaPierre and three other NRA leaders go on trial on Monday January 8 based on the lawsuit filed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James back in August 2020.

A New York state appeals court affirmed a decision by Justice Joel Cohen from June 2022 rejecting the NRA's effort to dismiss the suit on First Amendment retaliation and selective enforcement grounds.

Judge Cohen had previously dismissed the effort by James to dissolve the NRA in a March 2022 ruling.

From the New York Times:

"But now, Mr. LaPierre, 74, faces his gravest challenge, as a legal showdown with New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, goes to trial in a Manhattan courtroom. Ms. James, in a lawsuit filed amid an abrupt effort by the N.R.A. to clean up its practices, seeks to oust him from the group after reports of corruption and mismanagement.

Much has changed since Ms. James began investigating the N.R.A. four years ago. The organization, long a lobbying juggernaut, is a kind of ghost ship. After closing its media arm, NRATV, in 2019, it has largely lost its voice, and Mr. LaPierre rarely makes public pronouncements. Membership has plummeted to 4.2 million from nearly six million five years ago. Revenue is down 44 percent since 2016, according to its internal audits, and legal costs have soared to tens of millions a year.

When the N.R.A. filed for bankruptcy in Texas nearly three years ago, the step was part of a strategy to move to the state amid the New York investigation. But a Texas judge dismissed the case, saying the N.R.A. was using the filing “to address a regulatory enforcement problem, not a financial one.” Now, longtime insiders say, the organization may be reaching a point where a legitimate bankruptcy filing is necessary."

Philip Hackney